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Last time we talked about time management and some of the things we should be doing to help us accomplish more. One topic is so important that we left it out so we could discuss it in greater detail. That topic is the art of delegation.

Pictures at an exhibition should be forbidden. Distributors and contractors in the real world.

Since the final day of the AHR Expo is usually slow and laborious, why not make the best of it? After all, how often do we have this many manufacturers together under one roof? Rather than have each waste time and money, why not fill the place with the general public, media, students, and everyone else in between. Let’s do whatever it takes to spread the good word about this industry.

During a recent trip to a trade meeting in North Lake Tahoe, I got a slap of reality right in the kisser. About 40 miles from my exit, I noticed people pulling off the road and putting on tire chains.

The HVAC industry in the United States has very few barriers to entry. Nearly anyone with a pickup truck and a knack for installation or service can become a contractor.

Any time a press release calls what is being offered as the ‘world’s first’ it still does catch the eyes of us world-weary journalists. Such was the case with a press release passed along to me a month or so ago with the heading “World’s First CO2 Refrigeration Interactive Course.”

I learned more than a few things at the recent 2008 Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigerating Exposition in New York City, including finding out that my boss, along with two NEWS editors, could not work for Bradenton, Fla.-based contracting firm LPAC - at least not with their current facial hair.

Sticking with the method we have. Earn trust with their appearance.

As 2008 begins, I believe it’s a good idea to consider ways to make improvements in the way we operate. As I talk to contractors, it seems that one of the biggest problems facing most contractors is that there are not enough hours in the day to complete all of the tasks that they need and/or want to accomplish.

Let’s see if we can identify the oldest HVAC service tech in America and give that person some recognition. If it is true that being 50 today is like being 40 two decades or more ago, then there are probably a lot of service techs who are still working into their sixties and beyond.