Podcast: Episode #009

Subtitle: Product Rep University

Post Date: July 25, 2019

Host: Eric D. Lussier

Co-founder of Let's Fix Construction, Eric D. Lussier returns to the mic to host the first episode since September of 2018. 

Eric eases back into the podcast by reminding the listeners how steeped in the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) that Let's Fix Construction ends up being. Eric attended CONSTRUCT, CSI's National Conference, Annual Meeting and affiliated tradeshow in Philadelphia in 2010. Thanks to the Greater Lehigh Valley Chapter of CSI, Eric got to attend his first full conference of CONSTRUCT in 2011 in Chicago and then went on to return in Phoenix in 2012, Nashville in 2013, Baltimore in 2014, St. Louis in 2015, Austin in 2016, Providence in 2017 and Long Beach, CA in 2018.

2019 will find CONSTRUCT at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center at National Harbor, MD on Wednesday, October 9th through Friday the 11th. The Education Advisory Council, that Eric has been a member of for three years now, had a chance to meet in National Harbor in November of 2018 and preview the host resort and start planning the 2019 conference.

As a building product representative, Eric implored the need to have a dedicated track for product reps. Through original programming and submitted education through the RFP process, Eric helped curate six sessions on Wednesday, October 9th and it is called Product Rep University.

Whether new or heavily experienced, the Product Rep University has been developed to help you learn and do your job better as a construction product representative. 

Session one is hosted by Mitch Miller, and is titled 'Discipline Roles & Project Goals: How Do I Fit In?' The goal is for attendees to define and recognize the primary roles of the project team, which includes the Owner, Architect, Contractor, Consultants and Product Representatives. 

Session two is co-hosted by former President of CSI, Casey Robb, and is called 'Welcome to the “Vendor” Jungle! – Moving from Vendor to Trusted Resource'.  Two of the goals of this session include recognizing the perceptions, limitations and real value clients expect in trusted relationships and how to develop a plan to move from “vendor” to “trusted resource” and gain credibility in the eyes of the client and the industry.

The third session has been touched on both in the podcast and on the Let's Fix Construction blog and is called 'Why You Need to Read Division 01 on Your Projects: The Rules of the Game', presented by Anne Whitacre, Senior Specification Writer at HOK. One of the primary learning objectives is to recognize how the various types of contract documents interlock with each other and how they describe the total scope of work.

The afternoon sessions kick off with Michael Chambers, who is a product rep and specification guru and will be delivering a session called 'Substitutions and Submittals: Not So Dirty Words'. This session will help the attendee define substitutions and identify the reasons why a substitution may or can be submitted on a project. Product reps need to know how to deal with substitutions and how you need to follow the rules in how they are submitted. The latest Let's Fix Construction blog talks more about substitutions and you can read it here. 

'Learn from Real Life Lessons and Stories from the Road' is being delivered by T.J. Gottwalt, the Strategic Architectural Account Manager at Allegion. Draw from the experiences of a "seasoned" product representative to explore what works, and doesn't work, in getting specified. T.J. has been there and done that and learn how to best be a rep.   

The Product Rep University wraps up with a special 90-minute session that is encompassed by four different 15-minute sessions with 5-minute Q&A's called 'Power 90 for Product Reps: Greetings, Meetings & More to Know'.  The Power 90 kicks off with Lauren Anderson called 'Use Your Manners (Do’s and Don’ts of Getting in the Door)' Please. Thank you. Calling ahead. Asking for a meeting. Following up promptly. These are just a few of the best practices of getting in the door at a firm and Lauren will help you with this.

Eric will personally be delivering the next session in the Power 90 called 'Networking and Social Media for Product Reps'.  Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn are all social channels to use, but CSI meetings are also great places to network and meet with people. Eric is going to do his best to deliver how best to use these channels and outlets to meet people.

An addition spec session is next in the Power 90 with 'Specifications:  How You Can Help as a Product Representative' presented by Senior Associate and Specifications at RATIO in Indianapolis, Ivette Bruns. How do you get your product(s) specified? Ivette will inform you the numerous ways you can go about working your product into a project.

The last session in the Power 90 is 'Why Wasn’t My Product Used?' with Jake LaManna, the Quality Assurance Manager at Walsh Construction Co. Are you asking the wrong questions?  Surprise, the answer is yes.  Learn how to balance the strengths and weaknesses (quality) of the product with the manufacturer’s support of the product honestly, with an eye toward growing relationships, not just growing sales

Product Rep University is just one component of this year’s CONSTRUCT show. Cherise Lakeside will host the fifth annual Emerging Professionals Day (formerly known as Young Professionals) Program on Wednesday, October 9th as well, which is built for those 35 and under to provide the attendees with the training, networking, mentoring, and education that they need to boost their careers to the next level. 

There is still time to save on your registration for CONSTRUCT, including Product Rep University and Emerging Professionals Day by signing up by August 6th at www.CONSTRUCTshow.com 

Check out more on the Product Rep University at www.CONSTRUCTshow.com/PRU. 

Podcast Introduction and Outro by Mel Allen www.therealvoice.com

Podcast Theme: "Let's" is performed by Milton Busker www.miltonbusker.com

Listen on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/5DN-LyXBWzo 

Podcast: Episode #008

Subtitle: CONSTRUCT 2018 Preview

Post Date: September 18, 2018

Hosts: Eric D. Lussier and Cherise Lakeside

Show Notes: Co-founders of Let's Fix Construction, Eric D. Lussier and Cherise Lakeside, host the latest episode and start talking about the Summer construction season

Summers as a contractor, as Eric's company is, is typically filled with project management and the physical construction of a building. However, this Summer of 2018 was filled with a heavy bidding climate for Eric, as well as many other contractors that he spoke with. Cherise, in contrast, who works in a design studio, found that 2018 has found that projects are not bidding when they would typically bid. Owners are looking for alternative methods to save money and get their projects built, including looking for alternative schedule to build. 

