NAA, Albright moved convention to help Raleigh, Hurricanes host NHL All-Star week

Jan. 31, 2011 - PRLog -- BURLINGTON, N.C. – When National Agents Alliance President and Chief Executive Officer Andy Albright found out the city of Raleigh and the Carolina Hurricanes had landed the opportunity to host the NHL All-Star game, he was fired up.

Then, he found out the date of the weekend-long event and was faced with a huge decision that involved his company, the NHL and his son Spencer, a hockey-crazy teenager.
The scheduled weekend coincided with National Agents Alliance’s National Convention at the Raleigh Convention Center, which is going to be a hub of hockey activity when the NHL All-Star Wide Open festivities kick off Friday. Albright, who is a Hurricanes season ticket holder and N.C. State graduate, knew what he needed to do, even if it put National Agents Alliance in a bind.

Without any hesitation, Albright shifted his convention – which was attended by thousands of agents last weekend – to an earlier date to help the city of Raleigh, the Hurricanes and the NHL.

Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker extended his thanks to Albright for moving National Agents Alliance’s national convention to the earlier date. Meeker said when the city first learned of the scheduling conflict and contacted Albright about the issue, it didn’t take long for Albright to take action.  

“National Agents Alliance had secured the dates requested by the NHL,” Meeker said. “Not only had they booked the Raleigh Convention Center years in advance, there were 3,000 delegates planning their stay, three hotels were full and approximately 2,000 room nights were booked. The city contacted Mr. Albright and asked if he would be willing to move his convention one week earlier to accommodate the city’s request. Within 24 hours, Mr. Albright let us know that he would do whatever was necessary to make Raleigh a contender for the all-star game.”

With Albright’s approval, the city of Raleigh, the Hurricanes and the NHL were free to move forward with the task of planning an international event that hockey fans across the globe will flock to this weekend.

“I love the Carolina Hurricanes, I love Raleigh and I knew that the city and the organization needed to have this event,” said Albright, whose 13-year-old son Spencer plays goalie for his club hockey team. “This event is vital to Raleigh and it puts our state capital in the national spotlight. We had to shift some things around on our end, but I know we did the right thing. I was able to help out Raleigh and my favorite hockey team by doing this. It was very important to me that the NHL, the Hurricanes, the city of Raleigh and National Agents Alliance found the best possible solution that was fair for all parties involved. I feel like we were able to do that. This weekend, Raleigh and the Hurricanes are going to show the NHL and its fans exactly why they deserved to host this event.”

Each January, National Agents Alliance, an innovative lead generation and marketing organization that sells life insurance, annuities, and other financial services products through more than 7,000 active independent sales representatives in 50 states, hosts its national convention at the Raleigh Conference Center with thousands of agents attending, with the majority of them staying at the Marriott and Sheraton just across the street from the Raleigh Convention Center. By moving the National Agents Alliance event, Albright freed up hundreds of valuable hotel rooms and much needed space in the area for the Wide Open portion of All-Star weekend.

Albright said the decision forced the National Agents Alliance staff to scramble to reschedule a number of things that had been in place for months, but he didn’t want Raleigh or the Hurricanes to potentially lose the event to another city.

“We had to find a solution that worked for all of us,” Albright said. “The only way they could pull it off was if National Agents Alliance would move our convention date. Once I found that out, I knew we had to do it. I couldn’t let our convention be the reason Raleigh didn’t have the NHL All-Star game, I couldn’t let that be the reason the Hurricanes didn’t get to host the game and I couldn’t let that be the reason Spencer didn’t get to enjoy the whole experience of seeing some of his heroes play hockey in his backyard.”

About National Agents Alliance
National Agents Alliance is an innovative lead generation and marketing organization that sells life insurance, annuities, and other financial services products through more than 7,000 active independent sales representatives in 50 states. Focused on serving middle-income families, National Agents Alliance is the No. 1 United States provider of mortgage protection insurance and offers a broad array of other affordable products from highly regarded companies such as Mutual of Omaha, Foresters, and ING. Since its inception in 2002, National Agents Alliance has helped more than 670,000 families successfully apply for more than $78 billion in life insurance coverage.

For more information about National Agents Alliance, visit http://www.nationalagentsalliance.com or call 1-866-752-1163.

About NHL Fan Fair™
NHL Fan Fair™ is the official fan festival of the 2011 NHL® All-Star Weekend. From Friday, Jan. 28 through Sunday, Jan. 30, NHL Fan Fair will occupy more than 150,000 square feet of the Raleigh Convention Center in downtown Raleigh, offering hockey fans of all ages three fun-filled days of interactive games and attractions, special appearances, trophy and memorabilia displays, live TV and radio broadcasts, pin trading and trading card zones, music, food, official NHL All-Star merchandise and dozens of other dynamic activities. The highlight of NHL Fan Fair will be the NHL All-Star Player Fantasy Draft™ powered by Cisco on Friday, Jan. 28 and televised live nationwide on TSN in Canada and VERSUS in the U.S. at 8 p.m. ET.

NHL Fan Fair will open to the public on Friday, Jan. 28, from 3 p.m. – 10 p.m.; Saturday, Jan. 29, from 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. and Sunday, Jan. 30, from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. Tickets are available for purchase via Ticketmaster (ticketmaster.com); at the RBC center; and at the Progress Energy Center for Performing Arts box offices until Jan. 27 will be $8 for adults and children. Tickets purchased after Jan. 27 and at the door will be $10 per person. Children under the age of two will be admitted for free. Once inside, fans may enjoy all the attractions for no additional cost.

Tickets are also available for purchase at all 39 Harris Teeter locations in the Triangle area. Special for Harris Teeter customers, tickets will remain at $8 through Sunday, Jan 30.

NHL Fan Fair is one component of the NHL® All-Star Wide Open, an outdoor celebration on Fayetteville and Cabarrus Streets in the style of the popular Raleigh Wide Open, featuring a street party festival overflowing with fun, live music, interactive surprises, ice carvings, acrobatics, street hockey competitions, and ice slides.
For more information on NHL Fan Fair, fans should visit NHL.com/fanfair.

About NHL All-Star Wide Open
Expected to draw revved-up guests from near and far, NHL All-Star Wide Open is being planned and promoted by the NHL, the City of Raleigh and Wake County Government, the Carolina Hurricanes, the Raleigh Convention Center, the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Greater Raleigh Sports Council, the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Raleigh Alliance. Additional key host partners for NHL All-Star Weekend include the Centennial Authority, the State of North Carolina, the Cary Chamber of Commerce and Raleigh-Durham International Airport.

For additional information on this topic please call Mac Heffner or visit http://www.nationalagentsalliance.com/contact-us/

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National Agents Alliance is one of the largest associations of agents and agencies of its kind. With representatives in all 50 states our annual financial services sales are over $100 million.