January 20, 2010
1:00 PM	A-1: Basic Marketing for Contractors Robert Rooks SealMaster North Carolina Before you can do the work you�ve got to get the job, and this pavement maintenance industry veteran with a strong marketing background will help get you and keep you on the right path to marketing your business. You�ll learn the 4 Ps of marketing, how each impacts your business, and how you can use them to your advantage. You'll learn about the importance of image and advertising, including how to match specific types of advertising to specific types of clients and target healthier business sectors in an unhealthy economy. Plus, learn the value of local involvement, how to develop and maintain a database, and how to get radio or TV exposure for free! What you learn here will give you plenty to do this winter so you can line up work to kick-start your season. Remember, good marketing leads to sales beyond just being a good contractor!
1:00 PM	A-2: Time-Saving Solutions for Managing Your Electronic Office Giselle Chapman Chapman Business Solutions Time is money, and the better you manage your time, the more time you have to make sales, work in the field, and improve your business. This new session addresses the top "time thieves" in many companies - dealing with e-mail, managing your "to do" list, and calendar coordination. You'll learn about the necessary tools - tools you already have on your computer -- that will help you get time back in your work day. You'll learn how to reduce email volume, how to create a robust subject line, and how to improve the quality and effectiveness of emails. Plus, take home tips on how to touch emails only once - keeping your inbox clean, and how to use the task list to prevent tasks from slipping through the cracks. Come learn how to get the most important things done first, every day!
1:00 PM	A-3: Understanding Sealer Additives; How to Do More Work, Better Mark McLeod Maintenance Inc. Sealer additives are one of the most misunderstood and misused aspects of the sealcoating business and this new session by an expert on additives and sealcoating will help you get more material down properly and help you provide greater value to your customers. You'll learn about the variety of additives available to sealcoaters, advantages and disadvantages of each additive type, when (and when not) to use additives, and how to match the additive to the pavement. You'll also learn the impact additive use has on sand loading and sealer mix design, and the proper steps to follow when including additives in your mix design. Plus, learn how various additives affect the sealer and what that means for your crew's approach to the job. Take home additive "best practices" you can apply to your very next job!
1:00 PM	A-4: Better Crack Repair for Contractors Michael Delli Deery American Sealing cracks is one of the fastest-growing segments of the pavement maintenance industry, and this "how-to" session will enable you to complete the crack repair job from beginning to end effectively and profitably. You'll learn about cutting-edge crack repair technology, from cold pour efforts to the oil-jacketed hot-pour kettles that pump material into cracks under pressure, as well as techniques to more effectively repair cracks. Emphasis is on the causes and location of cracking, and on how to properly prepare cracks for sealing - including routing, cleaning, and drying. Different types of crack filling materials will be discussed. Help your clients extend the life of their pavement - and add significant dollars to your bottom line - by properly repairing cracks in asphalt concrete pavement. Information you can take right out to the job site and put to work!
1:00 PM	AC-1: Make Big Paving Profits on Small Paving Jobs Tom Skinner Skinner Consulting Services You can make big profits by doing small jobs efficiently, and this new session by a noted paving consultant will show you what you need to do to pocket those big profits while doing quality work. You'll learn how labor costs can escalate when paving small, tight areas and why planning -- from trucking to paving to handwork and compaction -- is the key to reducing your labor cost on small projects. And once your paving plan is in place you'll learn how to execute it, making the job appear as if it had been laid in one pass. Proper handwork, preventing birdbaths, and using the right equipment to obtain proper compaction density will also be covered. You'll leave this session knowing that "Get in, know where you are going, and get it done right the first time" are the keys to higher profits on small jobs.
3:00 PM	A-5: Tightening Your Belt without Sacrificing Excellence Brad Humphrey Pinnacle Development Group Why is it that some contractors look for shortcuts whenever times get a little rough? Now is not the time to bend to what is easiest or might "save a buck" when it comes to sacrificing the quality and reputation that you have spent a career developing. Let Brad Humphrey encourage you with some great tips and techniques to tightening your money belt without sacrificing the excellence you're known to produce. You�ll learn to define what you really stand for, re-think "customer freebies," add services that compliment your firm's skill sets, expand your sales effort by engaging "volunteers," Business 101 tips ( including leasing, "flex-hours," preventive maintenance, performance incentives, and more. Every contractor needs to tighten his belt and therefore needs this workshop. Putting off those personal "wants" will help short-term but it will also take some very basic business decisions that look for every cost-effective opportunity possible to saving a dollar without giving up any ground of excellence.
3:00 PM	A-6: Writing an Effective Marketing Plan Harry Ponder Carolina Business Services & Training Every contractor knows marketing is essential, but how exactly do you go about it? This new session will help owners and managers put into writing a plan of action to meet your company's marketing goals and objectives. You'll learn why you even need a marketing plan, the four essential elements every marketing plan needs to be successful, how to determine your marketing goals, how your competitors affect your marketing plans, how to position yourself in your market, as well as tools to help you determine your market niche. Take home the steps to take to write your marketing plan, including the forms and materials that can help you produce a workable plan that will give you the competitive edge you desire.
3:00 PM	A-7: Improving Your Infrared Pavement Repair Operation Tom Eosso Eosso Brothers Paving Learn how to integrate infrared repair equipment into your pavement maintenance operation in this contractor-focused session presented by a veteran infrared repair contractor. You'll learn about the infrared process and how to perform the work, plus you'll "work through" examples - complete with photos and on-the-job video - of the unusual variety of jobs that can be completed successfully using infrared technology. And, you'll take home specific infrared techniques and approaches you and your crew can rely on in the field to make infrared pavement repair an efficient and profitable addition to your services. For any contractor doing - or considering - infrared repair.
3:00 PM	A-8: How Tire Selection and Maintenance Impacts Your Bottom Line Noel Hickman Bridgestone Americas Tire Operation It's no surprise to contract sweepers that tire replacement costs can consume a large portion of any wear parts budget - and be a drag on your profitability. But you can extend tire life and reduce your tire costs through proper selection, reducing "normal" wear and tear, improving tire care and maintenance, and reducing driver abuse. In this session developed specifically for sweepers you'll get a solid understanding of tire basics from the inside out, including tire terminology (size, type, pattern, load rating) and why it's important. You�ll learn about the different types of tires, how to match tire type and size to each vehicle and application, and what happens when you match incorrectly. Plus, get an answer to the question, "Are retreads worth my money?" You'll take home a "dollars-and-sense" understanding of what proper selection and maintenance can mean to your bottom line.
3:00 PM	AC-2: Taking Full Advantage of your Free-Floating Screed Tom Skinner Skinner Consulting Services One of paving's greatest innovations is the free-floating screed, but do you take full advantage of all it can do for you? By gaining a solid understanding of how the free-floating screed functions and the forces that enable it to lay a quality mat you�ll learn how you can control those forces to make sure your screed functions optimally. You'll learn the difference between lamination and leveling, the difference between laying by depth (pounds per sq. yd.) or making it smooth, then you'll learn and how to determine which the job requires and how to control the screed forces to produce a quality mat no matter which technique the job requires. Take home tips on protecting your screed while heating it up, how the screed can help you achieve density across the full width of the mat, and the operational differences between variable width and fixed width screeds and tamper bar screeds vs. vibratory screeds.

* Schedule subject to change.