CD & Power President, Jill Collaro, and I departed SFO on a Saturday afternoon not sure what we would be encountering at our first EGSA Conference.  We had looked through the schedule and determined our divide-and-conquer strategy for getting the most we could in three short days.

Our first networking event on Sunday evening was terrific.  There were several people we knew and the ice was broken quickly.  We moved to the room next door for a dinner with the entire membership.  We ended up at a table with several gentlemen who worked for a company that made load bank test equipment —  an important piece of equipment for any generator service company.

We were up bright and early the next morning and had a great breakfast provided by the sponsors.  Next up a speaker who talked about interpreting body language, a must for managing staff and customers.  Then we got a walk through the engine production cycle.  Another great meal and then off to committee meetings.  I attended the Education committee and then the Dealer/Distributor committee.  Got great updates for the EGSA Technician Certification process and observed a roundtable on Customer Service.  Jill saw how the process worked for setting up the Fall Conference in Colorado.  The Awards Banquet and Dinner were great.  It is amazing to see the dedication of these men and ladies to developing  industry standards, education programs and networking opportunities.   We were amazed at the speaker/performer who wowed us with his stories and “Sand Art” craftsmanship.  Who would have thought that stories could be told with a little music and some sand! And then off to the gym we went to work off the fabulous dinner and desert!

On our final morning we worked our way through the exhibitor showcase and then off to learn how to “Ignite Passion in the Workplace”.  Lots of great nuggets but what stuck with me was how it is a group effort to keep or lose business.   The importance of every single position and how it impacts the customer experience was emphasized.  Our final learning opportunity came with the “Stand Out” speaker.  He really got me thinking about how our marketing works, or doesn’t, to differentiate us from our competitors.  Lots of work to do in this area!

Since we had a long flight ahead of us to the West Coast, we decided to forego the afternoon networking activities.  Time to get home and put in place all the great stuff we had learned.

It was great to be a part of EGSA’s 50^th year celebration and we are looking forward to the next conference in Colorado.