Live at CGA Part 1 - CWJJ Episode 154

[0:00] [music]

[0:00] [laughter]

James Cross: [0:16] The giggles should tell you that we are back live in person, my friend.

Jim Schauer: [0:21] I think we're recording. I think we are recording live from the CGA day one.

James: [0:26] Can I tell you something before we get started?

Jim: [0:28] Please, go ahead.

James: [0:29] There's so many times that we get here and everything goes totally smooth.

Jim: [0:34] Oh yeah.

James: [0:34] 100 percent. It happens a lot. That sometimes it doesn't. It's funny when we finally get it done. You get hysterical for a minute because you don't know what's going to happen because the internet's a funny place. Sometimes, you just wake up and an update happens, and then you have to reorganize your life. That's where we're at today, Jimmy.

Jim: [0:58] [laughs]

James: [0:58] Live from the CGA, my friend, in Orlando, Florida. Your home state.

Jim: [1:03] My home state. This is where I live.

James: [1:05] I mean, current home state. I don't know what the rules are.

Jim: [1:08] West Palm means Florida. Let's go, West Palm.

James: [1:10] I always wonder, is it where you were born or is it where you reside? I think that's quite controversial.

Jim: [1:16] It's two‑sided, because some people ask where home state is, I'm like, "Where I currently live, my home state, or where I was born, Chicago?" Chicago is a city, but I see it as a state.

James: [1:25] I think about my mental state.

[1:26] [laughter]

James: [1:26] Deranged. [laughs]

Jim: [1:26] I think about mine, so yeah.

James: [1:29] I'm just kidding.

[1:30] We are live at the CGA. We're blessed to be a part of this show.

Jim: [1:34] Absolutely.

James: [1:35] The CGA and us work together to bring the show here. Honestly, CGA just wanted us to bring the show back to folks that couldn't be a part, and so we're really excited about that.

Jim: [1:45] Absolutely. Actually, right now, we are set up in the exhibit hall, which has between...I thought 50,000, somebody else said 100,000.

James: [1:53] People?

Jim: [1:54] Square feet. 50,000 square feet.

James: [1:56] Oh, OK. That's a little bit different.

Jim: [1:56] I'm sorry. I apologize for that.

James: [1:58] No, no, I'm kidding.

Jim: [1:59] We're in the CGA booth right now. We did turn ourselves around so we can see all...Everybody's still setting up right now, so we're in the calm before the storm.

James: [2:07] We're behind the scenes, my friends. If you were to look that way just a little bit, if we were to take the camera and turn it...

Jim: [2:12] I just looked that way...

James: [2:13] 20 foot away from the entrance...we believe, allegedly, is the entrance.

Jim: [2:18] Yes. That's the entrance right there. That's where the main...well, there's another entrance right over here, but these are the main ones going over to the sessions.

James: [2:25] It's a win‑win, my friend.

Jim: [2:27] Because we have sessions going on here. The knowledge sharing that goes on at the CGA...I believe there's probably at least 20 separate session rooms going on over this way. It's an incredible amount of knowledge sharing that's going on here, and the things that you can learn. If you have an interest in anything in damage prevention, you could find it here.

James: [2:44] Big stage...

James: [2:45] Yeah, it stays not to mention outside the big demo discuss that will go on later tonight.

Jim: [2:49] And tomorrow morning.

James: [2:50] Correct. We have large equipment out there.

Jim: [2:53] [inaudible].

James: [2:53] We've got vac trucks. We've got...

Jim: [2:56] HDD equipment.

James: [2:58] Absolutely, all kinds of like top tech in damage prevention out there. We're going to sit amongst it. Looks like a great kick off to this whole thing, get out there. We're going to be running around with the gimbal.

Jim: [3:09] Yeah.

James: [3:09] Catching some different video. Hopefully, bringing some of those little micro interviews back from different folks and hopefully they'll let us play with some of those toys.

Jim: [3:19] Maybe you, not me. I've already been...

