Back from Vegas and ready to rock!

I am excited to be back home and share with you my experience at the IBS/ KBIS show held in Las Vegas this year.  For those of you who are not familiar with the show here is a little info.  IBS or the International Builders Show is put on by the National Home Builders Association.  This year they combined shows with the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show to put on "Design and Construction Week".  The shows offered over 1,100 vendors featuring a multitude of products, training and informational classes, and the chance to network with leaders in many different areas of the industry.  While not everything at the show was applicable to multi-family housing there were thousands of products, many training sessions, and hundreds of networking opportunities for me.  In short, the knowledge I gained in three days was worth the time and money it cost to attend the show.

The show started off with a great speech by General Stan McChrystal highlighting the importance of communication within any field.  If you have never heard of General McChrystal a quick trip over to his bio is well worth your time.  He stressed the importance of leadership, teamwork, and how to make the most of your team.  The speech was informative, entertaining, and even funny at times.

Next came an initial walk through of the massive showroom floor.  I spent more than an entire day walking the rows and rows of booths and displays the vendors had set up.  I was able to learn about new and exciting products that can be directly translated into the properties in which I work.  I will be detailing these products in future posts.

I also attended a few classes which were very informational.  These included classes on how to avoid OSHA fines, mistakes to avoid when building, multi-family expectations, and 50+ community trends to watch out for.  These classes, while mostly geared toward residential builders were all helpful and informative.  There were also many product demonstrations and hands on training right on the show floor.  I will be writing more on these subjects in future posts.

The experience of attending such a large show was amazing, educational, and exhausting.  When I came back to work my co-workers asked if I had fun.  Yes, I had fun.  I was in one of the most amazing cities our country has to offer, surrounded by people who have the same passion as I, gaining knowledge in a field I am excited to be in.  With that said it was still work, I spent at least 8 hours a day at the show, walked miles and miles of the show room, spent hours talking with vendors, networked with many people, and tried to retain as much knowledge from the show as possible.  I didn't leave the show with thousands of free-bees, I didn't spend every night out on the strip, and I didn't skip any part of the show I thought would be useful to me.  I was there to learn and that is what I did, and did again the next day, and did again our last day there.  Even with the dedication I put into the show I still wish I would've been able to get more out of it, I feel like there was more there to see, learn, and do.  

One thing I wish I would have done is do more planning before the show, look at the showroom layout, check out the classes in more detail, and set a schedule for myself.  I feel like I spent valuable time looking for classrooms and wandering around aimlessly.  I didn't get a chance to go see the "The New American Home", a 6,700 square foot home with the latest building and finishing technologies on display.  I also didn't attend some of the classes I would've liked to attend.  Mostly because I was just overwhelmed by the shear volume of things to see and do.  

If you ever have a chance to  attend a show such as this prepare ahead of time and stick to your schedule.  I skipped a class on weatherproofing building envelops I wish I would have attended because I was "too into the show".  Stick to your schedule, the show floor and the vendors will be there when your done.  I also wish I would've been a little more "pushy" toward some of the vendors.  If they were with another person I would usually just skip their booth, thinking I would come back.  There is too much going on to rely on that strategy, just ask them for a card or a pamphlet.  Basically don't skip a chance to go to one of these shows, the amount of knowledge you will gain is priceless, just make sure you are well prepared, stick to your plan, and most of all have fun.

Understanding Training Courses

I spent most of my life working in various fields of construction, framing, plumbing, roofing, siding, sales, ect.  Then the economy took a tank and I was out of work.  Shortly after I married my wife I found my first maintenance job.  One of the perks of the job was we were already leaving at the community and, once I could get on the on-call schedule, they would cover my rent.

In order to get on the on-call schedule I was told I needed to get what the property called a HVAC certification.  They told me that once I went through the class and took the test I would be ready to repair the split air conditioning systems we had on our property.

Once I started studying for the "HVAC certification" I realized it wasn't going to give me all the information I needed.  This "HVAC certification" was going to get me my EPA 608 certification.  That certification basically makes sure you know how to properly capture and recharge the refrigerant in the system.  It didn't go over any trouble shooting procedures, repair, or detailed operation of an AC system.  Luckily I had taken a HVAC course in college and had already learned most of that information.

In the years since I have heard many maintenance technicians, managers, and regional manager were under the same impression as I was about the EPA 608 certification.  They figure once the course was passed an employee would be prepared  to work on the systems, which is far from the truth.  My college course was a full semester preparing me to work on the systems; no one or two day course is going to properly teach you to repair an AC system.  You will need months of hands on training or a long course in order to properly fix  these systems.

I have heard this about other training courses too.  Most of the time we are under the impression that once we walk out of a certain training course we will be all set; have learned all the knowledge we need.  More often that not that is far from the truth.  Most courses are designed for students who have a certain degree of knowledge coming into the course.  That maybe basic, mid-level, or advanced but the course will not cover all levels of knowledge.

Because of this I have started calling the hosting agency of the training before signing up for the class.  This could be your local apartment association, a supplier, or a governing agency.  I ask them to give me a run down on exactly what the course teaches and if they have an outline of topics to be covered.  If I am still unsure of how much actual, useful knowledge will be passed around I might even ask to talk to the speaker.  I then take that information to the person I would like to see take the class.  I try to get a good feel for how much of the knowledge they understand and if the class is going to be worth them taking.

Training is expensive, most classes costing hundreds of dollars.  Sending a new technician or somebody who is not familiar to an more advanced class can be worthless, they will not understand the material and will be lost through the entire class.  On the other side of the coin, sending an experienced employee to a class which is more basic can be just as worthless.  Please do some digging into the actual content of upcoming courses to be sure the attendee is going to get the most bang for your buck.  If the class doesn't cover something you would like you can ask the hosting agency if they can squeeze in some of that information, or you can look for another class that might fit your needs better.

I love training, I am probably one of the few in the industry that does.  Training courses look great on a resume and can make a job which seems hard pretty simple.  If the training fits your needs it can be invaluable, speeding up work, fixing problems right the first time, making the workplace safer, ect.  However, if the material is too advanced or too basic it can be a big waste of time.  Make sure you do your research into the training and don't go in blind.