Thursday, March 24- Jim & James attended the SGA Spring Gas Conference & Expo last week and were live at our booth. Tune in and see who stopped by our booth!
Quick Links:
James Cross on Linkedin
Jim Schauer on Linkedin
Episode Transcript
[0:00] [background music]
Jim Schauer: [0:25] The best clacker all day.
James Cross: [0:29] Thank you, Ryano. You’ve made our conference already. Ryano Markings with the clacker. We’re going to leave that in the first cut.
Jim: [0:36] Let’s leave it in. Why not? That’s real and organic. James, where are we? We are here. Trade show floor, SGA.
James: [0:44] You took it out of my mouth.
Jim: [0:46] I’m too excited. Too excited.
James: [0:48] Columbia, South Carolina for anybody who’s not out. The hall is popping. We’re at lunch. We’re kicking off the show. It’s good to be alive.
Jim: [0:57] Wait a minute. Cheers.
James: [0:58] Cheers. We don’t get to do that a lot.
Jim: [1:00] No, we don’t.
James: [1:02] What’s the plan? What do you think about this week? It’s nice getting out. It’s reminiscent to fall of last year when we started easing out where everybody’s got their feelers out, see if we’re back to normal or what that normal looks like, what’s going on.
Jim: [1:21] The feel is definitely back to normal, always still a little caution going on in the marketplace, we could see that. We still have well over 600 attendees this week, 600 or 700.
James: [1:33] I haven’t heard the numbers.
Jim: [1:34] I got an official tally, unofficially from SGA, so I’ll leave it with that. What I’ll tell you the excitement, the energy that is here is great. It’s reminiscent of last fall at AGA and SGA, and we’re doing SGA now. I couldn’t be more excited to be here this week, James. It just gets me going.
James: [1:54] There’s a lot of training here too. Those that are wondering what are the other benefits other than just getting out selling, there’s a lot of training at this conference, quite a bit going on. I know you were involved in one this morning with our friends over at Magnolia.
Jim: [2:11] Hayden and a few others asked if I would step in and talk about tracing, trackability, auditability, defendability.
James: [2:19] All the abilities.
Jim: [2:21] All the abilities. It was really fun, and that’s the value of having friends in the industry where literally 10 minutes notice, they said, “Jim, can you come in just talk about tracking and traceability”
James: [2:32] We need an expert. It’s like when you spin the globe and just figure out where you’re going to go.
Jim: [2:38] Everybody else was missing, so I was the last one. I said, “Pick me for the team”
James: [2:42] They just scrolled through the app and went, “Jim Schauer, the expert.”
Jim: [2:46] It was fun. Getting up and talking in front of folks. I was in my happy place, as you could tell. It was great.
James: [2:55] This week we are…It’s Monday. We’re just getting started. It’s lunchtime. We’ve got quite a bit of time left today, and then a full day tomorrow.
Jim: [3:06] Yes.
James: [3:08] We’ve got quite a bit of work to do. We’re going to try to record as much as many of our friends, as many of the folks. We can catch speakers that are around, some of our SGA folks as well. Just try to get as much content while we’re out here.
Jim: [3:25] Absolutely.
James: [3:25] It would be awesome. Just need to look down the hall. Look, there’s Jill.
Jim: [3:29] My head’s on a swivel right now. People are popping by all the time.
James: [3:34] All the people, there’s twos or threes of people.
Jim: [3:36] Two and a halves.
James: [3:38] It’s cool. Hey Jimmy, it’s glad to be doing this with you. It’s awesome.
Jim: [3:43] I wouldn’t do it with anybody else, brother. We’re a team.
James: [3:46] Let’s hit it. Will be back in just a bit.
Jim: [3:48] See you in a few.
[3:50] We are back with our good friend, Stephanie Carlozzi.
James: [3:53] My favorite last name here, let me just say.
Jim: [3:55] From the staff of the SGA. Stephanie, what is your position with the SGA?
Stephanie Carlozzi: [4:01] I am the senior manager of finance and IT, amongst other [indecipherable] .
James: [4:04] Hold on. So you can fix my computer and launder my money?
Stephanie: [4:10] I can coordinate it to be fixed. How about that. [laughs]
James: [4:14] It’s very important.
Jim: [4:16] Can you fix our account here? Do you owe a balance or are we good?
James: [4:18] Are we good?
Stephanie: [4:20] What accountants can do is make the numbers work.
Jim: [4:23] That’s what I like.
Stephanie: [4:24] That’s what we can do.
Jim: [4:24] That is a go‑getter.
James: [4:26] [indecipherable] .
Jim: [4:26] No, jeez.
Stephanie: [4:27] I don’t.
Jim: [4:27] You’re missing out. You didn’t get that joke?
Stephanie: [4:32] I’ve heard. I got it a little bit because I’m a fun culture, social culture.
James: [4:38] All right, so finance and technology. How does someone find themselves in that world?
Stephanie: [4:44] How does someone find themselves in the association World, first of all?
Jim: [4:47] How did you? Tell us.
Stephanie: [4:49] I was so blessed to know [indecipherable] from our families in Naples, Florida, and some connections there. I got into this opportunity, and I saw the room for growth in the IT. Coming from a corporate position, you could just tell that the IT was a decade behind. Honestly, I think that’s the situation with a lot of association.
James: [5:10] We did [indecipherable] .
Jim: [5:11] We did.
Stephanie: [5:12] We’re definitely pushing that forward and moving the needle as far as updating our systems, but now that that’s [indecipherable] into a more consistent pace as far as updates, it’s more important to focus on the finances.
Jim: [5:27] Always about the money, but I will say this. From a user standpoint, your use of apps and all those things, from my perspective, is great because when you’re at the conference, you want to see what’s up next.
[5:39] I am notorious for losing agendas. Notorious, but I never lose my cell phone. I hop on there and I say, “Oh, we have to be there at 1:15. We have to be there James at 3:15,” right?
James: [5:52] How many years ago [indecipherable] ?
Stephanie: [5:55] Three years this month. I know, it’s been a crazy three years.
James: [5:59] Intense.
Stephanie: [6:00] I got to see the before, the during, and the after COVID.
Jim: [6:03] Oh, yeah. We talked about it.
Stephanie: [6:05] Are we in the after? I don’t know.
Jim: [6:06] No, we’re hoping.
James: [6:08] I hope so. Recently, we were talking to our own staff. We asked the question like, how many of you have spent more time working [indecipherable] the pandemic than not. It was wild to see the numbers. We were like 60, 70 percent of people were hired during the pandemic, or the bulk of what they’ve done is [indecipherable] . It’s a hard thing.
Stephanie: [6:37] It’s been such a quick pivot every month, I swear, in 2020. We were figuring out a new way to navigate the virtual conference training world, but I think really pushed us in a positive way to catch up.
Jim: [6:54] I think the key word that I heard there was pivot, and that is a big word for the last few years.
James: [7:00] Such a buzzword.
Stephanie: [7:01] I know, I got all the new words.
James: [7:01] There we go. Stephanie, you’re always a pleasure.
Stephanie: [7:07] Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it.
Jim: [7:11] Absolutely, thanks for joining us, absolutely.
James: [7:10] You have to join us again?
Stephanie: [7:10] Yes, sir.
Jim: [7:10] Thanks. Back in a second.
[7:14] We are back with our good friend, Mr. Randall Hackworth.
Randall Hackworth: [7:20] Good evening.
Jim: [7:21] Gentle, gentle.
James: [7:24] It’s been a while.
Randall: [7:26] It has been. Good to see you guys.
Jim: [7:28] What’s going on, Randall?
