‘National Sales Network’ celebrates 20-Year Anniversary
Organization Provides Skills Development/Resources for African American Sales Professionals
Atlanta, GA (BlackNews.com) — This June, 2012 marks the 20th year of resource sharing, professional development and career advancement opportunities provided by the National Sales Network (NSN) for African Americans in the sales industry. August 8-11, the organization will highlight this milestone at the annual conference and diversity career fair to be held in Baltimore, Maryland.
After working in the Food/Consumer Products industry for several years, founder David Richardson recognized the need for himself and others in the sales industry to be able to network and learn from each other. Joining forces with Joe Vinson, himself a sales veteran, and other committed professionals, they started the organization in Newark, NJ with a vision of becoming the premiere organization for African American sales professionals. Richardson said, “Being in sales, we knew how important networking was to developing leads and growing a business, so we were determined to create an organization that would give those in our industry an opportunity to both build their assets and help expand their careers.” Richardson, currently the NSN Executive Director, was the first chapter president and was previously the National Board Chair.
The NSN has nearly 2000 members and is comprised of 18 affiliate chapters across the country. The annual conference and career fair plays hosts to individuals from more than 30 states as well as international locations. Richardson said that after 20 years of struggles and hard work, their team has a lot to celebrate at this year’s event.
“We are proud of the fact that the conference and career fair holds the attendance record for the largest concentration of African-American sales executives in the world, and this year there will be over 40 corporations participating in the career fair that are actively looking to hire sales professionals,” he said. The conference, designed to provide best practices as well as motivate attendees, has featured well-known speakers, including Les Brown, Susan Taylor and Soledad O’Brien, among others.
The NSN is the leading networking organization for African-American sales professionals in the country, whose main goal is to provide resources that meet the professional and developmental needs of the African American sales and sales management professionals. Organization sponsorship is available for corporations at both the national and affiliate levels. For information, visit www.salesnetwork.org or call (678) 525-4507.
Photo Caption: David Richardson, Executive Director/Founder