James: [3:20] You've been banned?

Jim: [3:21] I have a restraining order against some of them.

James: [3:23] That's fair.

Jim: [3:24] I tried to take one of the units out for a drive, and they said, "No."

James: [3:27] Story writing is frowned upon in Orlando apparently, allegedly.

Jim: [3:31] Allegedly.

James: [3:32] Jimmy, we're here all week, four days of it.

Jim: [3:35] Four full days.

James: [3:37] One of the last things you talked about the awesome training that this event provides.

Jim: [3:40] Yeah.

James: [3:41] Whether it's competent worker or any of the sessions you can catch. Obviously, great networking.

Jim: [3:48] Yes.

James: [3:48] Two‑three nights of it that are just going to be epic. We're going to be live here from the exhibit hall. Pretty much any chance that we get to bring it back, to bring some of this vibe back to everybody as well.

Jim: [4:01] I must say we're going to be in it for three days and then we're also going to be out and about here for three days. If not four days, we might be going...

[4:09] [crosstalk]

Jim: [4:09] to Johnson Space Center.

James: [4:10] the fourth day.

Jim: [4:11] Go ahead.

James: [4:12] No, please.

Jim: [4:13] Fourth day, there's two field trips. We call them, one is the Johnson Space Center and I'm captivated by that because you're using satellite technology to help in the damage prevention world. I need to learn. We need to learn about that.

James: [4:24] They're very cool.

Jim: [4:25] They're also having one to the Duke solar farm which also sounds fascinating to me. I want to learn more about the whole solar thing, just so I'm aware of it and what's going on there. Couple of good opportunities for us.

James: [4:35] Very cool. I'm still on the fence, whether I'm going to fly out Thursday or Friday, but allegedly, I'm looking at another flight so that I can catch Thursday. If that works out, then I'll definitely be here. We'll work that out as we go.

[4:49] Either way, we're going to be bringing back some kind of content on that last day. So much good stuff. Thankful for the CGA Common Ground Alliance for allowing us to be a part of this great show.

Jim: [4:59] Kudos, thank you.

James: [5:00] Also just letting us hang out at their booth. How cool is that?

Jim: [5:04] This is epic.

James: [5:05] Don't tell them, but we're pretty starstruck ourselves.

Jim: [5:09] Yeah, we are.

James: [5:10] It's a big stage, man.

Jim: [5:12] It's a huge stage.

James: [5:12] We're excited to bringing this back to everybody who couldn't be here.

Jim: [5:15] Yeah, absolutely. Thank you CGA for trusting us.

James: [5:17] Absolutely, man. It's good to be with you. It seems like just the other day we were doing this at SGA.

Jim: [5:24] I know. I think it was just the other day.

James: [5:25] Couple of weeks or whenever this is, a week from now, we'll be doing again at AGA. This is a big show though.

Jim: [5:31] Yes. Are you ready?

James: [5:33] I think so. I think I'm in conference shape again.

Jim: [5:37] From the gimbal tonight, they might see us in our Florida attire. I do look forward. The costumes are going to change.

James: [5:44] Let's see if I can do a leg kick.

Jim: [5:43] Oh, no.

James: [5:44] My shorts.

Jim: [5:45] Easy. You might throw out a sciatic nerve on this.

James: [5:49] I'm kidding. Settle down. We're going to be out and about. We'll see what's up? Jimmy, man, we'll be here all week.

Jim: [5:56] Sounds good. See you.

James: [5:57] We'll be back.

Jim: [5:59] James, as always, I'm nervous. I'll get out.

James: [6:04] Why are you nervous?

Jim: [6:05] I don't know. It's day two. It's ground zero. We are at the epicenter of the kick‑off.

James: [6:11] Common Ground Alliance kicked‑off yesterday.

Jim: [6:15] Ground zero. You see my little...

James: [6:17] He's been working on that all weekend. I'm certain of it.

Jim: [6:20] I have been.

