Distributors and vendors of safety equipment met in Lake Tahoe, Calif., June 10-12 for the Safety Equipment Distributors Association’s (SEDA) '07 Safety Leadership Forum.

"Overall it was outstanding," said SEDA Executive Director Jackie King.

Or in the words of our ace reporter, George Hayward, founder and president of United Sales Associates in Cincinnati, "SEDA? Terrific! Lake Tahoe? Terrific! Weather? Terrific! In a word — Terrific!"

TOPICS OF INTEREST
Executive Director King said attendees enjoyed the meeting's diverse group of speakers. Here's how George Hayward described some of the sessions:

• "Brian Beaulieu, Institute for Trend Research, 'Your Business is Global — Like It or Not' was fantastic! Never have I seen a bunch of charts and graphs with humor, good sense, and a positive twist like this, except Brian's twin brother, Alan. I saw Alan in Las Vegas two weeks before at the Industrial Supply Association conference speaking on ‘Trends’ (the brothers' business) ... the same way — terrific... it's a tie who's better!"

• "Michael Marks, Indian River Consulting Group, conducted two sessions, 'Working at Cross Purposes — How Distributors and Manufacturers Can Manage Conflict Successfully.' Roundtable discussions yielded lists of top ten best and worst practices in business relationships between distributors and vendors for the group to consider.”

• "Robert Wendover, of The Center for Generational Studies, 'Hey Dude! Managing Age Diversity in Today's Workplace,' was good in that it showed what different age groups’ needs differ and how to approach and coach them."

Speaking of age group needs (specifically today's tech-savvy younger generation), Jackie King mentioned that SEDA is considering a joint venture with the Safety Marketing Group (which had their meeting in conjunction with SEDA's in Lake Tahoe) and Safety Marketing Services to support an online training portal.

• "Mac Fulfer, an attorney and his amazing 'Every Face Tells a Story' was at first entertaining but then he showed how this fun 'face reading' can be especially useful in negotiation, selling, hiring, etc."

READING FACES
It's called "physiognomy," the scientific name for face reading. Some describe face reading as a deeper way of communicating, interacting and understanding other's needs and responses.

For instance, Fulfer once said in a CNN interview "eyebrows signal our mental thoughts. Round eyebrows are people whose mental focus is people-oriented. Straight eyebrows are people who need the facts. Angled eyebrows are people who want to stay mentally in control.

"One of the things that I discovered in 20 years of practicing law is the least reliable information that we ever get from people is what comes out of their mouth," said Fulfer. He studied hundreds of faces before writing an illustrated book — "Amazing Face Reading" — sort of a how-to on face reading with 275 illustrations.

The book says if your coworker is a perfectionist, they'll have more than two vertical lines between their eyebrows. If their chin sticks out, they'll always get the last word in a discussion.

Here's Fulfer on the language of eyes, in descriptions taken from his Web site: "Anytime we experience mental stress we also have a corresponding physiological response: our eyes 'float up.' This appears as white showing between the eyelid and the iris, or colored part of our eye. Our eyes are in a constant expressive dance. With each even mildly stressful feeling or thought, they will react to indicate our true mental state.

"When the white is showing between the iris and the lower lid in both eyes, it indicates mental or emotional stress and possible fearful feeling or worry. If there is more white showing in your left eye, the stress is about concerns in your personal life. If there as more white showing in the right eye, the stressful thoughts or feeling are related to business, professional or financial factors.

"If you see someone with the white showing above the iris, it indicates not only stress but also that the person may react in a violent manner. For example, a person who is approaching the psychological flight-or-fight threshold may have white showing above the iris.

"If you see someone with the white showing all the way around the iris, be careful. This indicates someone who may be in a state of extreme mental disconnect and may not even be aware of his actions. You will sometimes see this in a person who is going into shock after a catastrophic event or who is under influence of dangerous drugs."

SEDA's Jackie King said meeting attendees were initially skeptical of Fulfer's claims, but many, like George Hayward, left the session and purchased his book.

ONE OF THE BEST
Summed up our reporter Hayward: "This was one of the top SEDA conferences of the 18 I have attended over the years. Reason? The variety of speakers and their topics. I came away with an attitude that there can pretty much always be a positive twist on almost anything — globalization, generational change, business conflicts — if you look for it."