Randall: [7:29] To join the show, I got the see a bunch of good friends and walk around without a mask on. That might be controversial, but…
Jim: [7:38] That’s OK.
James: [7:39] Let’s talk about that more. I’m just kidding, let’s not. Randall, we are back. It’s kind of a vibe here.
Jim: [7:49] It’s a good vibe right now.
James: [7:49] It’s picked up this afternoon.
Randall: [7:54] It’s been better today than yesterday. All these shows, you just kind of have to find your little way in, pick up your small titbits of opportunity, and then run with it once you get out of here.
Jim: [8:04] What do you call that? Peeling back…?
Randall: [8:05] The onion?
Jim: [8:06] The onion.
Randall: [8:07] Layers. Layers of an onion.
Jim: [8:09] It happens that way, too. Sometimes one thing will lead to another, lead to another. Working at these conferences, it’s the power of our friends here that we can rely on for introductions and meeting people.
James: [8:22] Can we just address how many are in the crowd today?
Jim: [8:25] It’s a plethora.
James: [8:27] It’s maybe our biggest crowd today. All six of them.
Randall: [8:30] It’s fantastic.
James: [8:30] It’s pretty impressive.
Randall: [8:29] Couple of good looking men over there.
Jim: [8:32] Norm, I’m a little scared right now, but we’ll just leave it at that. Randall, what’s your next plan?
James: [8:41] What’s ’22 look like for Wade Trim?
Randall: [8:44] Busy. Super busy. A lot going on, lots of growth. Just got to continue the growth. Not too fast, but just continue the growth. There’s so much work out there. It’s crazy.
Jim: [8:57] One word to our audience. If they were to say to you, “How can Wade Trim help us if we are a utility or municipality?” What would you say to them?
James: [9:06] One word.
Randall: [9:06] I would say call us.
James: [9:07] That’s two.
Randall: [9:08] Call us. Isn’t that one word? Just call us.
James: [9:12] That’s a good one. All right, two words.
Randall: [9:15] That would be, “Anything you need help with, we can help you. If we can’t, we’ll find somebody that can.”
James: [9:23] Amen.
Jim: [9:23] That’s what I like. That’s the spirit. Thank you, brother. As always.
Randall: [9:28] The answer is, “Yes.”
James: [9:29] Absolutely.
Jim: [9:30] Randall, Wade Trim. Reach out to him.
Randall: [9:34] Please do. Thank you.
James: [9:35] We’ll be back.
Jim: [9:37] We’ll be back.
[9:36] We are back with our good friend Davida. I said that pronounced right, didn’t I?
Davida: [9:43] Yes, you did.
Jim: [9:44] OK. She has some great news to explain about some education program. Please, introduce yourself and tell us your organization.
Davida: [9:52] Thank you. I’m Davida Tarpley Johnson. I’m with Texas A&M University‑Commerce. I’m here to promote our competency‑based education programs, so people can leverage the information that they’ve already gained in the field and test our classes.
[10:06] Our classes are 7‑week terms instead of the traditional 14‑ to 15‑week terms. It’s $750 per term. That’s whether you take 2 classes or 10 classes, it’s $750, totally online. We have industry partners that we partner with and they helped us develop our curriculum so that our classes are specified for the field that they work in.
Jim: [10:32] Did she hit everything?
James: [10:35] Did you rehearse that?
Jim: [10:36] You did. Didn’t you?
James: [10:37] You did.
Jim: [10:38] That was that was good. Thank you for…
James: [10:42] More importantly though, you’re from Texas.
Jim: [10:44] Texas A&M.
James: [10:46] I could tell. I picked up on that.
Davida: [10:47] Oh, yeah.
James: [10:48] From Commerce?
Davida: [10:50] Texas all the way.
James: [10:52] All the way.
Jim: [10:53] What do they say at Texas A&M?
James: [10:56] We’re basically neighbors.
Jim: [10:56] Go get them. What do they say? They have 14 men on the field. What is that [indecipherable] ?
Davida: [11:01] That’s big A&M. We’re “Go Lions,” Texas A&M University‑Commerce.
Jim: [11:06] OK. I have been taught something new. I like that.
James: [11:13] I always like meeting new Texans. Good to see you, Davida. Thank you so much.
Jim: [11:17] Real quickly, what if they google…let them google something. What should they google again?
Davida: [11:23] Tamuc.edu Institute for competency‑based education programs.
James: [11:30] OK. Google it. Google it.
Jim: [11:32] Texas A&M University?
Davida: [11:33] Commerce.
Jim: [11:33] Commerce. Thanks, everyone.
Davida: [11:37] Thank you
Jim: [11:38] Thank you Davida.
[11:39] James, you know our little jaunt around the booth area? I thought we would go out and grab somebody very intriguing.
Joe Serrett: [11:46] Then you ended up with me.
Jim: [11:48] No.
James: [11:49] That’s how you stole his joke, Joe.
Joe: [11:50] Because it was so bad.
James: [11:53] It was from a mile away. From a mile away.
Jim: [11:57] All my jokes are bad. I say the same jokes over and over.
Joe: [11:56] I can see that from yesterday. What’s up, fellas? We’re in another show.
James: [11:58] We’re back. We didn’t get canceled. Not one of us.
Joe: [12:03] None.
Jim: [12:03] I almost did.
Joe: [12:06] I feel like we’re probably closer to getting canceled than you guys are. What do you think?
James: [12:10] No. I just literally told someone, I’m on a personal mission to see if this thing has value.
Jim: [12:19] It’s two years, over 100 episodes.
James: [12:22] I’m checking in on everything.
Joe: [12:23] Can you believe it’s been that long?
Jim: [12:25] Yeah, well. No, and yes.
Joe: [12:27] We talked about the first year, right? We’re like, “Oh, my God. We’re still doing this after a year.” Now we’re two years in.
James: [12:33] Yeah. We just set up. I think this week, we set up kind of a reunion.
Jim: [12:39] There are more guests who want to be on our show right over here. They’re waiting.
Joe: [12:39] They’re waiting to take my seat.
James: [12:40] This past week, we set up a reunion for our first mashup. You all are coming up on 100, right?
Joe: [12:49] No, we’re not there yet. I might be wrong, but I think we’re just at 90 or 91 or something like that. We fell behind because you guys put out all the AGA stuff.
James: [13:01] Ssh. Don’t tell people…
Jim: [13:02] That’s a dark secret, Joe.
James: [13:04] how we cheated.
Jim: [13:05] We didn’t cheat.
James: [13:06] We sprinted ahead.
Jim: [13:08] We extended things.
Joe: [13:08] I actually think that you guys…
Jim: [13:10] We maximized it.
James: [13:10] Innovative.
Joe: [13:11] I was actually going to give you credit. I thought that you guys did a really good thing doing what you did. It didn’t hit like we wanted it to for AJ. We recorded a lot of content, but we just didn’t get a lot of it out, and then it got so late, then we were like, “Eh.”
Jim: [13:26] Well, that’s the one thing we had with the team behind the scenes. The Ashleigh’s…
James: [13:31] The team back, yeah. There is literally one behind the…yeah.
Jim: [13:35] The Clintons, the Amys, the Antonios, the Scotts, the Kaylees. Did I leave anybody?
James: [13:37] They’re just pumping things back.
Joe: [13:36] You guys have a whole team. We don’t have that support structure.
James: [13:41] You all have Chad.
Joe: [13:42] We have Chad.
James: [13:43] Who’s amazing, but he’s still just Chad.
Joe: [13:46] He’s marginal. I love him to death. He’s my best friend but…Actually, can I be honest with you? One of our biggest limitations with Chad. Not with Chad.
