2017 National HVACR Educators and Trainers Conference

There is still time to register for the HVAC Excellence National HVACR Educators and Trainers Conference is this coming on March 27-29 at the Florida Hotel and Conference Center in Orlando, Florida. I will be speaking at the conference and will be at the Pearson booth at the Expo. Please come by and say hello. I love to talk with other HVACR Instructors. Not an instructor? No problem. Techs and contractors are welcome as well. You can pick up on many of the latest topics. Better yet, you can meet the dedicated people teaching HVACR. You really can’t find this amount of quality continuing education anywhere else for the price of these conferences. Come and fill up at the all you can learn educational buffet being offered.

If you can find a way to attend one of this conference you won’t be disappointed. They are well worth your time. Unlike generic teacher’s conferences that target all subjects, these are specific to our field. And unlike industry showcases like ComforTech or the AHR show, these are specifically for teachers. As a result, everything you see will have a direct application to teaching HVAC/R.

I know that times are tough and getting funding and permission to go is difficult. When presenting the idea to your school administrators be sure to forward a copy of the program from the conference. The sessions at the National Educators and Trainers Conference in Orlando are high quality, professional programs, not sales pitches. The presenters are nationally recognized speakers from respected HVACR organizations. Be sure to note the large number of educational sessions. There are literally more sessions than you will have time to attend. Point out that attending will keep you informed about emerging technology like communicating systems. Point out that by attending you will be better positioned to integrate green mechanical concepts into your curriculum as a result of attending the conferences. Your attendance is tracked, so you can prove the number of hours you attended. Finally, you can get enough free instructional material and tools to help your program. Come gorge yourself at the all you can learn buffet! Here is a link for more information about the conference

https://www.escogroup.org/hvac/nhetc/default.aspx

March Madness is Here!

I am caught up in my own version of March Madness! No, not the basketball championship brackets, but the annual educational seminars and meetings that come every year in the spring. I will be speaking at HVAC Excellence National HVACR Educators and Trainers Conference in Las Vegas on Tuesday, March 22 on “Developing and Evaluating Performance Exams.” If that is not your idea of a good time, then check out some of the other 50 sessions! There will be hundreds of HVACR instructors, and 70 exhibitors showing the latest and greatest at the expo. Youi can find me at the Pearson booth where I will be showing off the brand new third edition of “Fundamentals of HVACR.”  This event is always energizing and inspiring. But wait, there’s more! I will be giving a webinar through Person on “Tips for Running an Effective Air Conditioning Lab” at 3:00 Eastern time on March 30. Please join me to learn how you can plan for success.

Sure Thing in VEGAS!

The upcoming 2014 Educators & Trainers Conference & Expo in Las Vegas is a SURE THING! You can’t lose! You won’t find this many different training sessions anywhere else, especially not for this price. The conference is from March 31 – April 2. There are over 40 sessions with top name speakers from all over the country. A big plus to a national training conference comes from networking with other instructors from all around the country. With several hundred instructors at the conference, you will most likely learn something from fellow attendees during discussions in the hall or lunch. Sharing ideas and offering support and encouragement are vital to the long term health of our industry. If you live within driving distance, this conference is definitely a no-brainer.

I know that times are tough and getting funding and permission to go is difficult. When presenting the idea to your school administrators be sure to forward a copy of the program for the conference. Be sure to note the large number of educational sessions. There are literally more sessions than you will have time to attend. There may also be topics of interest to school administrators – such as Getting Started in Hybrid Instruction, or Program Accreditation. There are also opportunities to get free equipment. At one of these conferences a few years ago I learned about the Appion program to donate recovery machines and vacuum pumps to schools. That alone would cover the cost of your trip. If all those arguments don’t work, just tell them that I will be speaking. I am sure that will seal the deal. I hope to see you all there!
You can read the details here http://www.hvacexcellence.org/nhetc/Faq.aspx

2014 HVACR & Mechanical Conference

I just got back home from the 2014 HVACR & Mechanical Conference in Baltimore. I am still sorting through all my contacts and to-do lists. Like all good things, it seemed to fly by. I learned some things, talked HVACR with old friends, and made some new friends. I am always impressed by the dedication and quality of the people who attend this conference. Jamie Kitchen gave an excellent session on CO2 refrigeration systems. Steve Coscia discussed soft skills for HVACR. Tom Grunstra discussed mini-splits. Jack Bartell gave a great overview of the new ACCA Manual Zr and John Brown covered Airflow Management with zone systems in a later presentation. There were many other excellent offerings as well - too many to mention. The two exhibit nights were lively, with several new products on display. I am sure there were many instructors who would have liked to attend but were unable to. Travel is particularly tough at many schools these days. If you missed this one, don’t despair – the Educators & Trainers conference in Las Vegas is right around the corner. I hope to see you there! You can get more info on it at http://www.hvacexcellence.org/nhetc/