James: [6:21] We are live day two CGA. For those that don't know, we're running through Thursday all day, full day Thursday.

Jim: [6:29] Till 10:00 PM.

James: [6:32] Day two of several days.

Jim: [6:35] We started off this day, one of my favorite ways to do it. We were outside Dig, Demo, Discuss was going on. We got to view a lot of outdoor operations that you can't just house inside the exhibit hall. They've done a great job with yesterday and today doing a lot of the outside stuff, not competing with the exhibit hall. It was a great way to...There was...

James: [6:56] Full‑blown exhibit hall outside.

Jim: [6:58] It is.

James: [6:59] With bigger toys and cooler things to play with.

Jim: [7:02] We did some good stuff out there. We'll all see that.

James: [7:05] I'm sure everybody sees that when we throw it out. You see a lot of that this week. Already today, as you can see, we're finishing up set‑up on this exhibit hall, but Jimmy and I have had access because we're here with CGA. We've been walking around talking with folks. It's a big show.

Jim: [7:24] It's huge.

James: [7:25] Behind us, you can see all the big signage, the double height booths. That tells you one thing. It's a big floor here. Some of these structures back here are good 20 foot high, not including the spinning tops on it. Look behind us. Look behind us. Look at all the awesome folks, sponsors, exhibitors, thought leaders in damage prevention, solid and thickest thieves in here.

Jim: [7:48] Oh, 100 percent. Again, the name Alliance, when you think about the people that are collaborating here and the knowledge sharing that's going on, the organic as well as the sessions.

[7:58] Those organic conversations are happening all the time in the hallway outside this morning, and I'm sure they'll be continuing here. The sessions are going on today, committee meetings and such like that.

[8:08] I am definitely going to hit up a couple of sessions today because I know we're going to have a little bit of time that we can do that. Just a few things that we could take away from there will be really instrumental.

James: [8:17] Tomorrow will be a little tougher for us because the hall will be open all day. We want to be front and center here, grabbing as many folks as we can to come on, but maybe we can set in.

[8:26] I know there's stakeholders meetings this morning, committee meetings. I think Steve Allen, our Steve Allen...

[8:32] [crosstalk]

Jim: [8:32] He's already in one.

James: [8:33] telling us, we've been trying to get everything ready. Also we were talking about it, having early access and getting to talk with some of the awesome folks and see the tech and some of the brand‑new equipment and innovations in our space, in our damage prevention world. It's neat to get that behind the scenes pass, if you will. Thank you, CGA.

Jim: [8:56] Kudos to the CGA for allowing that. The organic conversations we have this morning, people are excited. They're telling us all about it and we're like, "This is great."

James: [9:06] Thankful for us to be around. We went out in the parking lot and did some things like you said earlier with some of the vendors out there.

[9:14] It's another way for them to be able to spread the gospel of what they're doing in the bigger movement, which is what this show is really about this year, which is 50 and five, right?

Jim: [9:26] Yes. Reduce incidents by 50 percent in five years and we already started asking folks, "Hey, what is your company doing to achieve 50 percent reduction in incidents in five years?"

James: [9:38] We think that's going to be our question...

[9:40] [crosstalk]

Jim: [9:40] Yeah, it is going to be our follow‑up.

James: [9:42] How are you moving that needle? That's exciting. This is a great group to ask that question to. It's a big hairy audacious goal to move that needle, but Steve said it yesterday when we were talking about it. You got to plan. I saw McGruder this morning.

[9:57] McGruder allow kicking it off, so we had to put a stake in the ground. Put a flag and shoot for something. It is big, hairy, audacious goal, but we had to start somewhere.

Jim: [10:10] What do we always say, James?

James: [10:11] You got to start.

Jim: [10:12] Just got to get started.

James: [10:13] It doesn't matter. Crawl, walk, do whatever you got to do, just keep moving.

Jim: [10:17] Absolutely.

