More than 160 PHCP-PVF professionals converged on Arlington, Texas for the recent ASA Central Summit — setting a new attendance benchmark for the nascent event. The Central Summit also set a new benchmark for sponsorship support.

Attendees in Arlington were kept plenty busy with education, best practices sharing and networking events packed into a day and a half schedule.

During the best practices roundtable sessions, Central Summit attendees focused on a variety of topics, including artificial intelligence and its current use in their businesses. One table “very mixed feelings in general” on AI, while one attendee said they only use it 5-10 percent of the time. Other topics broached included the tariff situation, succession planning as it relates to sharing industry knowledge and workforce development.

Another highlight was the keynote presentation by Kelli Finglass, the senior director of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders and the star of the Netflix series “America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.” Finglass talked about the keys to building a brand and lent insight into some of her best business practices, including how she assigns tasks to each day of the work week and tries not to vary from that schedule. Attendees also heard about her unrelenting pursuit of a DCC Barbie doll (Finglass was rejected more than 10 times before a toy company agreed to produce the dolls).

» Read More ASA News

In addition to the second-annual ASA Central Summit Golf Open, won by Jim Mohan (Mueller), Brent Albertine (Mueller), Chaz Norrgard (Soderholm & Associates) and Mark Young (MIFAB), who shot a 59, summit attendees networked in a pair of suites at Globe Life Field during a Texas Rangers-Kansas City Royals baseball game.

Next year’s Central Summit takes place June 9-10 at the Omni Hotel Viking Lakes in Eagan, Minnesota (suburban Minneapolis) next door to the training facility of the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings.