Rothacker Reviews

The Technician Shop

The Technician Shop is a career, work, education and life resource for technicians.  A technician is a person who works in a residential or commercial setting to repair, replace, maintain or install various things.  From an A/C technician to a window cleaner to a landscaper with a million professions in between.

I created The Technician Shop to help technicians grab hold of their career, work, education and life.  So often I would hear, "my manager doesn't appreciate and recognize me for what I do."  While management should be held accountable for their inadequacies, I must ask, "are you doing everything necessary to be appreciated and recognized?"  Most likely, on this two way street, both parties are at fault.

My message is: Perform your work with passion, care and quality.  Design both a career and educational plan and follow them.  Do it to the point that you can hardly not be appreciated and recognized.  Take care of your health, family and life. 

I'll be reflecting more about this endeavor here at Rothacker Reviews. 

Stop over for a visit and let me know what you think.

What's Up With The Alien Dave? Part IV

The heavy hatchet of censorship tried to get us...

From day one to the last day that AREA51HVAC.COM was alive, an air of positiveness coursed through our code.  Although, due to various articles written about us, our names were publicly associated with the site, we never once mentioned our real names online nor did we ever mention the company that we worked for, until the very last day.

Large companies did not take the time to understand what we were all about.  Fortunately, industry consultants, journalists and small company owners did.  We worked for a very large company.  When news reached upper levels of management that I would be attending a national trade association event, they approached me and said that I was not allowed to talk about AREA51HVAC because I was going on their dime.

Can you imagine?!  I was only attending this event.  I was not a speaker or involved in any other manner than that of trying to enhance my knowledge.  Needless to say, I not only talked about A51, I passed out book markers with our information.  And, in the largest attended seminar of the event the facilitator, unknowing to me, did a segment on our site!

The industry-wide corporate attitude towards Web sites like ours reflected a reluctance to entertain new ideas, to learn, develop and grow.  It was very frustrating. Although there are progressive organizations like the Service Roundtable, that do push this industry forward, the backwoods mentality still persists.

I am forever grateful for the opportunity to have worked with Tom and Steve on A51 and for the relationships that we developed and the doors that were opened.  The Starship screams through space today, terrorizing the boundaries of status-quo, at least within my mind.

What's Up With The Alien Dave? Part III

...and so we built a Starship.

Although sitting around the Campfire was a cross-pollinating experience chock full of learning from different corners of the HVAC industry, it was passive.  We needed to mobilize and move forward.  Here's how the Starship did just that:

She travels at speeds beyond human comprehension. Her size fluctuates according to occupants. Her structure is metamorphic, ever-changing as it incorporates the new technology and business ideas of those on board. The Starship Cruiser is a vehicle built to vaporize boundaries and limitations. She will take us to the very brink of our imaginations. And with but a glimpse of visions to be, she engages the afterburners…………….blasting us forward, screaming to shatter the barriers of conventional thinking and complacency. How can a ship accomplish such noble tasks you ask? Because her fuel is the collective passion of those on board. The passion to learn, share knowledge, information and ideas. Through this collaborative effort she reaches destinations impossible for one human being...or Alien.

We had a blast!  Just three guys who wanted to push our industry forward.  We gained a small amount of notoriety within the profession and were being compared to other online trade businesses.  (we didn't make money from our endeavors).  And then later on that year, the Man paid us a visit.  He brought with him the heavy-handed hatchet of censorship...or tried to.

What's Up With The Alien Dave? Part II

In 1996 the Internet allowed my personal learning to go on steroids.  For two years I perused industry sites and ate up any morsels of information that I could get my hands on.  Then in 1998 I ran into a Wall.

Work continued to be a drag in 1998 with the exception of two hombres.  Tom and Steve.  My title was commercial service manager and Tom and Steve were high end service techs.  They also shared my passion to learn.  The three of us discovered The Wall at DanHolohan.com. This was the name of the area on Dan's site where others in our industry who were as passionate to learn as us, hung out.  It has evolved today to HeatingHelp.com. It was beautiful man.  Then we got the idea to launch our own site.  The goal was to get people from every corner of our industry to join in our community to share information, knowledge and ideas.  