James: [13:54] Wow. Hold on, let’s lean in here. [laughs]
Joe: [13:57] Hold on. Let’s lean in here. Tell us more problems about Chad.
Joe: [13:59] One of Chad’s biggest limitations right now is that his computer doesn’t have the processing speed. So, for us, to convert videos and edit…
Jim: [14:08] I can hear the fan on it running right now.
Joe: [14:11] Literally, it takes three to four hours, for us, to get content off and then to upload it.
Joe: [14:17] It’s very difficult. That’s even before you…
James: [14:20] I feel this has turned into a commercial to get Chad a new…Should we start a GoFundMe for Chad’s computer?
Joe: [14:26] chadneedsanewcomputer.
Jim: [14:27] We tagged [indecipherable] .
James: [14:28] Can we reach out to IT or HR?
Joe: [14:31] Danny is going to be here later. You should bring in Danny…
Jim: [14:36] He’s a repeat guest. Look, another guest walking by.
[14:31] [crosstalk]
Joe: [14:31] Make sure when Danny comes on that you literally put the screws on. Chad was complaining and saying that…
James: [14:48] We couldn’t do the podcast the other day because Chad’s computer was so loud, rendering a video.
Joe: [14:54] Honestly, it’s so funny because we were…Chad was traveling last week. He was at [indecipherable] with Dan. When we came back, we recorded on Friday. We were going to push the video out on Friday.
[15:04] We got all the way through and the computer locked up, so we never even pushed video out last week. That’s part of the reason we’re so behind too.
James: [15:11] Hey, listen. We’ve been a week behind because my house blew up. I don’t have Internet.
Joe: [15:15] Your house blew up?
James: [15:17] It felt like it.
Jim: [15:18] Hailstorm.
James: [15:19] Yeah, it was very crazy. The hailstorm knocked out a bunch of my windows and knocked out my Internet.
Joe: [15:25] No kidding. Did it wreck your cars?
James: [15:26] Totaled my truck.
Joe: [15:28] How big was the house?
James: [15:30] Totaled my roof, like goose egg.
Joe: [15:32] This is a much more interesting story.
James: [15:34] Goose egg and it was coming in like…
Jim: [15:36] Window, double pane windows blown out.
Joe: [15:39] Really?
James: [15:39] It was pretty intense.
Joe: [15:42] Had you ever had anything happen there like that before?
James: [15:44] No.
Joe: [15:44] Or was that like…
James: [15:45] No, we’ve only been in this house for like five years, six years, so this is the first time we’ve [indecipherable] .
Joe: [15:51] Is that common for Texas?
James: [15:52] Well, we’re kind of at the bottom of Tornado Alley. What are we doing?
Jim: [15:56] So you’re just getting the tail of it.
James: [15:57] Yeah, so we can either catch them coming in.
Jim: [15:59] It’s springtime in the middle belt of the country and it can be…As we know from years past, there’s abnormal…
Joe: [16:08] It just snows a ton like where I live. That’s just it. We don’t…
Jim: [16:12] You’re in Canada.
Joe: [16:13] Yeah. Look, you guys want to hear something crazy? Speaking of being up in Canada, as you guys know, birds migrate south, right?
James: [16:20] I’ve heard.
Jim: [16:21] Where are we going?
Joe: [16:22] Listen, I’m going to help. Listen, OK?
James: [16:24] These are three‑minute segments.
Joe: [16:25] It’s OK. You can chop it up into four of five of them.
Jim: [16:27] We don’t chop.
Joe: [16:28] Send it to Chad. He’ll update it in three or four weeks from now.
James: [16:31] Ooh.
Joe: [16:32] Now listen. The other day, the Canadian geese…Yeah, right. It’s like it’s got a gasoline engine on it.
James: [16:37] It’s a golf cart.
Joe: [16:38] The other day, the Canadian geese, they flew south, but they’re coming back north because the weather’s starting to hopefully get warm again. I’ve lived in upstate New York pretty much my entire life.
Jim: [16:49] Finger Lakes.
Joe: [16:50] Finger Lakes. Beautiful area. I have never seen as many geese that I’ve seen as this year. There are just flocks of thousands of Canadian snow geese.
James: [17:02] I don’t even know what that means.
Joe: [17:02] It’s insane
James: [17:03] What does it mean?
Joe: [17:04] You know what a goose is?
James: [17:05] Yeah.
Joe: [17:05] They’re huge. Now, thousands of them.
Jim: [17:08] That’s a good sign, Joe. I mean, things are good up north, and they’re coming back to see you.
Joe: [17:13] That’s what I’m hoping for. Is that like the groundhog?
James: [17:16] That’s like Jim going to Florida.
Joe: [17:17] Is that like the groundhog thing?
James: [17:17] I don’t know. We hope so.
Joe: [17:18] Didn’t the groundhog die?
James: [17:19] Oh man, for another show…
Jim: [17:22] Hmm, Joe…
James: [17:23] Ladies and gentlemen.
Jim: [17:24] He said no.
Joe: [17:27] I thought you wanted my drink.
Jim: [17:29] Oh, no.
James: [17:29] We’ll have you back on.
Jim: [17:31] We got to get more water.
Joe: [17:32] You guys, I just want to say, thanks, you guys. It’s always fun. We didn’t bring our recording stuff down because it’s just me this trip. I don’t have Teddy or Chad with me. It’s a lot of fun to do, and you guys do such a good job with the graphics and stuff.
Jim: [17:44] So do you guys.
Joe: [17:45] I think it’s pretty cool. I’m waiting to get my face in like a little teeny face in the background image. Like maybe a sticker. Yeah.
James: [17:51] A Joe sticker.
Joe: [17:52] Ash, work on that, would you? Got it.
James: [17:54] We’ll be back.
Jim: [17:56] We are back with one of our long time good friends.
James: [18:00] Super long time.
[18:01] [laughter]
Jim: [18:01] Repeat guest.
Jim: [18:03] This might be the trifecta.
Rita Hansen: [18:05] It is. The first time AGA, second time coffee with…
James: [18:07] It seems like such long [indecipherable] .
Rita: [18:14] Yeah, three time’s a charm.
Jim: [18:16] Rita Hansen is with us from Onboard Dynamics. We did become friends at the AGA last fall in Orlando.
James: [18:36] Let me tell the story. I saw Rita today…?
James: [18:30] It all blends together. Yesterday, I came around the corner and they’re on the total opposite corner of us. I came around the corner and I saw her. She gave me the biggest hug, and she said, “James, I just love your content on LinkedIn.” It’s so motivating and I was, “That’s [indecipherable] .”
Jim: [18:50] Wait, did you get a tissue?
James: [18:53] I did. I hugged her [indecipherable] . That’s so sweet.
Rita: [18:56] But it’s true, James. I mean, there’s people who put a content on LinkedIn which is intended to promote or to educate, whatever. I can always bank on your content to be somewhat inspirational, motivational. It’s a feel‑good moment. I think it’s great.
James: [19:22] our new leaders coming up, that’s [indecipherable] be the person you wanted when you were coming up. That’s all I want to do. I want them to learn all the things I can learn from you without them having to make a mistake.
Jim: [19:36] Definitely.
James: [19:42] Just having a blast and [indecipherable] . Rita, it’s great to have you back.
Rita: [19:47] Great. Thank you. Always [indecipherable] .
James: [19:48] We’re back at SGA. Things must be working out. A lot of things have changed.
Rita: [19:55] For you or me?
Jim: [19:57] For all of us. We’re doing great things.
Rita: [19:58] We’re back in person here at the SGA.
