NECA Convention 2009 Seattle: The Blog

Everyone at the airport yesterday seemed to be a face I recognized from the past four days at NECA 2009 Seattle. We were all sporting bags from NECA Show exhibitors (ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR’s bag seemed to be the most popular), and we all looked pretty tired, but happy.

NECA 2009 Seattle closed out on Tuesday with an awesome performance by Cirque Dreams at McCaw Hall. There were lots of “ooo’s and ahhh’s” and spontaneous applause during their gravity-defying feats and high-energy performance.

Thanks to all the NECA members and chapters who joined us in Seattle and on the NECA Convention blog this year. But don’t take us off your RSS or Twitter feed just yet! We’ll have more video and photos from Seattle, along with copies of presentations for downloading. Don’t forget to retrieve your CEU certificate either!

If you have any questions about anything we covered in the NECA 2009 Seattle blog, you can always reach me by email. And check out the new site we’ve already launched for NECA 2010 Boston, Oct. 2-5, 2010.

[To answer the question, “what is that group of words thing over there in the right column?” That’s called a “tag cloud” and it’s generated by the “tags” or keywords we assign to each post. As more posts with certain tags are written, that tag shows up as bigger within the cloud, so you can tell at a glance what we’ve written about the most.]

Please click on “Share your thoughts” and tell us your favorite part of NECA 2009 Seattle! Thanks for helping us make it a great event!

NECA’s Board of Governors meeting today included passing a new standing policy on safety programs and safe workers and election of five new district Vice Presidents. The new VPs will start their two-year terms on Jan. 1, 2010. District 1 Vice President David MacKay was elected to a second term.

Take a minute to meet NECA’s newest VPs.

• District 3     Lanny Thomas
• District 5     Chris Schoolcraft
• District 7    Daniel Schaeffer
• District 9    Stanley Lazarian
• Vice President at Large    Ron Autrey

First of all, congratulations to you for taking advantage of NECA 2009 Seattle’s full roster of pre-convention workshops. (We start them on Friday, Sept. 11 so folks attending the Board of Governors meeting Sept. 12 can go, too.)

Second, you can add pre-convention workshops and tours to your existing registration online or call Katie at 301-215-4506 for help.

If you want to make the changes to your registration online, follow these steps:

1. Click on “Attendee Registration” at the top of the NECA 2009 Seattle website.

2. Select “I know my username and password.” When prompted, enter your username and password if you are not already logged into the site.

3. The NECA 2009 Seattle registration will display. Select “Review Your Registration” at the top of the page.

4. Your registration will display. Select “Would you like to update your registration?” from the top of the page.

5. Scroll down and select “Update Event Tickets” from “Registrant Events.” From here, you can enter the number of tickets you need for a pre-convention workshop.

6. Click “Update” at the bottom of the page. You are now registered for a pre-convention workshop.

NECA 2008 Chicago closed out last night with an awesome performance by Bruce Hornsby, Ricky Skaggs, and Kentucky Thunder at the Arie Crown theater. “Best event so far!” one audience member was heard exclaiming during the multiple standing ovations that the group received.

Thanks so much for joining us in Chicago and on the NECA Convention blog this year. But don’t take us off your RSS or web bookmark just yet! We’ll have more video and photos from Chicago, along with copies of presentations for downloading. Don’t forget to retrieve your CEU certificate either!

If you have any questions about anything we covered in the NECA 2008 Chicago blog, you can always reach me by email.

PS: To answer the question, “what is that tag thing over there in the right column?” That’s called a “tag cloud” and it’s generated by the “tags” or keywords we assign to each post. As more posts with certain tags are written, that tag shows up as bigger within the cloud, so you can tell at a glance what we’ve written about the most. Right now, it looks like “green,” “General Session,” and “Share your thoughts” have the most posts. Clicking on a tag displays all the posts with that tag.

So click on “Share your thoughts” and tell us what you’re thinking right now!

ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR and The Electrical Distributor (TED) Magazine jointly sponsored an Electrical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Panel yesterday to discuss the widespread impact counterfeit electrical products are having throughout the industry.

“Call it counterfeiting, call it mislabeling, call it gray-market – but it’s all a crime,” said ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR publisher John Maisel. “It affects every part of the electrical products channel, from manufacturers to distributors to contractors, and especially, end-users.”

Panelists included Kevin Yates, VP Siemens Energy and automation, and Steve Litchfield, asst consul Schneider Electric-Square D, Bob Crane of Underwriters Laboratory, and Bill Feyman, VP Leed consul, Babcork Electric. They focused primarily on the liabilities presented by counterfeit products.

“The closer you are to the end of the supply chain, the more liability you have,” Yates said. “So the most liability potentially rests with the electrical contractors.”

Crane pointed out some warning signs to help contractors avoid fakes. “The terms ‘overstock’ or ‘only 50 left’ are often used to promote the sale of counterfeit products,” he said.

“In 1981, the counterfeit products were laughable,” Litchfield said. “You could tell right away that they were fakes and inferior products. But in 2004, the first products I saw from an unauthorized distributor – another tip-off that products may be counterfeit – you couldn’t tell the difference from the packaging. It was a circuit breaker, and the flaws were really frightening when we tested it.”

Panelists echoed the concern that counterfeit products are a concern for the entire electrical industry. Manufacturers have taken initiative in pursuing and suing counterfeiters, enlisting help from U.S. Customs. They’ve had to spearhead raids on plants in China. But with less than one percent of all imports coming the U.S. screened and the fact that counterfeiting is roughly a $250 billion annual business, “counterfeiting is a value proposition,” Yates said. “Bottom line, they stand to make a lot of money, and the chances of getting caught are slim.

“We have to take the initiative to protect our customers, our workers, and our brands,” he continued. “It’s going to take education to recognized counterfeits and government assistance to prosecute the criminals behind counterfeiting.”

ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR will release a special supplement to its December issue on the risks posed by counterfeit electrical products and what electrical contractors, site managers and other electrical industry professionals can do to protect themselves, their workers, and their customers.

What are your concerns about counterfeit electrical products? How much of an impact do you think it will have on the industry?

Chef Art Smith cooks for NECA

Art Smith, renowned personal chef for Oprah Winfrey, “2007 Humanitarian of the Year” for the prestigious James Beard Foundation and 2007 Chicagoan of the Year, led a packed group of enthusiastic foodies and wannabe gourmet chefs through a wonderful cooking program this morning. Even if you missed this morning’s program, Chef Art generously provided the recipes he prepared, which we’ve posted on the 2008 NECA Convention blog. See more photos from Cooking with Chef Art Smith too.

Chef Art will be cooking with Rachel Ray on her show Oct. 8 and competing on Iron Chef along with his sous chef Sara Lee on Oct. 19. Convention-goers received a copy of Chef Art’s cookbook”Back to the Table” with their spouse registration, you can see more of Chef Art’s books at chefartsmith.net.

Recipes from Chef Art Smith’s program at NECA 2008 Chicago

• Pistachio-Crusted Chicken with Coconut-Chili-Ginger Sauce
• Chocolate Pecan Pie
• Grilled Shrimp on Arugula with Lemon Vinaigrette

Convention-goers who attend Management Seminars earn Continuing Education Units (CEUs) that can be applied to any licensing or professional continuing education requirements. Class attendance and CEUs earned are recorded by on-site by American Exposition Technologies, and attendance certificates can be viewed and printed directly from their website. You will need your NECA 2008 Chicago registration ID number to access your certificate. Registration IDs can be found on your badge.

Congratulations to everyone who’s completed a Management Seminar so far! Now make sure to collect your certificate!