As a finish trade, Eric bemoans how the construction schedule typically squeezes the Division 9 contractors, especially the flooring guy, who are forced to work with other trades in the room in sub-par conditions such as non-weather tight rooms or with HVACs not running.

The skilled labor workforce is discussed briefly as Eric spoke to a large Northeast General Contractor who is tackling not one, but two large projects in Burlington, Vermont.  They presently don't envision having a labor problem themselves, but they do foresee that many of their specialty subcontractors will have issues staffing their work. The wages are out there, especially on prevailing wage projects.

Turning the page on the Summer, Fall is quickly approaching. Typically in September, CSI's annual convention and affiliated tradeshow, CONSTRUCT is held. Eric and Cherise met at CONSTRUCT in Phoenix in 2012 and then went on to attend Nashville in 2013, Baltimore in 2014, St. Louis in 2015, Austin in 2016 and Providence in 2017.  

This year CONSTRUCT moves to October 3rd to the 5th in Long Beach, California and is coming up in just two short weeks. As Eric and Cherise outlined previously on the Let's Fix Construction blog, they find themselves quite busy in 2018.
 
A new presentation debuts in 2018 for Eric and Cherise, titled 'Facing Danger: Public Speaking for Non-Public Speakers' and Eric wrote the concept for this session around Cherise's public speaking career, which launched at CONSTRUCT in Nashville five years ago.  You can read more about the CONSTRUCT session here.

The next presention hosted at CONSTRUCT will be the flagship presentation, 'Let's Fix Construction: An Interactive, Problem Solving Workshop'. CONSTRUCT in 2017 hosted an abbreviated version of this workshop, with about 150 attendees in 45 minutes.  Being given twice the amount of time in 2018, many interesting conversations will be held about hot-button issues in the industry, and given the opportunity to talk to other disciplines outside of the contract, open conversations are typically held and enjoyed.

In this year's Luncheon session is the 'Archispeak Interactive Luncheon: Real Talk About Challenges, Opportunities & Innovations Surrounding AEC Teams' hosted by Evan Troxel, Neal Pann, and Cormac Phalen. Cherise met Evan, Neal and Cormac through Twitter a handful of years ago and as a member of the CONSTRUCT Education Advisory Council, Cherise offered their name to speak at CONSTRUCT. You can check out their podcast at www.archispeakpodcast.com and more on the session here.

Cherise hosts the fourth annual Young Professionals Program on Wednesday, October 3rd, which was built for those 35 and under to provide the attendees with the training, networking, mentoring, and education that they need to boost their careers to the next level. The core session of YP Day is the two hour speed mentoring session where the attendees will meet one on one with leaders in the industry. Each party takes turns to learn more about their career paths, challenges they have overcome, and advice they have for each other. There is still time to attend YP Day at a discounted rate. Check out www.CONSTRUCTshow.com/YPday for more details on the schedule. 

The last CONSTRUCT 2018 session that Cherise is involved in is the 'POWER PANEL--Millennials as Successors: Misconceptions & Realities - Hear it from them!'  Joined by Michael Riscica (aka Young Architect), Cam Featherstonhaugh, Kyhla Pollard and Tiffany Coppock on stage, Cherise is hoping to dispel some commonly held beliefs about their generation and what they want for the future of the industry. Read more about this panel here.

Thursday night, October 4th will be the second annual Partners and Pints event with our friends at Clark Dietrich. We hosted year one at Narragansett's production brewery in Pawtucket, RI and this year we will be taking over Gladstone's at the historic Pike Pier.  FREE to attend, Partners and Pints features food, drinks, games, and giveaways and another chance to hang out with friends new and old. There is still space and still time to register at www.PartnersandPints.com

Speaking of still time to register, there is still space to attend CONSTRUCT.  All new registrants can save 20% on the education package or receive a FREE Expo pass You can use the promo code SMFB06 or visiting here.

Podcast Introduction and Outro By Mel Allen www.therealvoice.com

Podcast Theme: "Let's" is performed by Milton Busker www.miltonbusker.com 

Listen on YouTube here: ​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY-VSdZ4300&

Podcast: Episode #004

Subtitle: Pursue Opportunities at CONSTRUCT

Post Date: January 9, 2018

Hosts: Eric D. Lussier and Cherise Lakeside

Show Notes: Co-founders of Let's Fix Construction, Eric D. Lussier and Cherise Lakeside discuss CONSTRUCT (www.constructshow.com). CONSTRUCT, which will be held in Long Beach, CA from October 3-5, 2018, is the only dedicated national trade show and educational conference for the commercial building teams that spec, source and purchase building products and coincidentally, is where they met in Phoenix in 2011.  

Eric and Cherise talk about their past personal experiences at CONSTRUCT, some of the professional benefits they have received in attending and presenting, the people they have met and the value of an event that includes education from many disciplines in the built environment. 

Learning sessions at CONSTRUCT are selected by an Education Advisory board, which both Eric and Cherise took part in for Providence in 2017 and will again for 2018. 

They close the podcast with a call to the listeners to consider submitting for the opportunity to share their expertise, knowledge and solutions in a presentation at the CONSTRUCT Show.  The call for sessions is due by January 31, 2018 and information on how to submit is located here

Read a summary on CONSTRUCT in Providence 2017, including quotes by attendees & exhibitors by visiting here.

Podcast Introduction and Outro: By Mel Allen www.therealvoice.com

Podcast Theme: "Let's" is performed by Milton Busker www.miltonbusker.com 

YouTube: Also stream or listen on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/MLXScr418AE

Soundcloud: Also stream or listen on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/fix-construction/podcast-ep-004