James: [19:56] Things are going in the right direction. [indecipherable] things that on board [indecipherable] .
Rita: [20:06] Yeah, a lot of good things.
James: [20:09] A lot of good things happening.
Rita: [20:11] I’m speaking in a couple of weeks at a conference.
Jim: [20:08] Which conference?
Rita: [20:14] Pipeline Technology Forum in Houston, Texas. I did get selected to speak at the SGA Management conference for our Innovation Technology Forum.
James: [20:26] That’s cool, innovation.
Rita: [20:27] Yeah, innovation, our middle name. [laughs]
James: [20:33] We love Innovation, love it. Some of our favorite content that we have on the show is stories like yours. When we had you on, really when we got done with that we felt like one of those, when you really hear those stories, the origin story I always talk about.
[20:50] It’s always cool, and you have a really good one. It’s afterwards we’ll stay on. The guests all leave, and me and Jim…
Jim: [20:58] geek out.
[20:58] [laughter]
Jim: [20:58] Yeah, absolutely. Let me give a synopsis or you have a solution to evacuate…
James: [21:09] Is that the word?
Rita: [21:12] Yes, evacuate. Capture, recover.
James: [21:13] There we go.
Rita: [21:15] recovery, capture and recovery. [indecipherable] .
Jim: [21:16] Compression.
Rita: [21:17] compression, mitigation, all of these words apply. We actually struggle a little bit with our tagline. What is it?
James: [21:31] We’re all of that.
Rita: [21:33] We’re all of that. We’re all of that. Right now, I’m all about we should also get a little bit, depending on the audience, to talk about how we should be managing it and not feeling it, because look at what’s playing out on the world stage.
[21:48] The fact that we can be as independent that we are is remarkable. It speaks to why we should continue to invest in this infrastructure.
Jim: [22:01] Make it as good as it can be, as safe as it can be, as reliable as it can be. I love this.
Rita: [22:06] Thank you for inviting me, guys.
James: [22:09] You’re amazing. Always good to have you on.
Rita: [22:11] Keep up the good work. [indecipherable] congratulations [indecipherable] .
Jim: [22:16] Aw. Aah.
James: [22:17] You can stay.
James: [22:19] Rita, thank you so much.
Jim: [22:26] We’ll be back. Thanks everyone.
Steve Quinn: [22:28] low budget thing. It’s nothing.
James: [22:30] Whoa. He’s coming in hot.
Jim: [22:32] He’s coming in really hot. Hold on a second, big boy. [indecipherable] .
[22:33] We have our good friend Steve Quinn joining us. I’ve known Steve for years.
James: [22:45] How many years?
Jim: [22:46] LGA days, back in the heyday.
Steve: [22:49] Probably 10 years.
Jim: [22:50] I’d say 10 years.
James: [22:51] And he still came over here.
Steve: [22:54] I know.
Jim: [22:57] He went like this when he walked by.
Steve: [22:59] I did, the first time.
Jim: [23:01] Steve Quinn, who are you with?
Steve: [23:02] I’m with Chase Corporation, [indecipherable] . We’re a coating manufacturers, for the business since the 1940s. I cover the Southeast for our company. With a wide variety, our products are simply designed for corrosion protection. Not leaking, strictly corrosion protection.
[23:21] It’s been a long time I covered Southeast. The largest customer’s down here are energy and Dominion power. I’ve been stuck within their companies for.
Jim: [23:33] Wonderful. Wonderful.
James: [23:36] That’s good to hear.
Steve: [23:38] It’s been a good ride.
Jim: [23:38] Tammy and Steve go way back. They all do that nice coating and inspector stuff, all the accolades, all that.
James: [23:44] You’re friends with. It’s Tammy. Tammy is the respected one.
Steve: [23:51] No, I met Tammy first.
James: [23:53] I’m kidding.
Steve: [23:54] I met you after him. You were not with Tammy.
Jim: [23:56] No, I was not.
Steve: [23:57] [indecipherable] be in right now. Time to look up a lot of the game companies are [indecipherable] .
Steve: [24:00] waiting for some of the regulations to…
Steve: [24:02] get back to normal where we need to be. We’re actually start putting [indecipherable] again.
Jim: [24:08] I tell you what. It’s good to be here. It’s good to see you. Thank you for joining us.
James: [24:30] We’ll be right back.
Jim: [24:30] We are back again. I shouldn’t even say that because we never really leave according to the audience. It’s just boom, boom, boom.
James: [24:41] It’s one after another.
Jim: [24:43] Who do we have with us but our very own Rob Mcdonald. Rob, say hi to the audience. Tell us a little bit about you and what you do.
Rob McDonald: [24:49] Rob McDonald. I’m a hardware, software technology sales person, Navy veteran, husband, father of three. Been here at Energy Worldnet for about two years. I create solutions. I take our product, solve problems.
James: [25:03] Solves problems. Problem solver.
Jim: [25:06] We see a t‑shirt that says that. A question for you Rob. SGA, how many conferences since you’ve joined our industry have you been to and what do you think of the conferences?
Rob: [25:18] I’ve been to ‑‑ since we’ve opened the world back up ‑‑ been to about six conferences. Love them. The best way to get meet people, coming by and seeing us. Getting some of our swag and we got the best swag in the world.
[25:30] The marketing team does a heck of a job getting things together. I love being at the conferences. Everybody, they’re kind of loosened up a little bit, want to get out, they want to know what we’re doing. We got our [indecipherable] things like that. Everybody’s interested.
James: [25:44] I’ve heard about [indecipherable] .
Jim: [25:46] Wait a minute…
James: [25:46] I know a guy.
Rob: [25:47] [laughs] That’s a great problem solving right there.
Jim: [25:51] Listen to Rob. He’s got it. Rob, thank you for joining us.
Rob: [25:56] Thanks for having me. Appreciate that.
James: [25:58] Be right back.
Jim: [26:01] Welcome back. When I say that we have a bevy of people around us, that would be an understatement.
James: [26:07] Largest crowd we’ve had all year.
Jim: [26:09] It is. It’s the only…Never mind. We won’t go there. We have with us Scott right now. Scott, please introduce yourself to the audience and your company, please.
Scott Vigil: [26:17] Hi, everybody. My name is Scott Vigil. I’m with Pipeline Equipment Resources Company, and I’m happy to be here today.
Jim: [26:22] That’s great. Scott and I have met over the time here. We’ve seen each other over the years. Scott, what do you think about the SGA now that we’re back out of the COVID time and we’re getting back with the people face to face. What do you think?
Scott: [26:36] It’s been exciting to be here. This is the first time that we’ve actually been at this conference.
James: [26:39] Oh, really.
Scott: [26:40] From what I’ve heard from talking to others is that they’re a real nice resurgence in energy post COVID, and getting back out there and seeing everybody again. There’s intense value in person to person networking. They’re really enjoying it. I’m happy to see it and feel that energy again.
Jim: [26:56] Yeah. I’ll agreed. Any words you want to…These are short and sweet. Any words you want to say to the audience? If not, you can wrap it up and if anything let’s say you get the stage.
Scott: [27:07] We just appreciate the SGA support of the gas industry and what we try to do every day and bringing clean energy to our customers. As a vendor in that industry, I’m very proud to support that effort with our innovative products and the services that we bring to the table.
[27:24] It’s a real strong fraternity sorority of people that bring a real high quality product to the table. I’m proud to be part of it.
Jim: [27:31] Well, said. Clean, reliable natural gas.
James: [27:34] Thank you, Scott. Have a great day.
Scott: [27:39] Yeah. Thank you.