James: [10:17] The glory of getting started too is then everybody tells you how to be better.

[10:22] [laughter]

James: [10:23] That's how it always works. You can wait around and wait for them all to tell you, or you can get started and then, hey, they'll tell you, too.

Jim: [10:30] They'll help you.

James: [10:31] Why not get started? What a great cause. As we learn more and more being here and the great folks, so many folks we already know. You've been here several times, but for me, seeing again, our commitment as the natural gas industry to this space. We have a large investment here as we should.

Jim: [10:52] We absolutely do. You know what? I got to jump in because it's fun to see the natural gas industry here working with fiber optic industry, working with telecom, working with water.

[11:04] Anything that's underground, people are saying, "How can we do this better? What is our joint trenching going to look like? How do we make it more efficient, safer, more productive?" That's fun to see.

James: [11:14] It is neat. Lots of thought leaders here. We've seen so many great people already, and we're really about a half day in for most people. Some people didn't show up till late last night.

[11:24] We're going to try to bring on some friends of ours that we know are here that have been on the show before, but also bring some new folks to our audience as well. We can't wait. Hopefully, some of the CGA people can come on.

Jim: [11:35] They will. I think they did say that.

James: [11:36] I'm going to send Steve out, grabbing people, bringing them in.

Jim: [11:39] He does that well.

James: [11:40] He's such a good...and he's not speaking this time, which is rare. I thought he was. I thought he spoke every time.

Jim: [11:46] Well, you know what, though? Should there a need arise, Steve Allen would be ready in a heartbeat.

James: [11:52] He'll be on a panel by end of tomorrow. He always ends up on it. It's great to be able...but that says something. We all know how busy Steve Allen is. He's everywhere, every week. He was rattling off a schedule last night.

Jim: [12:07] It's intense.

James: [12:07] To see him come here without a need to speak, without a booth here from Energy Worldnet, he came here because of his commitment to damage prevention and his long history in this space. He knows, Steve knows how valuable this place is.

Jim: [12:27] He knows how valuable it is. He knows how valuable it is, the information that he has, that he wants to continue to share with people. He wants to then bring that two‑sided, he loves that open communication.

[12:39] I was in one conversation with Steve last night, where I said, "Steve, if we could continue to bottle up what's in your head and give it to people, he's like, "I'm trying, Jimmy. I'm trying."

James: [12:49] Steve in a bottle, that's what we need. [laughs]

[12:50] At a demo dig discussion yesterday, turned around the corner, and it's Jim Schauer talking to Steve Allen, talking to Kevin Miller, talking...Everybody was there. It was incredible.

Jim: [13:06] Yeah. Did we mention Mary Palkovich was out there?

James: [13:10] No, we didn't.

Jim: [13:11] I know Mary since 2002 at CenterPoint Energy.

James: [13:12] Saw Eben Wyman this morning, walking by. We'll get to see him.

Jim: [13:18] Oh yeah, everybody was there.

James: [13:19] From Cortera and Plisinski over there. So many great friends. Love this place.

Jim: [13:23] UTIL is feverishly getting together a huge area that they're going to be using some cutting‑edge technology for line locating. I can't wait to get over there and get our hands on some of that equipment.

James: [13:37] I saw some of our friends over in Norfield.

Jim: [13:37] Pelican's right here. Oh yeah, April Mitchell's...

James: [13:40] I always love seeing marketing folks out in the world. Shoutout, April. NUconnect there, Stake Center clients, all behind this line. Quest is back there. Huge place, and we're going to be here.

Jim: [13:53] We are.

James: [13:54] Tonight, tomorrow, and the next day. Hey, we'll be here. We got a big announcement coming. Just wait.

Jim: [14:00] Ooh, what could that be? Stay tuned.

James: [14:04] I will be back.

Jim: [14:06] Well, James, I am going to bring us in because this is my epicenter of knowledge sharing right here.

James: [14:14] Of course, this is what your brain looks like a little bit.

