Issue link: https://cp.revolio.com/i/873071
Whether it's within our personal lives or our time at work, all of us face hard challenges. Sometimes we bring about an outcome we desire. Sometimes we just can't. Like Mary Chapin Carpenter wrote in a song, "Sometimes you're the windshield and sometimes you're the bug." The important question is how we deal with it. Do we allow our defeats to define us? Do we let our disappointments keep us from trying again? Or, just as dangerously, do we let our successes go to our heads and blind us to our problems? I am blessed to work with great people at AD. They are smart, hard-working and truly care about our mission, our Members and Suppliers. We have tremendous respect for the incredibly successful independents who comprise AD. It's a great feeling to know that we help them win and that we help a progressive community of leading suppliers grow their businesses and their brands. Great people. Great companies. That's AD! But not a one of us is perfect. We all have areas where we are working to get better. Plus, as successful as any of us may be, none of us have gone through a single year without some significant disappointment. Life and business are hard. What AD Associates, AD Members and Suppliers have in common is that we never quit. We never let our failures define us. Nor do we let our successes go to our heads. When we get knocked down, we get back up, shake the dust off and try again. When we reach a successful milestone, we celebrate, as we should, and then we keep on climbing. There's a certain toughness and dogged determination we share. I call it "AD Strong." How did we get this way? Through varied paths. Some through faith. Some through family. Some through mentors and co-workers. The furnace of life, the good and the bad, that's what made us strong. AD Strong is the theme for our 2017/2018 Fall and Spring Member/Supplier conferences. In this year's edition of AD Today we learn from strong AD member companies who have been in business for 100+ years (page 16). We hear how CEOs built their leadership teams (page 90) and engage their employees (page 68). AD Field Marketing Summit best practices are shared (page 52), as well as advice on how to build strong brands in a digital world (page 36). We will hear how AD strengthens our members and suppliers from financial benefits, to programs benefits, to the Networks (page 110). We will also be announcing the AD Disaster Relief Foundation, a new initiative that will help our members and suppliers support each other in times of natural disasters (page 86). Individually, we are #ADSTRONG. Together, we are an incredibly powerful community, well positioned and fully determined to meet whatever challenges lie ahead. Together, we win. Bill Weisberg Chairman & CEO AD A Message from the Chairman 4 | AD Today 2017 | #ADSTRONG