Jim: [27:37] Welcome back, everyone. We got our good friend, Kevin Miller, joining us. Kevin, great good friend.
Kevin Miller: [27:45] Sorry about the wet hands, but they’re out of paper in the toilet.
Jim: [27:48] But you know what? We are clean. We’re practicing our cleanliness.
James: [27:52] Which is good.
[27:53] [public announcement]
Kevin: [27:53] Well, this is sick.
James: [27:55] Me and you are fine, he’s not.
Jim: [27:52] I’ve seen Kevin two times in two weeks. We’re in Phoenix, Arizona, a couple weeks ago. We had a great lunch together.
James: [28:05] I haven’t seen him since last year. We took a break.
Jim: [28:09] We said we’ll see you soon. Kevin, how are you? What’s going on?
Kevin: [28:16] Same stuff, different day.
Jim: [28:18] What do you think about the conference?
Kevin: [28:19] It’s been good. Some of the educational things are doing real well. A lot of good vendors I haven’t seen for a while. New products. Good time. Everybody is definitely happy to be out to be like doing their thing again.
James: [28:38] Man, this weather in South Carolina today. It’s not like this in Texas.
Jim: [28:44] Nor did it in Florida…Well, we had some cool weather in Florida [indecipherable] . Yes. So it’s been a little chilly, but we’re about ready to get back up to the heat and the humidity.
[28:54] Kevin Miller Pipeline, anything you want to share with us for 2022? Anything big, exciting initiatives, anything you want to…?
James: [29:03] We’re looking for the scoop.
Kevin: [29:05] We do have an initiative, and it’s all about sustainable business. We do a lot of the things that we need to do to have a sustainable business. ESG is very common these days. Everybody is in ESG, environmental, social, and governance.
[29:23] We’re in the process of putting together what we do and what we need to do, and start measuring some of these things. Then set them up, program and monitor for continuous improvement so that we can…
[29:39] Our customers are really going all in on this stuff. They are going to be counting on us, as their partners, to help them meet their goals. They’ve got some incredibly sustainable goals for having…
Kevin: [29:59] We’re a big part of that industry, and we create a lot of carbon, and what we need to do to minimize it.
James: [30:14] I love that you all are partnering up to really to meet those goals. That’s awesome.
Jim: [30:20] Kevin, thank you for the time.
Kevin: [30:23] Always a pleasure.
Jim: [30:24] Our fellow Floridian, type of bond.
James: [30:26] That’s why we only see each other every.
Jim: [30:31] When we get together, we talk about what our wives buy at Publix and how…Never mind. We won’t go there. That’s for another time. Anyways, thanks, Kevin.
Jim: [30:38] We are back.
James: [30:39] On cue.
Jim: [30:40] We are back.
James: [30:41] With the music. We got a lot of music.
Jim: [30:43] Yeah, live music. We have people running around.
James: [30:45] Playing off great things.
Jim: [30:47] We have our new friend Tiffany joining us, Tiffany Hopkins with…Ready for this? Shactee.
James: [30:52] Shactee.
Jim: [30:53] Is that right? Engineering?
Tiffany Hopkins: [31:00] Engineering. Yes.
James: [31:02] Give us your elevator pitch. Ooh, you’ve been working on it. We were just talking.
Tiffany: [31:09] I know, right?
James: [31:05] Full disclosure. We’re talking about getting the story straight. We’re going to say she has her story straight.
Tiffany: [31:14] We need to work on our story, but I will tell you Shactee Engineering, we’ve been in business almost four years. We are 100 percent virtual company. This was pre‑pandemic. This is how our company was built. It’s our culture from anywhere. We have employees all over the United States, 42 strong.
[31:34] Gas pipeline design. We support our local distribution utilities with their design of pipelines facilities. Fieldwork inspection and permitting, really is our niche market.
Jim: [31:49] I get all that on the gas cut. I understand that. I am captivated though. I have to take a step back ‑‑ your culture. Four years ago, you started as a virtual company, meaning have your people work where they’re most comfortable and the most productive. Have you seen really quick great results from doing that?
Tiffany: [32:09] Amazing results. I’ll tell you, so it’s not just a work from anywhere, it’s a work when you’re at your best.
Jim: [32:16] Oh.
James: [32:17] Oh. I’m an early riser.
Tiffany: [32:20] So you work early in the morning, right? But, if you like to sleep in, you work later in the day. If your best is at midnight till 8:00 AM, that’s when you work. We give that flexibility.
James: [32:34] That’s innovative. I like that. We might have like a culture person that we bring on.
Jim: [32:38] I think this is absolutely, because this is where we’re at in society and allowing people to be…We have to get comfortable. We really do.
[32:47] [crosstalk]
James: [32:49] My role, I’m the chief culture officer [indecipherable] . It’s very important to me.
Tiffany: [32:56] Is it self‑appointed? Or is it…
Jim: [33:02] No.
James: [33:02] Someone decided I was worth it. Thank you, Coleman. It’s something I take very seriously. Real quick. how’s the conference going? How’s it being out?
Tiffany: [33:10] It’s great. It’s so good to see the people.
James: [33:13] Isn’t it?
Tiffany: [33:13] It’s so good to see the people.
James: [33:14] You can’t replace that. It’s really good.
Tiffany: [33:15] This is my first SGA and I’ll tell you, I think it’s a success.
James: [33:18] Awesome people here. We love the SGA.
Jim: [33:21] We do. Tiffany, we’re got to go. We got a bunch of things going on. Can we ask your potential commitment, or maybe [indecipherable] if you would come back on the show and talk about more Shactee as well as culture?
Tiffany: [33:39] I would love it.
James: [33:40] Oh, that’s good.
Jim: [33:39] I think this would be really good.
James: [33:41] We’d really like to get your story together.
Tiffany: [33:42] Yeah. Give me some time.
James: [33:42] Thanks for joining us. You have a good conference.
Tiffany: [33:46] Thanks, you guys. Really appreciate it. Back to my people.
Jim: [33:50] Absolutely. We’ll be back.
James: [33:52] We’ll be back.
Tiffany: [33:53] Thanks. That’s very perfect.
Jim: [33:44] James, we’re back.
James: [33:50] Back, just like that.
Jim: [33:50] We are absolute back and we have a very special repeat guest filming us.
James: [33:56] I think we’ve had this woman on before.
Sheila Kraft: [33:59] I’m a three‑peat.
James: [34:00] Where’s your name tag? How are we supposed to know who you are?
Jim: [34:02] Well, we know Sheila Kraft from the industry with Magnolia River.
James: [34:05] We’ve heard about her.
Jim: [34:06] We’ve heard a few things.
James: [34:08] She was on that award‑winning pit crew.
Sheila: [34:11] Yes.
Jim: [34:11] Oh, yeah. In Charlotte at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, you were. Absolutely.
James: [34:15] That’s how I know her. Sheila, welcome back.
Sheila: [34:19] I know.
James: [34:20] I’m glad you’re here.
Jim: [34:19] Thanks for stopping by. Thank you for stopping by.
James: [34:23] It’s always nice to see your smile from all the way down the hall just coming up. It’s always a good thing.
Jim: [34:29] Happy?
Sheila: [34:29] Yeah, I put some [indecipherable] and then you’ve got enough to worry about as a world so it’s good to just read some life. Mentally.
Jim: [34:38] She does that very well. What do you think about the conference so far? What’s been your high points of it?
Sheila: [34:42] I’ve actually done a few of the classes this time. In the past, I’ve typically been more only on the booth side, manning that. This time I’ve taken a more of an opportunity to learn from here.
James: [34:56] There’s a lot of training here. What did you sit in on?