One day, Tom was working in his garage.  He was always performing experiments with electronic and mechanical objects.  His neighbor walked into his laboratory and said, "My God Tom, this looks like AREA 51!" In January of 1999, AREA51HVAC.COM debuted.  

In the beginning we envisioned ourselves sitting inside a cave around a huge campfire that overlooked Groom Lake.  We used poetic license, our lake had water (the cave also had many air vents).  As folks would come to visit our site, they would take a seat around the campfire.  Knowledge, information and ideas turned into stories.  And stories turned into learning.  The atmosphere was electric, eclectic and energetic. 

Soon however, we began to run out of room inside of the cave.  So we built a Starship...

What's Up With The Alien Dave?

I would like to share the part of my journey where the Alien came into my life.  I will do this over four posts.

Well it's about time you put your picture up on the site Davo!  Now you know we gotta ask about that Alien on your shirt...

Yes I do.  It all began about ten years ago when three guys were sitting in a cave around a campfire overlooking Groom lake...

Actually it started twenty-five years ago when I began my career in the HVAC industry. (Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning). I began as a truck driver.  After working for one month I developed an insatiable desire to learn more about the business.  I was given the keys to the office and would come into work an hour or two early everyday to read as much material as I could get my hands on.  I studied the technical side of the business for the first four years.  I then transitioned to the business side.  Following one year as a driver I got into service operations and have had the position of manager attached to my title until January of 2009, when I resigned.

The year was 1993 and fulfillment slowly began to slip away from the day job.  So I started joining industry associations and turbo-charged my effort to learn.  In 1994 I became aware of the Internet.  Rosemary began to research computers in 1995.  She obtained a year long subscription to Computer Shopper and read every issue from cover to back.  That was when the magazine was nearly two inches thick.  We bought our first computer in 1996 and hitched up our wagon to the Internet.

That was the year that Dave became a closet extrovert.

Alien part II

Alien part III

Alien part IV

Air Conditioner Scandal in Tampa?

Could you imagine the cost of running a full page ad in the Tampa Tribune since October?  The ad talks about  a federal law which prohibits air conditioning manufacturers from making units of a certain energy rating on or after January 23, 2006.  Today.  The air conditioning contractor listed in the ad is offering to send someone out to perform an air conditioner life expectancy check-up -  for free. 

For the record, I am not saying that just because a company spends a small fortune in advertising and then offers to send someone out to your house for free to check out how long they think your a/c will last...I am not saying or implying that they are doing anything scandalous. 

If you live in the Tampa Bay area and have seen these ads or have seen the article in the Tribune that discusses these ads, and would like to know what the deal is - from a person who has been in the profession for twenty-two years, post a comment here or drop me an e-mail.  I'll also tell you a few things that the ad and article do not tell you.

Design: HVAC in 2006 Part II

Mr. Jones hits fifty this year.  There are two things he wants to accomplish in 2006.  One is to take the family to Disney World.  The second is to purchase a Harley-Davidson motorcycle .  His heating system breaks down in February.  The event catches him by complete surprise.  His a/c guy never mentions what bad shape the overall system is in.  In fact, he needs to replace the cooling unit as well.  Now Mr. Jones is pissed.  He can't trust his a/c guy and he will have to call additional companies out to give him estimates.  Mr. Jones tells the contractors he has a very limted amount of cash, but they keep telling him he needs a system which will provide him comfort and save money in utilities.  Soon panic sets in and Mr. Jones blocks everything out but the lowest price, afterall, he just needs heating and cooling.  As the contractors do not seem to be listening, the negotiations begin to deteriorate, breaking down to conflict and agitation.  Ironically, Mr. Jones visited three Harley shops and never once noted the utter disgust from sales folks as he did the a/c salesmen.  And, for him personally, it was a delight to talk about various bike options and ideas. 

Mr. Jones needs a system that will heat and cool his house.  There is no correlation between comfort, Disney World and the Softail and there never will be for him.  Mr. Jones, with grandchildren and one kid still in college, while his wife still works, is not unlike millions of other baby boomers - lifestyle is of utter importance. 

There is no delight for the person who must pick out a casket for a relative and there is no delight for a person who must purchase an air conditioning system.  The sooner a/c contractors realize this, the sooner they can concentrate on financing lifestyles.

