The Association of Mail & Business Centers is coming to Niagara Falls and Grand Island, drawn to the area by two Islanders who have become leaders in their industry.
Fahim and Seema Mojawalla of the Island Ship Center, 1879 Whitehaven Road, Grand Island, will host a AMBC event in Niagara Falls Oct. 27-29.
In publicizing the event, the AMBC, on whose board both Mojawallas sit, called the Island Ship Center an "industry-leading state-of-the-art store."
"This hands-on weekend is not your traditional regional training weekend. And these aren't your traditional seen-over-and-over-again seminars. No, this weekend is more than a workshop and more than a training event; it's an experience designed to take your business into a new area, discovering new profit centers, thinking like the new generation of customers thinks, marketing in your community effectively, and getting rid of #OldSchool mentalities to shine bright in a new, digital, hip, and service-focused world," the AMBC said.
Some events are scheduled for Friday, Oct. 27, at Four Points by Sheraton hotel in Niagara Falls.
Some sessions have titles such as "Marketing Where It Counts! - Effective and affordable community-focused marketing action plans" and "Guerrilla Marketing."
Saturday, Oct. 28, at the Island Ship Center, participants will take a tour of the center.
The Mojawallas will host several seminars. Fahim will teach "Get Social!"; Seema will present "Anti-static Merchandising - Shake up your merchandising."
Fahim, the AMBC director of social media, will present "Advanced Social Media Strategies That Get Results."
"Basic Print Design Made Easy" with Seema Mojawalla and Marty Johnson with guidance from Kevin Keating of Pacific Office and Eric Steadham of FotoZoomer will also be presented, as well as "Logo Share and Branding for Excellence" to update, tweak, design, and revamp a logo to make sure a business stands out in its community.
The AMBC event will also allow Fahim and Seema Mojawalla, who are both now officially social media design coaches, to launch a consulting business in social media and graphic design specifically for their industry on Nov. 1. Seema and Fahim are opening up
www.smdcoaches.com.
The Mojawallas are coming out with two downloadable E-books that will help small businesses in the independent retail shipping industry utilize social media.
"It's the need of the industry," Fahim Mojawalla said. "We've been tapped by industry leaders to do this."
"It came out of a deep desire to help people," Fahim explained of taking the lead in educating their AMBC colleagues. He said he and his wife have visited stores in their industry and have seen the operations lag behind the times, to their detriment.
"How can you not provide a stellar experience to your clients and thrive in business?" Fahim asked.
Providing value to customers in multiple routes is the Mojawalla way. Fahim said Island Ship Center now has 50 different services, with more in the works (mobile phone screen repair anyone?).