This was my first experience with the PDCA, although I knew that many of my online painting contractor friends were members, and spoke highly of their local chapters, but I had never joined. Mostly because there was no active local chapter, so I figured, “why bother”. Big Mistake!
During the Expo I attended several educational classes, luncheons and joined in several lively “hallway discussions”. I was extremely impressed with the passion and level of professionalism I encountered at every turn. The general spirit was “let’s share and learn”.
A few of my favorite peeps, I plan to post more later in detail, so keep checking back!
Presenters
- Lynne Fife from Evergreen Technologies gave a great class called, “Open the Door and Bring Em In”
- Joshua Allbright is brilliant when it comes to estimating, and a great speaker.
- Scott Ginsberg, also known as NametagScott was right, we all wear nametags every day!
- Mike Jeffries reviewed what every contractor should know about websites and seo
We will be highlighting some of these folks in upcoming articles.
Professional Women in Painting Forum
- Darylene Dennon, she she seems to be the engine of the forum
- Carol Adkins, another dynamo, she was great to meet.
- Karen McClain, the “third leg to the stool” that are the founding members of the forum
So many other great ladies as well, I hope to reach out to several over the next few weeks and continue some of the great dialogue we started!
PDCA Members
- Peggy and Terry Miller of Tegrey Coatings
- Jim from Linder Painting
- Greg from GreenPro
- So many others I can’t list! Painters from Canada, Montana, Florida and more!
Meeting many other members while breaking bread, waiting for seminars to start, during breaks or the great evening social activities was a great treat (the Sherwin Williams party is a whole ‘nother story!) It really reaffirmed my belief that this industry is filled with professionals who have the best interest of their customers in mind by building businesses built on sound principles.
Trade Show
I look forward to seeing Tommy’s reports on the trade show activities, I know I saw several interesting products and my husband has already ordered the Festool catalog and has several items in the Tri Tech catalog circled! Seeing great artists like Pierre Finklestein and the ladies from Artisitic Studios gave me some new ideas I want to explore!
Friendships
In the past year, Scott, Heidi, Tommy and Brandt have become close online friends and invaluable resources during the evolution of this blog. To finally be able to meet face to face was a great treat! I look forward to growing those relationships!
Was it worth it?
Yes, Yes, Yes! I considered it a worthy investment in my business, my personal professional development and the opportunity to share Blogging Painters with the folks I met. The networking, sharing, business building and collaborating at an event like this renewed my faith in the industry and recharged my batteries.
I plan to continue down this path, how about you?
So glad you could join us, Chris. It was great to finally meet you!
Jessi
PDCA
Thanks Jessi, and thanks for all your hard work and support, look forward to seeing you again in St. Louis!