Jim: [14:16] It does. It's like 87 tabs are going. Three are frozen. I can't figure out where the music is coming from.

James: [14:21] Did anyone see that one coming?

Jim: [14:23] No, but this is exciting. We had the grand opening of the exhibit hall. We literally had...

[14:28] [crosstalk]

James: [14:28] man. It was my intro. I heard Jay Z playing and there was smoke machine, lights, camera, action. There was tons of things going on. Super cool.

Jim: [14:40] It was absolutely fun.

James: [14:41] Rust‑Oleum I think sponsored, obviously, right?

Jim: [14:44] Yes.

James: [14:45] You want to tell them what was out there?

Jim: [14:47] Go ahead.

James: [14:48] Please.

Jim: [14:48] With the surfboard?

James: [14:49] Yeah.

Jim: [14:50] All of a sudden we're out there and again, we're in Florida, Orlando, near the beaches, an hour away. They had this surfboard up there. I'm like, "That's cool." James is looking at it being the brand guru that he is, is like paint by numbers.

[15:03] I'm like, "Huh, what are you talking about?" I go up and this surfboard is a custom designer by...I can't remember the artist's name, but we're going to go ahead. They're going to color it in.

James: [15:14] It's like paint by numbers. So cool.

Jim: [15:15] That's going to be great.

James: [15:17] Rust‑Oleum markers sponsored by Rust‑Oleum, and then they'll glaze the surfboard. Now they're going to donate it or give it away or...

[15:23] [crosstalk]

James: [15:25] They should auction it off.

Jim: [15:27] Auction it or raffle at the...

James: [15:28] I bet Christine has a great idea already for it.

Jim: [15:32] We're going to have to find out on that. I want to know.

James: [15:35] We'll have to get the scoop.

Jim: [15:35] Could you picture me surfing?

James: [15:37] I am now. We're live at CGA. This is moment one of the exhibit hall and this thing is packed. You look behind us, you see some of the big booths, Big Spindles up there, Earth Solutions, you got Urban back there.

Jim: [15:52] Norfield DP, we got Pelican right behind us.

James: [15:56] Pelican behind us. I'm sure we'll have some of them on throughout.

Jim: [15:58] Kortar is over here, our friends at Lions Quest. They're all are...3M was rolling in palette after palette today. It was coming.

James: [16:10] I don't know, one o'clock, there were some booths that did not look like this. It's always neat to see a show come together.

Jim: [16:16] It's amazing the amount that could happen within, let's say, 18 hours. Some of these booths had crews, a lot of crews at them.

James: [16:24] A lot of people don't even realize there's not carpet in here in a lot of places. They're rolling it out. Every booth is getting put in. A lot of people don't know what goes into a show. If you've never been on the exhibitor side, right?

Jim: [16:37] Yeah.

James: [16:37] We've seen it [laughs] a few times.

Jim: [16:40] Just to bring back a conference, an exhibit hall to the audience, so many people have been to them. From my perspective, this is the opportunity when...and even today we were hearing this where people are saying, can't wait to unveil this or to show this. New technology, new breakthroughs, new safety techniques, whatever it is.

[16:58] That's the things that I love about these shows and the knowledge sharing that happens. If you really go to the show and actually talk to the folks and understand what they're doing, it may directly impact your company or it might be one once removed where you could help somebody else do that.

[17:14] I think these are great opportunities. We're here this evening and then we are back all day tomorrow, James. It's going to be full day. Yesterday and this morning we were outside.

[17:25] There was a trench of rainstorm. It all cleared. We were outside in good, decent weather, but I'm glad we're inside now because we're in Florida and it's getting warm.

James: [17:36] It is. Lots of good stuff. Spent some time with Steve Allen earlier. He was in a lot of sessions. I for one didn't get to make it to sessions today. We were getting our space ready, getting our head ready, and making sure we had everything we needed today.

