AC Live: And That's a Wrap

The 2021 AC Live Conference and Expo is in the books! Texas Air Conditioning Contractors Association (TACCA) staff and board members had a great time meeting and visiting with attendees and vendors at the show. The lake view was beautiful, the light in the exhibit hall welcoming, and the wind, well that was just an added bonus to make walking from the exhibits to the continuing education sessions more interesting.

AC Live by the Numbers

3 TACCA staff members

8 approved hours for license renewal

9 great speakers

11 TACCA board members

11 continuing education sessions

11 casino tables

13 conference sponsors

21 mph winds – which the National Weather Service classifies as a “fresh breeze”

32 exhibiting vendor booths

42 pounds of macaroni and cheese

67 vendor representatives

80 attendees

257+ days of planning

The conference kicked off with an opening welcome from myself and TACCA Vice President Roland Arrisola. Sponsor JB Warranties introduced Clint Swindall, author of “Tell Me Something Good” and our keynote speaker on Engagement in a Post-Pandemic World. My takeaway from this session: The attitude you bring as a leader will ripple through your organization. You choose to bring a positive outlook or negative, and in this post-pandemic working environment, where HVAC companies are competing with McDonald’s, Amazon, and other non-HVAC businesses for staff, your employees are less likely to tolerate a negative working environment. Acknowledge the bad stuff – but focus on the good.

Throughout the conference there was a total of eight breakout sessions covering topics including Estate and Business Planning, Best Practices of VRF, Training to Turbocharge Your Technicians, and Comprehensive Review of Residential Duct Efficiency. General session speaker Dave Squires gave an informative session on Managing Your Techs to Stay, which dove into making your company one that employees want to work for through benefits, transparency, and company culture. The conference wrapped up with Texas Law and Rules delivered by William Weatherly, ACR Program Chief at Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR).

Thursday night saw a wonderfully delicious macaroni and cheese bar for the Welcome Reception in the exhibit hall, where attendees and vendors had a chance to visit and grab a bite to eat before heading over to the conference social event, Casino Night. Attendees and vendors that joined in the social were treated to an evening of blackjack, craps, roulette and Texas Hold’ em, and a chance to win a small prize at the end of the night. From the whooping and hollering at the tables, a fun time was had by all!

During the Friday luncheon, attendees heard a legislative wrap-up and update from Shannon Noble, who has represented TACCA and the HVAC industry’s interests for 25 years. Shannon highlighted the registration fees that should no longer be charged by municipalities, and other bills TACCA worked on or monitored this year, including the reauthorization of the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners, reauthorization of TDLR, and a bill related to manufacturer’s warranties. In total, TACCA closely tracked 137 bills during the regular session.

Roy Jones, 2019 TACCA President, followed up with information about TACCA PAC (Political Action Committee), the fund that allows TACCA to support HVAC-friendly policymakers. While many do not like to get into politics, there are simply two options for the HVAC industry – be involved in the legislative process, or have others determine how HVAC and small businesses operate. TACCA PAC collected almost $3,000 for the fund after Roy’s message. A big thank you to everyone who contributed. If you would like to support TACCA PAC, online contributions can be made here.

A final closing from Roland Arrisola summarized what he learned at a supply shortage panel hosted by TACCA Greater Houston at the end of September. With representatives from ACES, Lennox, Century A/C Supply, Johnstone Supply, Hunton Distribution, and Johnson Supply on the panel sharing information about global issues affecting production, transportation, and distribution – such as labor shortages, difficulty getting shipments imported into the U.S., a shortage of truck drivers – it is imperative that contractors prepare for continued challenges over the next two years. Not a sunny outlook for the foreseeable future, but knowledge is power. Knowing what we’re up against helps us brace for the difficulties.

Based on the preliminary survey responses received from attendees and exhibitors so far, the conference was well-received. We know there are some changes that can make the next conference better, and we are taking every comment to heart as we plan to be back at Lakeway Resort on October 27 and 28, 2022. Here are just a few of the positive comments that have been shared.

“Speakers were great and topics were relevant”

“2 thumbs up on planning & execution. Looking fwd to next conference”

“We very much enjoyed this event! Can’t wait for the next one!”

“Great program, quality speakers, professionally executed - well done!”

“The conference size was perfect and gave it a small, intimate feel.”

We are glad to hear that everyone enjoyed the speakers and topics, as that is the foundation of the program. As we begin to plan the next meeting, we will continue to look for topics that are timely and relevant to help contractors in their business. If you have suggestions for topics or speakers, feel free to contact me.

I am so thankful for the help received from friends, colleagues, the hotel, the TACCA board, and the rest of the TACCA team – Emily and Cindy – in planning, preparing for, organizing, and pulling off this year’s conference. Having worked, but never fully planned, a number of large and small conferences in the last 20 years, it is impossible to know the amount of detail and logistical planning that goes into every aspect of an event until you are in the thick of it. It was a great relief to roll out the exhibit décor at the end of the conference with very few hiccups! I hope to have all of the conference photos available to share soon. In the meantime, I hope you have enjoyed a few advance photos.

Thank you for attending, and if you didn’t get a chance to attend this conference, we hope to see you next year!