Woke up, fell out of bed, Dragged a comb across my head. Found my way downstairs and drank a cup, And looking up I noticed I was late. Found my coat and grabbed my hat. Made the bus in seconds flat. Found my way upstairs and had a smoke, Somebody spoke and I went into a dream ...
The lyrics to this Beatles song are arguably among the most creative of that group's music machine — with historians and analysts alike attributing the meaning to drug influences, Paul McCartney's childhood reminisces, and the death of a good friend in an auto accident.
In the world in which we live, the lyrics of this song take on particular meaning during the week of September 20, 2010. It's during this week that we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first televised presidential debates between John Kennedy and Richard Nixon (http://usat.ly/1960Debate) — an event that forever changed the way elections were covered.
It was also the week in which Climate Week NYºC 2010 was held (http://bit.ly/Cweek10), with more than 2,000 people gathering to focus on uniting the world’s most influential political and business leaders and work on finding the financing needed to bring about a clean industrial revolution. This could forever change the way we build and renovate buildings.
And it was also when HVACR Week — the event where the HVACR Industry meets — took place. We've been talking about and working toward HVACR Week all year — with all the hard work crescendoing the week of September 20th in Baltimore, MD where more than 2,300 industry professionals gathered to see the latest new products, hear the most influential contractors and engineers share information on how to better manage their businesses and design green mechanical systems.
It was a week of networking, partying, and learning. It was "a Week in the Life."
We will have full coverage of this in our November issue, online at Contractingbusiness.com, as well as on HVAC-Talk.com in the Comfortech Forum. In fact there are already photos and stories from the editors and attendees online right now. For example, check out the synopsis of the first days worth of events (http://bit.ly/Wed21) and learn about the latest motor technology first introduced at the HVACR Week trade show from Genteq (http://bit.ly/gteq).
If you go to HVAC-Talk, you can see daily posts from intrepid associate editor Kate Kelly (http://bit.ly/Hweek20) as well as photos and comments from the moderators who attended. Talk about a day in the life!
It was during HVACR Week that we presented awards to our 2010 Residential and Commercial Contractors of the Year, The HVACR Woman of the Year, as well as to our Quality Home Comfort and Design/Build Award winners. In fact, the winning Design/Build stories can be found here.
One highlight was a truly inspiring keynote presented by Mike Eruzione, the captain of the 1980 Gold Medal Olympic Hockey Team. He not only discussed how that victory was achieved, but how the same principles apply to operating an HVAC company. Thanks to Trane for sponsoring this event.
The next morning, attendees were treated to a great presentation given by Tommy Estes, Estes Heating and Air Conditioning, Atlanta, GA (Contracting Business.com 2010 Residential Contractor of the Year), who focused on the power of teamwork. Then, Mark Matteson brought it all together with his humorous, but sincere talk on how to keep moving forward when the chips are down. Thanks to Johnson Controls and York for sponsoring this.
Nothing tops a good meeting better than community service, which is what 22 people did during the Comfortech Gives Back program conducted with Habitat for Humanity and sponsored by LG Commercial.
Much like the musical cacophony of the Beatles song, HVACR Week melded many events into a harmony that set the tone for the year to come. If you attended HVACR Week, we’d love to hear your thoughts, observations, comments, and ideas. Please drop us a note at [email protected] or Twitter me at @msweil, or Facebook me at http://bit.ly/CtechFB.