Opening General Session Speaker: General Stanley McChrystal

Few leaders can claim to have overcome obstacles as large as those faced by retired four-star General Stanley A. McChrystal. McChrystal has been praised for creating a revolution in warfare that fused intelligence and operations, retired four-star General Stanley McChrystal is the former commander of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan and Director of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) that captured Saddam Hussein and killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq. With McChrystal at the podium, NECA’s 2011 Opening General Session, Sunday, Oct. 23, 10:15 a.m., promises to be an insightful and frank discussion on what it makes to be an honorable leader in difficult times.

Earlier, during the Persian Gulf War, he served in a Joint Special Operations Task Force and later commanded the 75th Ranger Regiment. In between, he completed year-long fellowships at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and the Council on Foreign Relations.

McChrystal, a West Point graduate and former Green Beret, retired from the military in August 2010 after 34 years of service. He now serves on the board of directors for JetBlue Airways and the Yellow Ribbon Fund, a new advisory board to support military families. He also inspires with stories from his extraordinary career. At NECA’s opening general session, McChystal will explain his four-star management strategy – stressing openness, teamwork, and forward-thinking.

>> Learn about all the General Sessions at NECA 2011 San Diego

And We’re Live on NECAConvention.org!

The website for NECA 2011 San Diego, www.necaconvention.org, is now live with preliminary information about speakers, events, the NECA Show, travel arrangements and the brand-new Energy Forum! Online registration opens June 14, and we’ll be adding updates on management seminars and technical workshops as details are as finalized.

We hope you’re as excited about NECA 2011 San Diego as we are! Check out the new site and start making your plans to join us in San Diego, Oct. 22-25! You can also get NECA 2011 San Diego updates through Twitter and Facebook.

The “Energy Manager” Revolution Begins in Boston at NECA Annual Convention and Trade Show

Thousands of electrical professionals joined the National Electrical Contractors Association for its 2010 annual convention and trade show in Boston, Oct. 2-5.

There, NECA President Rex Ferry encouraged the convention-goers to revolutionize the way they think about the electrical construction work they do. “I believe a better description for the work we do now is ‘energy manager’,” Ferry said. “We are integrating electrical systems to make buildings perform better and more efficiently than ever before. Because that’s what our customers demand from us.”

The convention and NECA Show are the premier events for the electrical construction industry, with strategies for handling the lagging construction market dominating this year’s event.

“In tough times, you have to take a step back and think about what your company’s goals are,” Ferry said. “It’s a chance to review everything you were taking for granted and maybe make some changes you wouldn’t have considered before. The contractors here at NECA 2010 Boston want to succeed, not just survive.”

NECA 2010 Boston offered the industry’s best education, networking opportunities, and market intelligence, all focused on the needs of electrical contractors working in today’s economy.

Ranging from NFPA 70E requirements to smart grid technologies to the new OSHA crane and derrick guidelines, NECA 2010 Boston offered education and insight for all building professionals, especially those looking for the latest information on green building technologies, safety innovations, and integrated systems.

Along with economic management strategies, contractors at NECA 2010 Boston are focused on the green energy market.  “Green building practices are shaping the majority of current construction projects, and smart energy choices have the greatest impact on green building,” Ferry said.

“This was my ninth NECA convention, and it was probably the best convention I’ve ever attended,” said Jeffrey P. Scarpello, Executive Director, Penn-Del-Jersey Chapter, NECA. “The programs, speakers and exhibitors were great. I heard much positive feedback from my members, many of whom are already discussing plans to be in San Diego for the 2011 NECA convention and trade show.”

The NECA Show featured over 250 exhibitors with products and services specifically for electrical contractors. The 103^rd Electricians Pipe and Drum Band, sponsored by Helmets to Hardhats, opened the Show floor Oct. 3 with great fanfare.

In addition to the trade show and educational opportunities, NECA 2010 Boston also hosted NECA’s student summit, finalist presentations in the second annual Green Energy Challenge, and inspirational keynote speeches from deep-sea explorer Dr. Robert Ballard, best known for his 1985 discovery of the Titanic and soldier Michael J. Durant, author of Blackhawk Down and In the Company of Heroes.

“I particularly enjoyed listening to Dr. Ballard on Sunday morning; in fact, I could have easily spent the rest of the day hearing about his exploits,” said Rich Wynne, Manager, St. Paul Chapter, NECA.

