The industry training known as Shred School will begin its eight-city 2015 Shred Head Tour in Atlanta, Georgia on April 22-23. It will also visit Seattle, Toronto, Chicago, Columbus, San Antonio, San Diego, and Orlando throughout the year. Over the years, Shred School has become a highly regarded sales training. It is the best arena to learn the latest in regulations and industry trends. Last year, more than 300 industry professionals attended Shred School. NAID has made Shred School affordable and accessible so multiple team members from an organization can get the training they need on a regular basis.

This year Shred School will include some new sessions that will help records and information management organizations grow their businesses and operate more effectively. Those new sessions include:

• Create a Successful Step-by-Step Sales Process
• Effectively Implementing and Managing Price Increases
• Prospecting Part 1: Methods to Get You in the Door
• Prospecting Part 2: Turn Them From Cold to Hot With LinkedIn
• Interactive Discussion Part 1: The Compliance Toolkit
• Interactive Discussion Part 2: Conducting Sales Meetings With Decision Makers
• Reducing Potential Objections With the Right Proposals
• Breakout sessions with centers of influence in the industry
• Generate Leads From Your Online Presence
• Design a Digital Marketing Plan
• Diversification Opportunities Explained

Other sessions include:

• Industry Mistakes to Avoid in 2015 and Beyond
• Current and Future Industry Concepts and Trends
• Data Protection Regulations in 2015
• Tools of the NAID Toolbox

For more information or to register, visit www.shredschool.com.

Beginning in February 2015, NAID’s Deputy Executive Director Ray Barry will be leading sales mastermind groups. This will be the second year for the NAID Sales Mastermind Groups. These groups are designed to reinforce the strategies and best practices of Shred School while providing secure destruction professionals with personalized sales coaching.

Members of each group must be Shred School graduates and will discuss industry news, sales benchmarks, changes in data protection legislation, sales metrics, challenges sales professionals face in the secure destruction industry and more.

• Four groups with a maximum of eight people in each group
• All groups will be market exclusive with no direct competitors in each group
• Meetings will be held monthly online
• A face-to-face annual meeting at the NAID conference before all of the sessions starts
• Owners, managers and frontline sales professionals would benefit the most from this coaching
• $77 per month for one meeting a month
• $150 per month for two meetings a month, one group meeting and one one-on-one meeting with Barry

If you would like more information, contact Barry at [email protected] or visit www.shredschool.com.

The NAID staff members are gearing up for Shred School’s London debut next month. And, from all indications, it appears they are not the only one’s looking forward to it.

“Shred School is intentionally structured to be more intimate than the typical conference,” said NAID Deputy Executive Director and unofficial Dean of Shreducation Ray Barry. “That said, it is still very encouraging to see members so interested in participating.”

The two-day educational event, which has been so warmly greeted on its North American tour, will be held on Nov. 5-6 at the Hilton London Green Park. Seating is limited. For more information or to read what recent Shred School graduates have said about the training, visit www.shredschool.com.

This year NAID leaders have decided to do something new in the European region.

“Taking the Shred School program to Europe is something that members have been asking for,” said NAID Deputy Executive Director Ray Barry. “It will give members and non-members the chance to network and participate in an intense workshop tailored to the secure destruction industry.”

Traditionally, an annual conference was held in November of each year where speakers, attendees and exhibitors congregated to discuss the latest issues and innovations in the destruction industry. In the past, the NAID-Europe chapter would partner with the European chapters of ARMA International and PRISM International to host the conference and offer sessions in destruction and records management.

“That format worked for a while,” said NAID CEO Bob Johnson. “Now, we want to offer something different. We want to help local secure destruction business owners and employees understand legislation and compliance requirements and how to use them with sales and marketing strategies.”

Shred School is a two-day workshop designed as a training program for all position levels. The workshop will be held Nov. 5-6 at the Hilton London Green Park in London, United Kingdom. Due to the nature of the program, space is limited. Registration is now open. Click here to register for the event.

The first two Shred School workshops in 2014 have sold out, with NAID leaders predicting more to come.

“I’m ecstatic about the rave reviews from 2014 graduates thus far,” said NAID Deputy Executive Director Ray Barry. “We’ve had several participants say they’d like to come back next year already. So we’re always evolving the curriculum as the industry changes to keep it fresh.”

This year NAID increased the number of workshops and locations by five and added two workshops outside of the U.S. The first workshop of 2014 was in Las Vegas, Nev. Las Vegas, which sold out days before the event.

“Vegas set the tone for the year,” said NAID Director of Communications Kristina Carlberg. “We made some major changes to the program and wanted to make it more accessible to NAID members. After seeing both Vegas and Atlanta sell out and hearing the great feedback on the curriculum, it makes us more excited for future workshops.”

