I finally got back on the convention circuit this year. The last event I attended pre-pandemic was the 2020 AHR Expo that was held early February. About a week-and-a-half ago I was in Kansas City for PHCC CONNECT 2021 (you can read our coverage of the show in this month’s feature, which starts on pg. 18)—which means I’ve been out of circulation nearly 20 months. And let me just say, I was nervous about getting back out there.
My job, like almost every job—except lighthouse keeper or night watchman—has a social component. The networking, schmoozing, and rubbing of elbows. For some people the social element of their work is the easiest, most enjoyable part of their job (some of the sales guys I work with are like that). And for some people it’s an effort, and I have to put myself in the second camp. Will I talk too much and annoy people? Will I talk too little and bore people? Will I say something dumb and embarrass myself? It’s High School all over again.
I shouldn’t have worried. I got to meet co-workers that have only been faces on screens or text in the bodies of emails up until now. I got to meet people I’ve interviewed, CEOs of major corporations, guys just minding the booth, persons on the edge of retirement, and even long-time rivals in the trade press—everyone at the show seemed universally glad to see one another. Everyone seemed kind, generous, careful of one another.
I think part of that was due to the show itself. One of my sales guys once called it “The Goldilocks Show,” because it’s not too big, it’s not too small, it lasts just long enough, and everyone you want to see is there. It’s a group of people who, in many cases, have given their lives to the industry and gather, not just to do the important business of the PHCC-NA, but to celebrate what that industry has given them: lives and livelihoods they find worthwhile, rewarding and fulfilling.
I think part of it, also, was the sense that the pall that has hung over the industry, the country and the planet is finally lifting as the pandemic comes under control. And as it does there comes this sense of how things have changed, and of course the question, “What comes next?”
Several sessions I attended at the show tried to answer that question. A lot of the leading indicators (such as housing permits) point to a slowdown for residential construction in particular and the US economy in general. Not a double-dip recession, but a slower pace of growth than we’ve seen the past year when consumer spending skyrocketed. On the other hand, that slowdown should mean that a lot of the supply chain issues plaguing the country will have a chance to work themselves out. Commercial construction, hard-hit by the pandemic, could start to see an uptick.
In Washington there is a push for higher energy efficiencies spurring new regulations as well as new subsidies. Right now, that push seems to be mainly complicating the lives of manufacturers, but it will soon be affecting your business as well. And everyone is still waiting to see what the final infrastructure package will look like, and whether it will spark a boom in construction. Meanwhile, finding good employees will continue to be a challenge—maybe the biggest challenge—across the industry.
Still, for all the challenges and potential pitfalls, the feeling I took away from Kansas City was a positive one. There seemed a sense of renewal, of reset. I hope it means good things for 2022 and beyond.