Seminars, workshops and other events were featured on blog.necaconvention.org, with shorter updates posted on NECA Convention’s Facebook Fan page and Twitter. Photos of NECA 2010 Boston activities will be posted on NECA’s Flickr page.

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NECA is the voice of the $130 billion electrical construction industry that brings power, light, and communication technology to buildings and communities across the U.S. NECA’s national office and 119 local chapters advance the industry through advocacy, education, research and standards development. For more information, visit www.necanet.org.

Labor Relations General Session: Making the Most of CW/CE

One important annual feature of the NECA convention is the Labor Relations General Session, which brings together NECA and IBEW leadership to discuss the workforce and management issues facing NECA contractors.

This year’s session focusing on the Construction Wireman/Construction Electrician worker classification agreements. IBEW International President Ed Hill joined NECA CEO John M. Grau, NECA President Rex Ferry and NECA Vice President for Labor Relations Geary Higgins to answer questions about how and why certain actions had been taken in creating and rolling out CW/CE in terms of market-recovery initiatives.

“I’ve said several times this past year that Ed Hill gets it,” Ferry said. “What’s different about areas where CW/CE is working are two things: trust and integrity between management and labor. That’s what really makes change like this possible.”

“The agreements do not take the place of existing agreements,” Hill said. “They’re designed to help us go after work we not currently doing. Now is the time for contractors to discuss with their IBEW counterparts what are our best chances to take advantage of those opportunities.”

Four NECA contractors then offered their perspectives and insight about how CW/CE agreements were successfully implemented in their areas: Doug Palmer, Tri-City Electric, Davenport, IA; Chris Odell, Gill Simpson Inc., Baltimore; Joe Cavanaugh, Cavanaugh Electric, Wilkesbury, PA; and Martin West, Twin City Electrict, Monroe, LA.

“CW/CE’s strengths are that it works really well on the right project,” Palmer said. “The downside is our hands are tied on the type of work CWs can perform. And this concerns our workers who wonder how they’re going to get ahead.”

“One of the best aspects of the CW/CE program is the training commitments,” Odell said. “It formalizes both an education and mentoring relationship for employees and employers. There are particular types of work CW/CEs excel at – prefab and production/installer work. It’s not a silver bullet, but it’s a fighting chance.”

Unlock Imagination to Make Great Discoveries

“Most of my greatest discoveries have been accidents,” said deep sea explorer Dr. Robert Ballard, the keynote speaker at NECA’s Opening General Session, Oct. 3. “We’ve been to the moon, we’ve been to Mars, and we’ve barely touched the unknown parts of our own planet.”

Ballard gave an in-depth talk about the value of venturing into the unknown, even when conventional wisdom says there’s nothing to be found there. “Most of our planet lives in eternal darkness, under the ocean,” Ballard said. “We actually only live on 18 percent of our planet. So you have to expand your thinking to embrace the possibilities that maybe we don’t know everything. And then you have to be willing to try something new.”

Ballards’s message was especially timely for electrical contractors who are facing the toughest market conditions in recent memory. NECA President Rex Ferry echoed Ballard, saying, “We can no longer think of ourselves as ‘just’ electrical contractors. We need to be energy managers. We need to offer our customers a total, integrated solution to their power, lighting and system needs.”

There’s no benefit to staying in the comfort zone, Ballard said. “I never know what I’m going to find when I go out on my ship, the Nautilus. But I know that we have to keep looking. We have to keep opening doors and showing school children the amazing things that make their jaws drop open.” He then flashed a picture of middle-school students watching a live feed from the Nautilus’s roving underwater submarines and his Center for Ocean Exploration and Archaeological Oceanography, an organization devoted to bringing underseas discoveries into the public realm and schools. “There’s your next scientist or engineer. There’s your next electrical contractor.”

Check out Ballard’s live feed to his ship’s exploration >>

Just Announced! Labor Relations General Session Will Focus on Market Recovery Initiatives

There are many changes coming this year for labor relations. The IBEW has embarked on a nationwide campaign to recover the work that the unionized electrical construction industry is currently not doing. Monday’s general session program at NECA 2010 Boston is about illuminating those changes to make you, the NECA/IBEW contractor, more competitive in today’s marketplace.

The program will open with a roundtable discussion including NECA President Rex Ferry, NECA CEO John M. Grau and IBEW President Ed Hill on the competitive issues and changes that are taking place in our industry. The discussion will be followed by a presentation featuring four NECA members from around the country who have successfully put these new “market recovery” programs to work. Don’t miss it!