It’s with great pride that I report on the many successes of the 2011 Fall Technical and Marketing Conference held in Baltimore during September. While I must admit it was a little strange working from the Hyatt with my house and business just a few miles down the road, I reflect on the amount of work that got done and I want everyone who attended to give themselves a pat on the back! We made some great strides and learned a lot from those three comprehensive days of networking, education and industry enrichment.
Speaking of learning a lot, we have made tremendous strides with our Speaker Program in the last couple of years and in Baltimore, we raised the bar again. The Communications and Convention Committee has really stuck to their goal of having everyone take something valuable away from the speaker program. With such a varied selection of speakers, there was an opportunity to learn something different in every power-packed hour. I also noted when I attended that committee meeting that attendees were extremely positive in their evaluations of the individual speakers, so I was not alone in my summation. The Committee also had record attendance on Monday, which might be the reason that both the theme for the Spring Convention and the speaker program, has started taking shape so quickly. It is good to see EGSA members fired up about making the Conference and Convention program a productive and informative part of the work schedule!
While the fish weren’t biting, the weather held solid throughout the three-day event. In the wake of Irene, I don’t really think we could’ve asked for better weather. I hope everyone enjoyed their time in the “Charm City” and took the opportunity to network with their fellow EGSA members and guests, because that’s what a conference like this is all about, bringing members together to forge in-roads within the Industry.
As I noted in my welcoming address, a warm thank you needs to go out to our sponsors for the event. Each year, in an effort to keep costs down, a great amount of detail goes into making an event budget and sticking with it. Our sponsors really stepped up to the plate this year in helping offset those costs to EGSA, and surprisingly, the sponsor list included many companies sponsoring for the first time. We had a record year for sponsorships, with close to $19,000 dollars raised.
A report on the Conference would not be complete without noting our committee progress. The action items that we took away this year were very important steps towards meeting association goals. For example, the Membership Committee has raised the stakes for recruiting new EGSA members. They came up with a very creative “Winner Takes All” Challenge that rolled out in mid-October and has more than a $1000.00 in prizes for the person who recruits the most new members between now and March 5th. If you haven’t set your personal goal for this Challenge, I suggest that it is worth your while, with prizes including hotel credits of $250 and free registration fees for the Fall Conference. Make sure that you are aware of the details, because the Challenge will continue into March and the winner will be announced at the Spring Convention.
Speaking of Austin, the theme for our convention has been determined…“Finding Opportunity in an Uncertain Environment.” EGSA will be sending announcements shortly on the details of our Spring Convention. It’s never too early to start planning!
In closing, I have two very important initiatives to keep front and center—one is our new venture with the National Facilities Management & Technology (NFMT) Show being held March 13th-15th in Baltimore. We are rolling out the EGSA Power Source Pavilion next year with Building Operating Management’s NFMT Show and we hope you will join us and exhibit in our inaugural year. This business model has been highly successful at Power Gen and we hope to reach this important end-user market with this highly viable opportunity. If you need details, please contact Kim Giles, EGSA Marketing Manager, for more information at k.giles@egsa.org.
Finally, I want to close with the Kelly Challenge. With the Kelly Challenge, I am reaching out to both member firms and individuals to help to further establish EGSA and the EGSA Technician Certification Program as the industry standard. I ask that both firms and individuals continue to further this initiative and, in doing so, raise the standard of quality within the On-Site Electrical Generating Industry as a whole!
The Kelly Challenge is for the membership to actively influence the writing of service contract specifications to include the requirement for any winning company to employ EGSA certified technicians. This challenge has particular importance for distributor/dealers but also for other EGSA members. As more RFPs that contain this requirement hit the street, there will be a huge incentive for companies who are serious about the generator service and maintenance business to have their technicians certified. This may also have the added benefit of enticing more companies to join EGSA.
I want to thank everyone who contributed to the success of the Fall Conference. I urge you to stay involved in helping to influence and shape our industry. Drop us a line and let us know how we can help make a difference in your neck of the woods with membership or the Kelly Challenge, e-mail@egsa.org.