In the future, customers will simply purchase conditioned air.  Choices will include:

• High Efficient Air - The contractor will provide a system that is designed to minimize utility expenditure.  Initally, the cost per month will be more, but will be offset by lower gas and electric bills.  After install costs have been reduced, so too will the price of conditioned air.  All maintenance and repairs will be covered for the contract's duration.  Microprocessor based equipment will monitor utility useage and limit consumption.  The homeowner will have over ride capabilities.  The overall strategy of this system is to take monies that would be spent on utilities and apply them toward financing lifestyles.

• Comfort Air - For some customers, clean and comfortable air might be important.  Elderly customers or those with allergies might be examples.  The contractor will design the system and cost will be in accordance. 

Options like these lend more separation to customer's wants and needs.  The customer who doesn't want comfort, doesn't have to pay for it. 

The aging of the contractor's workforce will necessitate change.  The days of the mainstream craftsman will soon be gone.  For the most part they are gone today, but work methods have not changed.  We see less experienced workers trying to perform the work of a craftsmen and what you have is a product that will not work.  (The average homeowner thinks it does, but it doesn't) 

The future will yield installation practices so simplified, a Micky Dees worker with one week of training under supervised guidance could install a more functional and correctly working system than what is being delivered today.  This is our industry's soft spot.  This is where that hybrid company I spoke of in Part I will attack.  They will slice and dice unnecessary waste and complication from the soft flesh of our underbelly.

A simplified installation practice is one of the contractor's key components in the delivered air package. 

 

Design: HVAC in 2006

Matt Michel, CEO of the Service Roundtable , asks his clients to look ahead to 2006, and make predictions as to where they see the air conditioning industry and their business heading.  The question is asked on a private discussion list.  I believe Matt is regularly in contact with somewhere around fifteen-thousand people and my guess is the discussion list hits about a quarter of these folks.  As of yesterday, I think two people had responded.  The holidays might have contributed to the low response.  I search for excuses because nowhere in the air conditioning industry will you find a group of people with more heart, more knowledge and more desire to improve their positions, both personally and biz wise.

I would like to present my viewpoint here at Rothacker Reviews so as not to tie up the discussion list and maybe, just maybe, expose some of these good people to the leadership and management coaches who often stop by here.  For my HVAC (heating, ventilating and air conditioning) friends: check out the Most Excellent Folks column on your left.

HVAC in 2006:  Change will occur in increments invisible to the human eye.  The force necessary to overcome the A/C world's inertia is beyond comprehension.

Pressed to predict the future, I will say this.  Major change will come to the residential side of the HVAC industry one day.  And when it comes, there will be no inert mass of people to overcome.  It will completely bypass the ninety-four percent crowd.  This is the amount of contractors in the industry today who fight change as if Hitler himself were leading the charge.  A popular view is one where the equipment manufacturers or Sears or Home Depot might swoop in and redo the landscape.  I don't think so.  I believe it will come from a hybrid company whose parts have perfected lean manufacturing, advanced/inexpensive technology and possess the ability to educate and mobilize a whole new workforce.  The catalyst for change will become more profound as the workforce ages.  Less people to do the work will force the issue.  Look for an Asian company, a major world finance company and a Microsoft and a Wal-Mart type of company to combine and pull this off. 

I believe an organizing impetus for change will be a redefinition of what type of business HVAC contractors are in.  A popular view is the contractor is in the comfort business.  Actually this viewpoint demonstrates advancement.  As the railroad industry did not evolve into the transportation industry, the HVAC industry did evolve into the comfort industry - kind of (the six percenters).

People however do not care about comfort.

"You are wrong David, dead wrong."

Perhaps to a degree, you are right.  But let's try something out.  Greater comfort equals a consistent temperature, humidity and clean indoor air environment in your house.  You mention to your contractor, while she is out performing preventive maintenance on your system, that one bedroom will not cool and you are interested in improving the indoor air quality.  She offers you sound solutions that will fix the problems and cost you about three-thousand dollars.  All of a sudden you begin to back peddle - and redefine your definition of comfort.  Yes, you would like to install  air purification equipment equipment and remedy uneven temperatures, but you would love to take the family to Disney World!

The HVAC business is not in the business of providing stuff people love.  But it could be in the business of financing lifestyles of love.  I will present an example and carry on this discussion with an emphasis on Design and the HVAC biz.