Explore Renewable, Energy-Efficient Market at All-New NECA 2011 Energy Forum, Oct. 22

NECA will kick off its 2011 Convention and Trade Show in San Diego with an all-new, one-day Energy Forum for the electrical construction industry on Saturday, Oct. 22. Jon Wellinghoff, Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, will open the symposium with a keynote address, followed by panel and roundtable discussions on how electrical contractors can best help their customers meet their energy needs.

“Electrical contractors are the vital link between energy-efficient technology and cost-efficient construction,” said Stan Lazarian, President, Electric Service & Supply Co., Pasadena, Ca., and chair of NECA’s Energy Solution Task Force. “Our goal at the Energy Forum is to provide contractors and their customers with an opportunity to share what they’ve learned about working on renewable energy, energy conservation and energy efficiency projects.”

“How and where we get our energy has become a serious question for building owners, government leaders and developers. Rising energy prices and energy inefficiencies have everyone thinking about what the smart alternatives could be, but those alternatives have to make financial sense, both for the customer and the electrical contractor,” said Rob Colgan, NECA executive director, market development.

Alternative power and energy efficiency upgrades are the next boom market for contractors, Lazarian said. “But it’s hard for electrical contractors to know when it’s the right time for them to add new services to their traditional business model,” he said.

Making sense of the range of opportunities in green energy will be the focus of NECA’s inaugural Energy Forum. Speakers and session leaders will discuss the many ways electrical contractors can enter this market and what questions they need to ask before doing so.

In addition to Jon Wellinghoff, Energy Forum participants will hear from industry on energy economic modeling, the electric vehicle market, and innovative energy storage technology. The forum will discuss concrete examples of how to become an energy solutions contractor by addressing some fundamental questions, such as:

Is there a tool I can use to show realistic projections for energy and cost savings to customers?

What types of financing are available for renewable energy projects, and how could financing be impacted by future regulations?

How do we integrate renewable energy and energy efficiency to ensure reliable power?

NECA’s Energy Forum will be held at the San Diego Convention Center on Oct. 22, 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m. The cost is $129 for NECA members attending the 2011 Convention and $249 for individual registrants.  Lunch will be provided, and Forum registrants are invited to the final judging of NECA’s Green Energy Challenge, the annual student chapter design competition, at the conclusion of the Energy Forum.  Register Now>>

The “Weekend Package” includes the Energy Forum on Sat., Oct. 22, and all Sunday, Oct. 23 events, including the  Opening General Session with General Stanley McChrystal, plus all management seminars and technical workshops, the grand opening of the NECA Show and the Showstopper Showcase, tradeshow lunch and Sunday daily prize tickets. For $100 more, weekender registrants can choose the package that also includes the Opening Reception on the USS Midway. Non-member pricing is also available; press and government employees can request complementary registration by emailing Beth Margulies,beth.margulies@necanet.org.

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 >>

Prizes, Prizes, PRIZES!

In addition to the usual fun stuff you find at the NECA Show, we’ve got some great speaking drawings and raffles this year. We’ll still have the daily drawings and grand prize drawing for the event, but there are some great chances to take some an awesome souvenir from the 2010 NECA Show!

ELECTRI International’s Talent Initiative for the flat-screen TVs in the fabulous Construction Zone networking lounge. You could be enjoying your next Red Sox game from the comfort of your living room on a brand-new television, plus your raffle ticket purchase will directly help NECA’s student chapter initiatives!

ECPAC will bring its popular regional meeting prize-raffle-with-your-contribution to NECA’s national convention for the first time. This year’s daily prize will be a new iPad, the hottest tech device going these days. Take advantage of BCEC’s wi-fi on your brand new iPad!

And there will be special games and prizes for making the rounds to all of NECA’s special Energy Solutions exhibitors. Just get your card stamped by these featured “green building” exhibitors to take advantage of these new opportunities – and you’ll probably see some of the coolest smart building products on the market.

The real prize hook-up will be the technical workshops, however. Panduit will also be giving away a raffle prize for attendees at their technical workshop, too. A brand new iPod Touch could be yours just for taking advantage of the great training offered at their session, Sunday, Oct. 3 at 3:30 p.m. on Next Generation GBPS Network.

Osram Sylvania will be raffling off a  32 inch Sylvania flat screen TV at their technical workshop, Energy Saving Fluorescent Lighting Systems Technology Update, on Monday, Oct. 4, at 1 p.m.

And finally, we just learned that High Voltage will be giving away an Amazon Kindle Electronic Book Reader with Wi-Fi & 3G connectivity, that will be given away during the following Technical Workshop, Very Low Frequency (VLF) AC Cable Testing, on Monday, Oct. 4 at 3 p.m.

Prizes plus education … a winning combination at the 2010 NECA Show!