Sheila: [34:59] The tracking and traceability.
James: [35:01] Oh, I sat on that for a minute, in the back.
Jim: [35:05] Didn’t you folks have a guest presenter or speaker?
James: [35:08] An award‑winning panelist?
Sheila: [35:09] Oh, yes. We had Mr. Jim Shower. [laughs]
James: [35:14] Oh, yes. I’d forgotten about that. We’d watched it out. We could have had to memorize that.
Jim: [35:18] I made such an impact.
James: [35:19] We’ll just…
Sheila: [35:20] That was… [laughs]
James: [35:21] It was one of the highlight moments.
Jim: [35:25] It was fun co‑presenting with Ethan, David, and Angela from Tyco was there too.
Sheila: [35:30] Yes. [indecipherable] present for Tyco.
Jim: [35:32] That’s good.
James: [35:33] It was a great group.
Jim: [35:33] Yeah, that was fun. That was a lot of fun.
Sheila: [35:36] I think one of our things that we love doing as an organization is getting to share in the experiences that we have with both of our clients as well as our industry partners, and being able to share in that success.
[35:50] Sometimes we have lessons learned, that we can all learn from. No one’s perfect, but we’re all trying to move forward and make the world better place. Continue furthering business for natural gas.
James: [36:01] Lessons learned.
Jim: [36:02] Did you hear that? It makes the world a better place. I like that. That’s good.
Sheila: [36:09] We’re all trying to grow together. We’re glad to be able to stand alongside our great industry partners and hopefully make more of an impact and feel like we amplify each other’s messages. That’s what’s going to be elevating us.
Jim: [36:23] Being serious, I do think that when we’re at conferences, a lot of the walls come down. People are really open to discussion and best practice and sharing of ideas. All these ideas, when they’re told, it can help one person, it makes all the difference in the world.
James: [36:37] I’ve loved the energy coming back after a couple years. In the pandemic, I think we all saw it at AGA, SGA in the spring. All the innovation bubbling out of folks and the vibes. Everybody’s running hot. I know I’ve enjoyed it. It was great to come here and see how this year might go. It looks like it’s going to be very possible. Super pumped to be…
Sheila: [37:09] Everyone is just ready to be out of their house, sharing again. Having human contact. I mean, what’s that?
James: [37:18] This session has been so collaborative and engaging. Even the one you were on was. But the tracking and traceability one, people came in, they got what they needed, and then it changed its path, and then dove into another chunk, and you have these round tables that are going on.
[37:40] It’s neat to see everybody just getting to sit in a room. There’s no replacement. It’s sitting at a table. I’m working on our [indecipherable] .
Jim: [37:48] Just sharing thoughts and ideas. Like she was saying and what you’re saying. That brings up an idea.
James: [37:53] We have so many smart people.
Jim: [37:55] One idea leads to another idea, which leads to some collaboration. People don’t even realize they’re doing it. That’s the beautiful thing. It’s the organic of it, and that happens at conferences like this.
James: [38:04] Like right now.
Sheila: [38:05] Exactly.
James: [38:06] Sheila, thanks for joining us.
Jim: [38:09] Thank you.
Sheila: [38:10] Thanks for having me.
Jim: [38:11] Absolutely.
James: [38:12] I know it’s a quick one, but if we do 20 minutes with each person they’ll kick us out.
Sheila: [38:17] I’m not worried about it.
Jim: [38:17] Wait a minute, though, is Robbie coming? Is David coming? Where is Summer? That, to be determined. Well, I meant, we want those folks here on the podcast.
James: [38:30] Can’t wait to see everybody. It’s going to be an awesome year.
Sheila: [38:33] It will be. Are you guys going to be at AGA?
Jim: [38:36] In New Orleans?
Sheila: [38:38] Yes.
Jim: [38:39] Yes, I will be because I am on one of the committees, believe it or not.
Sheila: [38:42] Oh, wonderful. I will see you both there.
Jim: [38:46] Thanks, Sheila. Appreciate your time.
James: [38:47] All right, we’ll be back.
Jim: [38:49] We are back. A bevy, once again, of people have come by. Please introduce yourselves. Let’s hear a little bit about you.
Dawn Witt: [38:59] I’m Dawn Witt with MRC Global. I’m an Executive National Account Manager for gas utilities.
Phil Fahey: [39:08] I’m Phil Fahey with MRC Global. I’m our Executive Director of New Business Development.
James: [39:12] I’m James…
Jim: [39:13] Go ahead James, please
James: [39:15] No, I’m just kidding.
Jim: [39:15] Dawn, this is her repeat on the show. It seems like allegedly, we may have lost an episode from SGA Sharp.
James: [39:26] I think it’s in the cloud somewhere.
Dawn: [39:28] I was on the cutting room floor.
Jim: [39:29] No, I don’t think so. I think it’s in James’s computer.
James: [39:32] I bet it’s on my desktop, if we’re going to be completely honest. It’s probably just sitting there.
Dawn: [39:37] It’s all right. It’s fine.
Jim: [39:39] Two time’s a charm.
James: [39:40] Let’s watch it. No, I’m just kidding.
Jim: [39:42] OK, we can’t do that right now, Please tell us a little bit about MRC. What you folks are doing, and just give people an idea where they can go and get a little idea about…
Phil: [39:51] If you wanted to learn more about MRC Global, you could visit our website mrcglobal.com. Really the 10,000‑foot overview is we are the leading distributor of distribution of pipe valves and fittings to the energy sector. That’s really it in a nutshell.
Jim: [40:07] United States or global?
Phil: [40:08] As the name would imply sir, global.
Jim: [40:12] That was a little bit of a little hook there. I just wanted to emphasize that.
Phil: [40:16] Sure.
Dawn: [40:16] That’s for all energy sectors, upstream, midstream, pipeline transmission, gas utilities, and downstream refining and chemical.
James: [40:27] How’s the show? How’s it being back?
Dawn: [40:31] It’s great being back in person. This show could use a little more traffic.
James: [40:37] I think we’re on the way up.
Jim: [40:39] It’s day one.
Dawn: [40:40] But much better than in Charlotte.
James: [40:44] Oh, yeah.
Jim: [40:47] Is that me?
[40:48] [looks at cell phone]
Jim: [40:48] It’s not me
James: [40:48] Is that your phone? It sounds like your phone
Jim: [40:52] It was not mine. I’m innocent this time.
James: [40:55] Well, we are excited to have you here.
Dawn: [40:59] You’re supposed to be drinking out of my cup.
James: [40:59] Oh.
Jim: [40:59] This is my cup, I think.
Dawn: [41:00] I know, but I got you an MRC Global one.
Jim: [41:05] Oh, yeah, I know.
Dawn: [41:06] I’m sorry. You can give me a shout‑out next time.
James: [41:09] Have you all been in any sessions?
Dawn: [41:11] We have not.
Phil: [41:13] I listened in on the…There’s a pipeline coating that I listened to, it was very good. Very well done.
James: [41:21] Gas 101 was in the back here. We caught some of that earlier today. I know there’s a lot of sessions. Very good things.
Jim: [41:31] This is good as any.
James: [41:32] Jimmy was in one.
Jim: [41:32] I was. I spoke on trackability and traceability today, and that was good. I joined the Magnolia River team for that. They invited me in for that. It was good.
[41:43] The cross collaboration and the exchange of knowledge of these events, I think, is really good. That’s why we come to these events to meet new friends, to meet or see old friends, and to learn something about the industry or share something about the industry. That’s what makes us the best industry in the United States, if not the world.
James: [41:59] This guy…
Dawn: [42:00] This guy.