[17:51] A little bit of logistical work because we knew today was going to kick off hard and tomorrow was going to be full day, Thursday. Again, like we said, anxious to see everybody.

[18:02] It's good to see this hall full.

Jim: [18:05] It's very strange from just literally 90 minutes ago, 90 minutes.

James: [18:11] Oh yeah. I like how they kicked everybody out.

Jim: [18:13] Yeah.

James: [18:14] It's a nice touch when you do a grand opening to the hall because nobody is really seeing this but the vendors. And so, it is quite the unveiling as you can see behind us. If we move a little bit, so many awesome folks everywhere. You probably couldn't hear a word to that, I said...

[18:31] [crosstalk]

Jim: [18:31] Awesome folks are here.

James: [18:33] A lot of awesome folks all over.

Jim: [18:35] Sometimes the camera can do a little bit different, but there's probably one, two, three, four‑rows deep, and there's probably a dozen or more so rows that way. These aren't small booths.

[18:47] We're talking 20 by 20s, 20 by 50s. We're talking big booths here. We're not talking a normal eight‑foot booth. We're talking big stuff, so it's exciting. Along with all the trucks and the equipment outside, again, if you embrace this and get into it, you'll learn a lot at a show like this. You can.

James: [19:07] I want to bring up something that you told me when you came in from outside. That was that, there's another conference going on right now, healthcare, I think.

Jim: [19:17] Healthcare.

James: [19:18] I walked up and you were telling one of your jokes that I've heard 100 times to someone else from that other conference. Tell the audiences real quick that story, because sometimes you don't think you can make a difference. Even here amongst all of us, you found an opportunity.

Jim: [19:38] A lady was outside and she was asking. She was like, "What's this conference? You seem to be having a lot of fun. There's music and blah, blah, blah." I said, "We're part of the Common Ground Alliance."

[19:47] I said, "This is a group of entities all throughout the United States and beyond that want to dig safely." I said, "There are so many incidents where people don't dig safely." She was like, "Oh, that's interesting." She's like...

James: [20:01] What do you mean by digging? [laughs]

Jim: [20:03] I said, "Do you have a home?" She was like, "I have a home in Rhode Island. Our family lives there." I said, "Do you ever dig in the yard?" She says, "Well, we do." I said, "Listen, do me a favor, next time you dig in the yard, call 811 before you dig."

[20:16] She's like, "How much does it cost?" I said, "It's free." She's like, "Wait a minute, what? It's free?" I said, "Yeah, call 811, tell them that you're going to plant a tree in the backyard. If you're going to go farther than that far into the ground, call 811, please."

James: [20:31] You didn't bust out your little packet, your tolerance stones and stuff, teaching...?

Jim: [20:36] [laughs] I almost did.

James: [20:37] That's the next step.

Jim: [20:38] I did, I...

James: [20:39] You'll be a damage prevention champion. We talk about natural gas champions all the time. We need more damage prevention champions.

Jim: [20:47] Just to wind up, she's like...I said, "They'll come out, they'll mark the yard with what the utilities are so you can see where they are," and she goes, "My sons will just be enamored with that, to look at that." I said, "Great, teach the sons about digging safe. Call 811. Program it in your phone." I showed her, I said, "I have a program that is one of my favorites."

James: [21:05] Absolutely. I have a similar story in my own life. You probably remember it, but a couple of years ago...

Jim: [21:12] Fence?

James: [21:12] Yeah, I was having a fence put in by a local contractor. They called and I said, "Hey, did you do a locate ticket?" and I was like..."Oh no, you didn't do one?" and I was like, "Nah, man, but I will. I have no problem doing it. I just was checking with you."

[21:29] He was like, "No, no, go ahead, but I won't be able to start Friday if I don't...You know that, right?" and I was like...Here's the funny part, is that Friday, I was speaking at a damage prevention conference, virtually albeit, and I was like, "Man! No, sir. I'm good if you start on Saturday or next week."