75th Annual RSES Conference

The 75th Annual RSES Conference is coming November 14-17 at Isle of Palms South Carolina. RSES has been in the business of training and educating HVACR Technicians longer than most other industry organizations have been in existence. Note that this is the 75th Conference. RSES is really the only national organization whose sole mission is providing training and education for HVACR technicians. The conference has an impressive lineup of speakers and training sessions. If you live on the east coast, this is a chance to attend a major educational conference specifically for HVACR without traveling to Las Vegas or Colorado Springs. There is still time to register. You don't have to be a member of RSES to attend the Conference. However, while you are there, you can join if you like what you see. Click on these links for more information

RSES 75th Annual Conference

Conference Schedule

Educational Sessions

Exhibitors

Spring Fever!

Spring is always a busy time for events and meetings. The state SkillsUSA Championships are going on across the country. I spent the day this past Friday at the Georgia  International Convention Center in Atlanta viewing the competition. Shumate Mechanical provided all the judges for the HVACR competition. I was very impressed by the way they interacted with the students encouraging and teaching them. Kudos to Shumate for going out of their way to help with the SkillsUSA Contest. I was also impressed by the poise and professionalism of all the contestants. It is not easy to work under a microscope with judges and spectators peering at you while you work. They only had 18 minutes to complete each task, adding to the stress level. But despite these pressures, they all held up admirably. Along the way, the students competing learn more than HVACR skills, they learn something about themselves. Taking up the challenge and seeing it through requires a lot of effort above and beyond the normal demands of most HVACR programs. I was very proud of the preparation and hard work Keith Watermann from my program put into the competition and his hard work showed. The winners of the state contests will meet in Kansas City later this summer June 19-24  for the national championships. 


The National HVACR Educators and Trainers Conference starts Sunday, March 20^th in Las Vegas. However, if you are not registered already you will miss it because it is sold out. I spoke with Howard Weiss, and he said he hated to keep people out, but they have reached the maximum number of people the fire code will allow in the room! If you are lucky enough to be registered, be sure and say hello to David Skaves, my writing partner on Fundamentals of HVACR. He will be at the Pearson booth and he will be speaking at 9:15 on Monday on Strategies for Connecting with Today’s Student in the Age of Electronics. 


If you missed the Las Vegas show, you can still catch the HVACR & Mechanical Instructor’s Workshop in Landsdowne, Virginia at the National Conference Center. This longest running HVACR Instructor’s workshop was started by ARI and today is supported by an impressive list of industry heavy hitters including AHRI, ACCA, ACTE, CARE, HARDI, HRAI, NAOHSM, NATE, PHCC, RSES, SkillsUSA. It is March 23-25 and there is still room. It is too late to register online, but you can still register at the Conference Center. The Conference is free if you stay at the National Conference Center. There is a $65 per day fee if you are staying elsewhere. Freddie Williams will be there at the Pearson booth. He is the author of the MyHVACLab material. Freddie is the man to talk to if you have questions about using online material in your program. Besides being the author of MyHVACLab, he has extensive experience with both Blackboard and Angel. If you cannot go to anything this year, just remember next January to start planning your strategy for attending one of these events. It does take some planning, but it is worth the effort.  

HVAC/R Instructor's Conferences Coming in March

Two national instructor’s workshops are coming soon – one on the west coast and one on the east coast. The HVAC Excellence National HVACR Educators and Trainers Conference is this coming week March 20 – 2 at the South Point Hotel in Las Vegas Nevada. The HVACR & Mechanical Instructor’s Workshop is later the same week, March 23 – 25 in Landsdowne Virginia. This workshop is sponsored by a group of eleven industry organizations, including AHRI who initially started this annual workshop over a decade ago. Both conferences have an impressive list of speakers and topics. David Skaves will be speaking at the Las Vegas conference. He is co-author of the new AHRI text Fundamentals of HVAC/R. If you can find a way to attend one of these conferences you won’t be disappointed. They are well worth your time. Unlike generic teacher’s conferences that target all subjects, these are specific to our field. And unlike industry showcases like ComforTech or the AHR show, these are specifically for teachers. As a result, everything you see will have a direct application to teaching HVAC/R.

I know that times are tough and getting funding and permission to go is difficult. When presenting the idea to your school administrators be sure to forward a copy of the program from the conference(s) that you want to attend. Both the National Educators and Trainers Conference in Las Vegas and the HVACR & Mechanical Instructor’s Workshop have well done professional programs on the web (click on the conference name). Be sure to note the large number of educational sessions. There are literally more sessions than you will have time to attend. Point out that attending will keep you informed about emerging technology like communicating systems. Point out that by attending you will be better positioned to integrate green mechanical concepts into your curriculum as a result of attending the conferences.