Jim: [42:01] The best.
James: [42:02] Thank y’all for stopping by.
Jim: [42:05] Thank you
Dawn: [42:05] Thank you.
Phil: [42:06] Thank you.
Dawn: [42:07] Thanks for having us.
Jim: [42:07] Check out MRC Global, everyone, please.
James: [42:09] We’ll be back.
Jim: [42:10] Just take with a grain of salt, and we are back.
James: [42:13] We are.
Jim: [42:13] Once again.
James: [42:14] With my favorite guest of all time.
Chris McCabe: [42:16] Every guest gets that.
James: [42:18] Possibly.
Jim: [42:18] Guest to be determined because we have struggled to have Chris on the show for a full episode.
James: [42:26] There have been acts of God that have occurred to get Chris off the show several times.
Chris: [42:30] That is true.
James: [42:32] The Internet went out multiple times.
Jim: [42:34] Hailstorm.
James: [42:36] I had a hailstorm take out my house, just for fun.
Jim: [42:39] Then you had some good, positive things happen in your world…
[42:42] [crosstalk]
James: [42:43] So we hear. Here we are. The Lord put us in Colombia, South Carolina.
Chris: [42:51] Same ticket.
Jim: [42:53] Chris McCabe, thank you for stopping by.
Chris: [42:55] Absolutely. I’m happy to be here.
Jim: [42:57] CGS.
Chris: [42:57] Come get some.
Jim: [42:58] Which stands for…? Chris Georgia Sales.
Chris: [43:01] Yep, absolutely. Incorporated.
Jim: [43:06] Incorporated.
James: [43:06] What is that even mean? What is it that you do? I don’t know if I’ve ever asked you.
Chris: [43:12] We sell natural gas utility products for distribution and transmission. The idea is we try to have one of everything to get gas from the main in the street to the meter on your house.
James: [43:24] Very important.
Chris: [43:25] It’s valves and pipes and fittings and tools. Whatever the guys here need to move gas around safely.
Jim: [43:31] Ready to go, at a moment’s notice to a municipality, utility…
Chris: [43:34] Right, well. At a moment’s notice? That’s easy, easy now.
James: [43:37] Calm down. Supply chain.
[43:39] [crosstalk]
Chris: [43:39] Supply chain.
James: [43:40] We don’t talk about supply chain. No, no.
[43:41] [laughter]
Jim: [43:40] No, no, no, no. We’ll just say that you’re there. What’s your territory? How far do you guys reach?
James: [43:49] He said the world.
Chris: [43:50] Yeah.
James: [43:51] Shipping now.
[43:53] [laughter]
Chris: [43:53] Yeah. Right now.
James: [43:55] Killing it.
Chris: [43:55] At the big crack. That’s when it started.
James: [43:57] Hold on.
Chris: [43:58] Yeah. Chris George Sales, we focus on the Southeast. So it’s Kentucky South of the Mississippi River, East. That’s where we have our main focus. Our office is in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you’re buying it, we’ll sell it.
James: [44:14] I was going to say, shouldn’t we be more inclusive to Texans?
[44:18] [laughter]
James: [44:13] Let’s ask the hard‑hitting question.
Chris: [44:18] The hard‑hitting questions?
James: [44:20] Do you feel like you leave Texans out as a sales opportunity?
Chris: [44:22] Yeah, sure.
James: [44:22] Just because we’re Texans?
Chris: [44:23] Just because you’re Texans? It’s because…
[44:26] [crosstalk]
James: [44:26] You heard it here.
James: [44:27] I’m kidding.
Jim: [44:28] Poor Chris is like, “Wait, don’t ask me that question. Do not ask me that.”
James: [44:31] Let me say something.
Jim: [44:31] Do it.
James: [44:31] I joke with Chris. I don’t know why.
Jim: [44:35] Because he’s a great guy.
James: [44:36] I really have never asked him that question, and it’s not out of disrespect. Chris and I, since the moment our eyes met…
James: [44:44] I think we became best friends.
Chris: [44:46] Yeah, it was really easy.
James: [44:47] I swear he’s like a brother. I don’t know if you are like this with everyone.
Jim: [44:52] Well, you guys kind of look alike.
James: [44:52] Our demeanor, the way we joke around. It’s like we’re family. It’s really odd. I was telling my wife last night…My wife is here. I was like, this guy, we just…
Jim: [45:05] Click.
James: [45:05] Have a good time, man.
Jim: [45:06] That’s like Chris, though. He’s very clickable. We met at a Carolina…
Chris: [45:09] Did you say “very clickable”?
Jim: [45:11] Is that bad?
James: [45:11] Clickbait?
Chris: [45:11] Clickbait, yeah. [laughs]
James: [45:12] Chris, yeah, I’ll click on that.
Jim: [45:14] I tear apart the English language every day.
James: [45:18] Clickable, yeah. I know what you mean.
Jim: [45:21] Clickable. It’s a term. Trust me.
James: [45:22] Clicking.
Jim: [45:22] I’m on a podcast. Trust me.
Chris: [45:24] Yeah, he’s a expert.
James: [45:25] It’s been great catching up with you Chris.
Chris: [45:27] Yeah.
James: [45:27] A little birdie flew in earlier and told me that we might record your episode of full, full…
Chris: [45:38] Right here?
James: [45:38] Full live format…
Jim: [45:39] Live from the SGA?
Chris: [45:41] Live?
Jim: [45:41] Columbia?
Chris: [45:42] You mean streaming?
James: [45:43] You want to do it?
Jim: [45:44] No, we’ll record it.
James: [45:45] We’ll see how it turns out.
Jim: [45:46] Thank you, sir.
Chris: [45:48] Thanks, guys.
Chris: [45:49] Always happy to be here.
Jim: [45:49] This guy, Chris George Sales, look him up.
Chris: [45:53] Thank you.
Jim: [45:53] We’ll be back.
James: [45:53] Carlee Pitcher joining us from the Energy Worldnet team.
Jim: [46:00] Product specialist.
Carlee Pitcher: [46:01] Exactly.
James: [46:01] Is that what it is?
Carlee: [46:03] Yes.
James: [46:03] What does that mean?
Carlee: [46:05] I am the expert on our system and our services, our products that we have to offer.
James: [46:12] That’s impressive. I’m basically an expert.
Carlee: [46:14] I am.
Jim: [46:17] She [indecipherable] our asset management service. She is expert, I mean she…
James: [46:25] Our LMS expert.
Carlee: [46:26] That’s me.
James: [46:27] PSMS?
Jim: [46:30] Expert.
James: [46:30] What else?
Jim: [46:31] She does it all.
Carlee: [46:32] ECMS?
Jim: [46:35] Expert.
Carlee: [46:36] OSHA.
Jim: [46:37] Expert.
Carlee: [46:37] Contact management.
Jim: [46:40] Expert. That’s great. Thanks for joining us.
Carlee: [46:44] Thank you.
Jim: [46:44] Thanks for putting up with me today. Folks, if you haven’t seen, if they didn’t put them in, every time we do this, I yell clapper at the top of my lungs, and the people from all the booths over here jump.
James: [46:56] What a nightmare.
Jim: [46:58] Carlee just jumped.
Carlee: [46:59] Yeah.
James: [46:59] She’s the whole thing.
[47:01] [crosstalk]
Carlee: [47:02] You can ask nicely again.
Jim: [47:03] It’s nice.
Carlee: [47:04] [laughs]
Jim: [47:06] Just out of kidding around, that’s why I wanted to do the clapper.
James: [47:10] Carlee, as we were talking earlier, you said this is really your first real conference.
Carlee: [47:16] Yeah.
