Tradeshows are an excellent way to expand your knowledge and your network. Industry expos can also be socially awkward. Meeting new people can be harrowing. This is true whether you have been to several large events or you are attending your first convention. One creative way I have found to force myself to meet new people is to try to meet a member from every state at larger industry events. This practice gives me a goal, forces me out of my shell, and has opened up some fun conversations.

READ MORE: C&R Article - Embracing the Social Awkwardness of Industry Tradeshows 
WATCH the video recap (Below) 

Pete Consigli makes Downey Guest of Honor at the Winter Break Banquet & Networking Dinner on February 2nd, 2024. 

Press Release by Pete Consigli:
e-mail: [email protected], phone: +1-813-758-2801

Industry Icon John Downey announced his retirement at Restoration Winter Break held at the Fairfield Inn by Marriott in Bonita Springs Florida from February 1 to 3, 2024. 

Winter Break Host and Conference Facilitator Pete Consigli made John Downey the guest of honor at the Winter Break Banquet and Networking Dinner on February 2nd, held at DeRomos La Fontana Banquet Room in the Bonita Bay Promenade in Bonita Springs.

Downey addressed the Winter Break Banquet delegates during the dessert and coffee service giving a heartfelt retirement message to his many friends and colleagues in attendance. John submitted his career biography (include below) which was printed in the Winter Break 2024 digital program in his final industry role as the lead moderator for the
Winter Break 2024 Conference.

When was the last time you reviewed and updated your job descriptions?

• Do they reflect what you value as an organization?
• Do they accurately reflect the roles and responsibilities of the position you are hiring for?
• Do they map out a path to success for the recruit as well as the supervisor?

In this short clip from Episode 112 of The DYOJO Podcast, we encourage business owners and managers to review and rethink the standard job description. Achieve better outcomes in recruitment, hiring, development, and employee retention by updating these processes to reflect your unique culture.⁠

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Transcript 

Really rethinking the job description? I think that fork forces us to rethink what do we actually want from this position. And I don't really care. I don't care that company A calls this a project manager and this is what the script is. Or they call this an estimator. That's a lead tech, what matters in your company? For this need, this is what we have a need for. What does that look like in our company? Let's get that on paper, you've got to show them a path to success. Let's think through as we're bringing this person in these will be your pathways to success. This is what success will look like first 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, and then we'll review it after you know, the first year. 

Probably first 90 days, you may think you made a mistake. But just stick through it, you know, do the things we're asking you to do. I don't think we're setting you up for failure with what we're asking you to do, we have a pretty good idea of what we want that to look like, clear job description, a pretty clear plan, you've got to show them a path to success. The trick there being is there's only so much even the project manager that we just trained. There's only so much I can prepare you for. And then it's learn as you go, you know, there's only so much I can show you before it just kind of unless you're doing it, you're not going to make the mistakes that force you to learn. You've got to show them a path to success.

On the flip side, have you ever worked with the lazy Boomer didn't want to pull their weight or felt like they'd put their time in? Recently we hired a project manager with no construction experience no prior project management, direct experience. I talked a lot about in the new book P2T as well as in the project management book about relevant experience, we have this tendency to think, man, if someone has construction experience, there'll be a great project manager. Well, the reality is the majority of project management in our industry and most construction industries is a lot of customer interaction and interacting with subcontractors and trades people and carpenters and employees by mindset change. And so the people management kind of gets overlooked.

​It is good to have in obviously, we can't be doing things the wrong way. But where someone maybe has spent their whole life developing their their technical skills, maybe they haven't quite developed their personal interpersonal skills. And so that needs to be accounted for when someone's being transitioned in that role. And then if someone can come in with a customer service role, they have to have the ability to not get taken advantage of or do things the wrong way or not be able to QC a project. So we hired somebody with no prior experience and they're doing really well actually got complimented by one of our tougher subs, you know, for being on top of their stuff. You know, having good scopes good communication, good communication with the customer. 

David Princeton of Advocate Claim Service joined us for The DYOJO Podcast Episode 100. He had this piece of advice for contractors working in the complex world of restoring homes during an insurance claim.

When asked by host Jon Isaacson, David elaborated that the contractor should always use questions to discover what their customer and the insurance carrier know or understand about the loss. The customer has important details about the loss occurrence to bring to the claims process. The carrier has important details about the terms of the policy to bring to the claims process. 

Whether a claim is adversarial or not, the contractor should first listen and seek to understand what the other parties understand so that they can respond appropriately. 

The reader can hear more of this conversation with David Princeton and author Bill Wilson on The DYOJO Podcast Episode 100. The topics on this episode include matching materials for insurance claims repairs and the role of public adjusters in the claims process.