The last two years remind me of running in the San Diego Marathon. It was a brutally hot event. At the starting line, race organizers distributed salt packets and issued dire warnings to slow our pace – or face the consequences.
Ambulances and EMS workers were stationed along the route as a grim reminder. Many runners posted a DNF (did not finish) as the conditions knocked them out.
For those in the skilled trades/service sectors, the last two years have produced similar brutal conditions. If you are still running the race, that’s awesome. I’m guessing you’ve slowed your pace to make sure you can finish. But maybe it’s time to speed up.
There’s good news from a key sector. The Air-Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration Expo (AHR Expo) was a major success, drawing more than 54,000 participants in its first-ever stop in Las Vegas, Jan. 31-Feb. 2. You can read extensive coverage of the show here.
The Expo, co-owned by the Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Institute and American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Engineers, usually pulls such huge numbers only when the industry is really booming. The big turnout is a sign the industry is returning to health.
Either that, or those wild and crazy engineers succumbed to the temptation of their first-ever AHR Expo in sin city. Whatever the cause of the strong attendance, it was a pleasant problem to have to fight through crowds to visit booths.
There were nearly 1,200 booths to visit. I only had time to visit a handful. Here are a few highlights.
If you are in the skilled trades, or an engineer, architect or service provider, I encourage you to visit BNP Media’s Moving On Web site. You’ll find more than 30 success stories from pros like you explaining what they’ve done to excel during the economic downturn. They’ve “moved on” from negative thinking and found niches and sweet spots to assure their continued success. See for yourself at www.bnpmedia.com/movingon.