Thursday Pools alongside River Pools and Spas recently hosted a one-day Dealer Conference titled “Connections 2026” focused on ‘elevating’ the business practices of pool professionals with speakers covering everything from marketing and communication to sales, finance, water management, pool installation and sustainable building.
This event was the first in a series of learning events designed to support dealer-builders and brought in roughly 250 fiberglass pool dealer-builders to the company’s newly expanded 150,000-square-foot manufacturing and training facility in Fortville, Ind.
The conference gave attendees a ‘big picture’ vision of the industry while offering strategic approaches to fiberglass pool installation and new product insights for 2026. This kick-off event is the first in a series of ‘Dealer Days’ — because Thursday Pools and River Pools recognize that real learning and growth don’t happen in a single event, especially when teams return home and begin applying what they learned.
“We intentionally follow up with smaller Dealer Days throughout the year because it allows us to go deeper on the topics raised at our conference, respond directly to requests and questions from dealers, and provide practical small-group training that helps people actually improve performance,” explains Annie Brock, director of business development at Thursday Pools.
Speakers at the event covered a wide range of topics, including digital marketing and AI, user psychology and experience, technology adoption, advanced pool installation techniques, water chemistry, as well as fiberglass pool care and maintenance.
“The speakers were top notch and addressed a variety of topics what weren’t even on my radar,” explains Jim Burkhart, general manager of Aquarian Pools in Loveland, Ohio. “Although Artificial Intelligence (AI) was something we were exploring, one of the speakers really reinforced and explained how search engines are using AI and the importance of upgrading our systems to work effectively with search engines.”
Unlike a one-and-done event model, Thursday Pools & River Pools run additional Dealer Days throughout the year to ensure support isn’t just inspirational — but also ongoing and actionable.
“Each session is limited in size and designed to sharpen skills, answer real dealer-specific challenges and give our partners direct access to top expertise in installation, sales, and business growth,” says Brock.
This approach — a large annual event complemented by focused, high-impact trainings — reflects how Thursday Pools [and River Pools] go further than other manufacturers.
“We don’t just share updates; we stick with our dealers, listen to their needs, and help them implement solutions that grow their business,” says Cristian Shirilla, marketing manager at River Pools. “The consistency and personalized support we provide is one of the key ways we deliver more value year-round to our customers.”
Burkhart says he really appreciates the format of these events throughout the year. “Rather than sending my team to longer, four-to-five-day trainings that are expensive and pull them away from jobs, we appreciate these shorter, one-day trainings that provide information that can be immediately applied, then get the team back to work without losing valuable time and spending thousands of dollars getting the team to and from a longer event.”
The builder feedback on the event was very positive. “Thursday Pools is one of the few manufacturers taking the lead to offer this type of training and education, so I hope they continue doing so,” says Burkhart. “It’s necessary for pool professionals like me who have been doing this for over 25 years because things change in the market and it’s so valuable to have Thursday Pools take the initiative to find the speakers and host these trainings for their dealers to keep us up to speed and relevant.”