James: [47:16] What’s it been like?
Carlee: [47:18] It’s been exciting. It’s really different than anything I’ve experienced before. It’s amazing to get to see all the people here, see people from the industry. I’m still new to the industry so talking to people, who they’re working with, what they’re doing. It’s very…
[47:33] [crosstalk]
James: [47:33] Clients.
Carlee: [47:33] Clients.
James: [47:33] You’re engaging with clients and prospects. [indecipherable] .
Carlee: [47:35] I’m trying. I just want to learn as much as possible.
James: [47:39] I saw you go booth to booth earlier. I know you were hawking EWN con.
Carlee: [47:46] [laughs]
James: [47:47] Also, I know it was kind of selfish to just learn what everybody [indecipherable] .
Carlee: [47:51] Exactly. A lot of people here. I’m trying to learn as much as possible.
Jim: [47:52] What’s been your favorite thing so far?
James: [48:01] Other than Jim.
Carlee: [48:02] [laughs] Everything so far, out of the whole experience, just talking to clients and prospects, getting to know what they do, learn about them. That’s where I think, as EWN as a whole thrives, is with our clients and our prospects, just talking to them …
Jim: [48:21] Relationships. Network.
Carlee: [48:22] getting to learn more about them and know what they do. That makes us better.
Jim: [48:26] That’s what this energy industry is about, is those relationships. So much happened because of them, and it’s connecting to that. One person will know something that feed that under another person, and it’s a huge value train. It’s wonderful to do. It’s great to have you here.
Carlee: [48:41] That’s where we get the value from, is hearing from them.
Jim: [48:43] Can I give a little shout out about the booth that somebody here might have had a huge part in the logistics of this booth and putting it together. Thank you for that.
Carlee: [48:55] Of course. Shout out to you guys for planning it out, getting it all out here. It looks amazing.
James: [49:00] We don’t know what we’re doing, but we’re really honest.
Carlee: [49:01] [indecipherable] .
James: [49:01] Carlee, thanks for joining us.
Jim: [49:05] Thanks, Carlee. You’re an asset to us. Thank you so much.
Carlee: [49:09] Thanks for having me.
James: [49:09] We’ll be back.
Jim: [49:10] James.
James: [49:11] We’re back, just like that.
Jim: [49:11] We’re back. We have a new friend.
James: [49:14] Real new?
Jim: [49:14] Real new.
James: [49:15] I met him in the last 35 seconds.
Mike Griffin: [49:20] Two minutes.
James: [49:21] Mike…?
Mike: [49:22] Griffin.
James: [49:22] Griffin.
Jim: [49:23] You’re with…?
James: [49:24] City of Rocky Mountains, city of utilities.
James: [49:27] I know that name. Why do I know that name?
Mike: [49:30] We are a customer. We’re on our second journey with you.
James: [49:36] When’s the best one?
Mike: [49:38] When the [indecipherable] came out, y’all were our first choice. We left you for a few years, and now we’ve come back.
Jim: [49:46] Because we treat you so well?
Mike: [49:49] That’s it.
James: [49:49] It gets better on the second time too. We treat you even better.
Mike: [49:55] Good.
James: [49:55] But then it falls off a cliff..
[49:58] [crosstalk]
James: [49:58] don’t work, it’s not a multiplicity. Tell us a little bit about what you do.
Mike: [49:36] I work in compliance, and I am the administrator of the city’s [indecipherable] system, officially the 19th of this month.
James: [50:12] How long you been in the industry?
Mike: [50:14] 25 years.
James: [50:15] 25 years. What was your first job in the industry?
Mike: [50:20] I was an entry‑level construction personnel, I was the grunt.
James: [50:26] What did you do every day? Day in the life of a grunt?
Mike: [50:29] Shovel work.
Jim: [50:30] It’s called being a pilot, OK “He piles it here and I’ll pile it over there”.
Mike: [50:35] That was my primary job using the shovel and of course, getting the equipment up.
James: [50:44] One last and then I’ll rest.
Mike: [50:46] No, keep going.
James: [50:48] How important was that shovel work to what you do now and understand how important compliance and safety and training, all of those.
Mike: [50:58] The shovel work is always the safest point because of the 811 levels. You’re supposed to spot anything before you put excavation equipment in the ground. In the compliance, of course, the safety guidelines we have to abide by the keep the government off our back.
[51:15] Then, of course, [indecipherable] , I’m a firm believer of not just being qualified, but being proficient in a job to move on and advance yourself through our [indecipherable].
James: [51:27] So, very important?
Mike: [51:29] Very important.
James: [51:30] With the shovel work?
Mike: [51:30] Yup, start with a shovel and work up.
Jim: [51:35] 24 years, 364 days ago compared to now. What’s been the biggest thing in our industry that you think has made us safer or better? Anything that’s on the tip of your head?
James: [51:49] You can say Energy Worldnet but you don’t have to. An unbiased opinion.
Mike: [51:53] Don’t get me wrong. I do like the EWN system a little bit better than the system we had. I won’t mention their name.
James: [52:04] Thank you.
Mike: [52:04] We’ll leave them where they are. I think the OQ was a good thing. I have to speak from my operations, nobody else. We probably have to take it more serious.
James: [52:18] True.
Mike: [52:20] Be more in‑depth in the training.
James: [52:22] That’s good advice, period.
Mike: [52:24] That comes from me and you all as well.
Jim: [52:26] Right, because the [indecipherable] are supposed to be a place where again, the knowledge skills and abilities keep building on to them. Once you have an OQ it’s not an end, it’s a journey to keep being better.
Mike: [52:38] It’s a journey. Exactly right. I agree.
James: [52:40] Mike.
Jim: [52:42] Thank you for joining us.
James: [52:43] We have a line that goes out the door of guests, as you can tell.
Mike: [52:46] I can tell.
Mike: [52:49] I just want my hundred dollars back that I had to pay to sit in on this. [laughs]
Jim: [52:51] Allegedly.
James: [52:52] Ashley has that, Ashley has that.
Mike: [52:54] I’m just kidding.
James: [52:55] Mike, it was nice to meet you, brother.
James: [52:58] a good conference. We’ll be back.
[53:01] [background music]
Jim: [52:51] James, SGA spring gas is a wrap.
James: [53:08] I can hear people breaking down.
Jim: [53:10] They’re breaking down over there, over there.
James: [53:12] Mentally, emotionally, and their booths.
Jim: [53:16] Mentally, emotionally, and physically. What a great conference. It was absolutely great. It was unbelievable non‑stop.
James: [53:24] I feel like we’re not really centered.
James: [53:26] I feel like we’re not really centered.
Jim: [53:28] We’re not centered.
James: [53:28] Here, go.
Jim: [53:28] We doing it again?
James: [53:34] That’s better, no?
Jim: [53:35] You sure?
James: [53:36] Yeah, I think we’re good.
Jim: [53:36] Anyways, it was good. It was good. All good people…
James: [53:40] It was good being out.
Jim: [53:40] Absolutely. Look, everybody’s on their phones or wrapping things up, business…
James: [53:45] Our largest crowd all night.
Jim: [53:46] It’s good. Brother, I appreciate you. I appreciate all you…
James: [53:52] It’s good being side by side with you.
Jim: [53:52] Always. We are going to be together again soon. I think our next one, we’re going to do St. Louis SGA.
James: [54:00] We’re going to do that. We’re going to do a lot of them. We’ll figure it out.
Jim: [54:04] We’ll be there. Thank you all for tuning in and playing along with us.
James: [54:08] We’ll see you around.
Jim: [54:10] We’ll see you next time. Bye.