Now that autumn is here, we have arrived at every tradesman’s favourite season…Conference time!! Whether you are in plumbing, HVAC, homebuilding, or renovation, there will be a summit or tradeshow for you. The best part is that they are generally indoors, seated, and include food and drinks. Fransky Mechanical was pleased to attend the Modern Hydronics Summit at the International Centre in Mississauga.
It was hosted by the fine folks at HPAC magazine and brought together their regular columnists to expand on their topics from the latest issue. There were discussions on pumping efficiency, snowmelt sizing, control strategies, and a very interesting talk by Siegenthaler and Bean about “What would you do differently?” based on their respective careers.
It’s always beneficial to have the “old sods” tell us noobs their stories. I find it really helps put our current situation into perspective. We may have come a long way in regard to efficiency, safety, and reliability, but there are still great strides to be made in this industry and it’s everyone’s responsibility to keep pushing forward.
The real pleasure of going to these conferences is getting to interact with the various vendors that are at the accompanying trade show.
You run into people you haven’t seen in years. You finally meet, in person, those voices that have taken your orders and answered your questions, and, if you’re like me, you get to answer the “Isn’t your dad named so-and-so” question countless times.
I’d like to thank Viega, and neXt Supply for the food. It was fantastic. It was so nice to not be offered an overcooked hamburger and soft drink for once.
I guess my point is that ongoing professional development is something we, at Fransky Mechanical, take seriously. When you are in trade school, there is no mention of the importance of networking or continuous learning. This industry is always changing, and unless you have access to the people on the cutting edge and seek out their knowledge, you’re going to fall behind and your customers are going to suffer for it. In this sense, I’m looking forward to the next event at Uponor in Mississauga. It’s an advanced hydronics course with special emphasis on Computer Aided Design. Oooooo, exciting!! Stay tuned for a report.