Last week – HARDI 2025 was held in Atlanta Dec 8-11th. With over 2,000+ attendees and over 500+ wholesalers/distributor companies represented the event grew again in size this year. We wanted to share some additional thoughts on the conference in a part 2 article for the HVACR Channel members who were not able to attend.
As we reported last week it was a packed event. Where is the channel headed? Thoughts from HARDI 2024 – HVACR Trends and the exhibit areas were sold out for the sessions.
HARDI 2025 was set up with multiple education tracks – Business Growth, External Impact, Organizational Development, and Personal Advancement. The 2024 HARDI conference theme was “Navigate”.
The presentations and education tracks were focused on helping the channel Navigate the uncertainty for 2025. (Change is here to stay and the HARDI program had sessions to help attendees navigate change in all four education tracks)
There was a lot of interest and feedback on the AI sessions (Practical AI and how can be used in the HVACR channel today). The AI sessions from Benj Cohen and Nick Pericle were a hit with the attendees who shared their feedback with us.
The Economic outlook session by Doctor Basu showed improving market conditions with some upside for 2025, but it is still soft in some areas. We heard that the HARDI market intelligence economic forecast sessions by region were a big hit (these are special sessions that the HARDI team puts together and are purchase required.)
“It was an exceptional HARDI conference. From the mainstage presenters to the breakout sessions and the interaction with other industry professionals, HARDI is one of my favorite and most beneficial industry gatherings of the year. The 2024 Conference was a resounding success!” Jon Hirsch – Auer Steel & Heating Supply Company
The Opening session was well attended and got high marks. The HARDI team should be commended to get people to attend and report back that it was valuable. At events like these attendees have more appointments, they are asked to set up then they have time to attend.
We heard that many service providers were back once again, but that also many new providers attended. Many new technology players attended that are providing targeted solutions for the channel.
We heard many comments on how LATAM Hardi is growing and those sessions were well attended by HVACR manufacturers/distributors and the channel.
“Coming out of the HARDI conference, a few big themes stood out. The market is giving mixed signals, inflation is steady, and while interest rates are down a bit, they’re still higher than everyone is used to. The message was clear: distributors need to drive demand, and the idea that ‘outbound drives inbound’ hit home for a lot of folks. Counter and inside sales are becoming even more important, especially when it comes to those high-margin parts orders. And then there’s AI—everyone’s buzzing about it. Distributors are experimenting with how to make it work for their businesses, seeing some early wins, and asking the big question: how do we scale this while navigating the behavior shifts it brings?” – Jack Carrere CEO & Co-Founder of Prokeep.
The compliance regulatory sessions on the impact of A2L, HFC Transition, Low GPC, and How federal and state government regulations affect the HVACR industry were well received.
The four-session tracks (Business Growth, External Impact, Organizational Development, and Personal Advancement) were led by a mix of channel industry leaders and outside speakers. The four tracks had a good mix of sessions which were tactical (regulatory) and strategic that are well timed for channel 2025 planning.
The HARDI-driven sessions and content for First Time Attendees. Emerging Leaders and Women in HVACR had a good mix of content and programs to support those programs. The distributors/Manufacturers and reps had ample time to connect in booth sessions and time for all attendees to visit the solutions providers to see what is new for 2025.
We heard many conversations on “upcoming and existing regulatory changes and the impact or potential impact of the new administration”. The current and future impact of government regulations and potential future actions are always a hot topic in the HVACR Channel.
A big thank you to the teams from ACTvantage, Prokeep, Jon Hirsch of Auer Steel, and other attendees for sharing their HARDI 2024 observations.
As always, we appreciate your feedback, so please feel free to reach out with any comments or your thoughts on HARDI 2024. jgunderson@channelmkt.com. We would love to hear from attendees more about the event.
