by Bobby Williams

We had a very productive week at the International Christian Retail Show (ICRS), July 12-16. We saw some new product lines and got some good deals from many of the vendors (higher discounts, free freight). We walked away better prepared for the third and fourth quarter, I feel.

One of the highlights for me was The Power of Music event-a great night. My wife and son were with me, and we laughed, danced and worshiped. My little boy is four, and he really enjoyed Go Fish, while my wife and I enjoyed Jeff Allen doing the hosting.

I also attended both the church store training classes. Bev Miller did a great job in "Volunteers-You Love Having Them, but They Drive You Nuts!", and offering some practical steps and resources to keep strong volunteers and how to work through situations where "it might just not be the right fit."

She rolled out the BEST steps: Believe, Evaluate, Scheduling and Training. I walked away with some great tools from this class. We have more than 100 volunteers between our two bookstores, and I needed some refocusing in this area.

Jo Ann Panter also did a good job of talking about who the "influencers" are in your church and some different ways to get them in your store, in "They're Not Shopping in Their Own Church Store!"

Overall, I felt there was more energy and a positive feel at this year's ICRS than in the last two years. I liked the changes that were made for this year and look forward to next year's event in St. Louis.

-Bobby Williams is director of retail services at Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, and Church Bookstore Network regional director for Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas.

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