Some of the changes made included more information on LinkedIn prospecting, relationship building, online advertising and mistakes to avoid making in the industry. Also, Drew Dekker of NetGain SEO was added to the speakers list, which includes NAID staff members Ray Barry, Kristina Carlberg, Bob Johnson and Jamie Hughes.

“I truly did not expect to gain as much information and as many ideas as I did from this two-day class,” said Karen Bograd of PRR Services who attended the Atlanta workshop. “Shred School is a must for everyone in the industry.”

Last Wednesday and Thursday, NAID hosted its first Shred School workshop of the year in Las Vegas, Nev. Taking into consideration the recommendations from last year’s workshops, the NAID staff added more content, shortened sessions, created a new binder for attendees and added extra note pages to the binder. All of these changes were received well by attendees.

“I’m new to the business and I got a lot of information I would not have otherwise at work,” said Vegas attendee Antonia Moore. “Shred School had great information and a chance to network.”

Attendees were surveyed after the workshop and more than half of the attendees rated the quality of information, speakers and materials high.

“Bob, Ray, Kristina and Jamie were all very friendly and extremely helpful,” said Vegas attendee Ryan Beard. “The information and experience they shared was more than valuable in helping me to decide to pursue my very own shredding business. If you are questioning whether to attend Shred School, I would say, without hesitation, go!”

The next workshop will be held March 12-13 in Atlanta, Ga., at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis. There are only five seats left for this workshop. Register today at www.shredschool.com.

In 2013, the debut year of NAID Shred School, more than 150 secure destruction professionals attended and completed a workshop.

“NAID is an invaluable resource for continuing education,” said Mike Jacobson from Rogue Shred, LLC. “Shred School is a great way for Rogue Shred to attract new customers and, more importantly, keep current customers.”

Shred School became the member education arm of NAID in December 2012. It is affordable training for new industry professionals and members’ staff in an effort to improve their businesses. Each Shred School workshop is two days and introduces attendees to the secure destruction industry, data protection legislation, sales tips, marketing best practices, NAID programs and more. Shred School visited Chicago, Boston, Orlando, Dallas and San Francisco July through October.

“Based off the glowing and constructive feedback we received, we will be doubling the number of locations we visit next year,” said Ray Barry, Chief Shreducation and Member Relations Officer. “Also, we’re developing new curriculum and making some exciting changes for next year. Stay tuned!”

NAID will announce the locations, dates, agenda and speakers for 2014 in mid-November. To learn more about the program, visit www.shredschool.com or contact [email protected].

This is a three-minute video of excerpts from the Shred School session, “Know-it-alls finish last.” The session was presented by NAID CEO Bob Johnson. It was one of nine sessions by five presenters held over two days, providing secure information destruction professionals with tips and strategies for succeeding in today’s marketplace. Click here to see the video.

Effective Sept. 23, Ray Barry will join the NAID staff as its Chief Shreducation and Member Relations Officer. Barry is well known in the secure destruction industry as the former dean of Shred School from 2005 to 2012 and his many years serving on the NAID Board of Directors. In his new role, Barry will run NAID’s Shred School program and membership department.

NAID President Tom Huth of Allshred Services, Inc. said, “Ray adds a lot of depth to the NAID management team. The association continues to grow and Ray’s reputation as a tireless advocate for the secure destruction industry fits perfectly into our plans. The success of Shred School since NAID acquired it last year is a testament to Ray’s industry clout. We see him stepping right back into that role along with a number of other responsibilities that suit his many talents.”

In joining NAID, Barry leaves his position as Director of Sales for the Eastern Division at Access Information Management.

“Anyone would be extremely lucky to work with a first-class company like Access and I have been very fortunate to be part of their team,” said Barry. “They are quality people who always put customers first. That’s what attracted me to them and why I continue to respect them.”

Nathan Campbell, Chief Operating Officer at Access and a past NAID board member, said his company understands and supports Barry’s decision.

“Of course we’ll miss Ray, but he has served us very well over the last year, and we know that both training and secure destruction are his first love,” said Campbell. “Besides, as a NAID member, Access will also benefit from having Ray working for the industry.”

“I learned that I really enjoy helping small businesses achieve success,” said Barry. “It’s what I liked so much about Shred School and why I am excited about joining the NAID team.”

If past is prologue, as they say, readers in the Dallas and San Francisco areas may want to reserve their seats for the upcoming Shred School workshops sooner rather than later. Why? Well because the first three events in Chicago, Boston and Orlando have all sold out.

“We’re delighted at the initial response to Shred School,” said Kristina Carlberg, NAID Director of Communications. “The event has received a lot of praise and, more importantly, we’re integrating a lot of the attendee’s suggestions for making it even better.”

Sometime in October, NAID will release the 2014 Shred School schedule. Given the favorable response by members, planners expect the number of events will expand from five to eight or 10 workshops, adding more cities to the tour as well as revisiting this year’s host cities.