[21:51] It was one of those moments where we've all had them. It's like, "Well, no one's really looking, right?" "Nah, man, everybody's always looking." Just make the call.

Jim: [22:00] Make the call. Be safe.

James: [22:01] Have them come out, do it. In about 72 hours, you're going to be in good shape in most places. Come on.

Jim: [22:08] Yeah, do it. Be safe. 811.

James: [22:10] All right, Jimmy. We are going to see if we can get some guests on here. Surely, somebody wants to talk to us. We're not going to talk to ourselves.

Jim: [22:18] I have no worries about that.

James: [22:19] I'm not going to bother any of these vendors, that's for sure, because they are busy. Look at this. This what you're missing out on, vendors. This is why you need to be at the CGA, Common Ground Alliance, the biggest place for damage prevention, my friend. Biggest stage.

Jim: [22:33] This is the big stage.

James: [22:35] All right. Hey, we'll be right back.

Jim: [22:36] See you in a bit.

[22:38] [audio splice]

[22:38] Cole Vanderlick: [laughs]

James: [22:38] Jimmy, we got one of our good friends, Cole, back on the show.

Jim: [22:42] Cole.

James: [22:42] You were on at LGA?

[22:44] Cole: LGA, in New Orleans.

Jim: [22:46] LGA, last year.

[22:46] Cole: I had a blast with you all, so I had to do it again.

James: [22:49] No offense, I say that like I don't know, but we do have a lot of people on at these things during receptions. It's hard to keep up. Not the faces, but it's like, "Where did we have you on?"

[23:01] Cole: That's right, faces and the names. I'm with you.

James: [23:01] For most people, they have one, we have like 350 we have to remember, right?

[23:06] Cole: I know. [laughs]

James: [23:07] It's good to see your face. Welcome to CGA.

[23:09] Cole: I'm happy to be here again. Thanks for the opportunity.

James: [23:11] Do me a favor real quick. Do one of these for the camera.

[23:14] Cole: Hi, Cole Vanderlick with Louisiana 811.

Jim: [23:17] With Louisiana 811? OK.

[23:19] Cole: It's a pleasure. I'm a Damage Prevention Manager, and just trying to learn some things here at the CGA conference from people like you all, and have a good time while we're at it.

James: [23:28] We're doing the same, so I don't know what that says.

[23:30] Cole: [laughs]

Jim: [23:31] You know what it says, honestly? I talk about, and I always say this, they say network, and I say, "No, it's not networking, its knowledge sharing. We're here with the time to talk to friends, meet new friends, ask them what they do and ask them what their world is like, and see what knowledge we could share or impart to them. Then also, take it and then share that, keep it going.

[23:53] Cole: I love it. That's what it's all about, brother.

James: [23:55] Calm down, Jimmy, calm down.

[23:57] We're at CGA, Cole. One of the big things that they're talking about here is 50‑in‑5. You're familiar with that?

[24:04] Cole: This is my first CGA conference to attend, and it's somewhat of a new term that I'm learning while I'm here.

James: [24:11] Better hurry up! No, I'm just kidding.

[24:14] Cole: It's awesome. It's something I'm supportive, 10 percent. Fully behind it.

James: [24:17] Big, hairy, audacious goal, right?

[24:19] Cole: You're absolutely right, I know it.

Jim: [24:20] It is.

[24:21] Cole: You're right, but when you look at the root cause of damage and things like that, if you look at every reason, it's like, "Wow, if all stakeholders just do their best to do their part, then that number could be attainable," just by excavators, their part, the call center, their part, the utility owner, operators, and locators.

[24:42] It's a huge number, you're right, but when you look deep, it's, "OK, hey, just do the best that we can every day, we might can get there." [laughs]

Jim: [24:50] He's such a positive guy. Cole's always so positive.

James: [24:53] Everything is impossible until it's possible.

[24:55] Cole: That's right. We've just got to work together, brother. [laughs]

James: [24:59] That's what I feel like Cole says in the morning, when he looks in the mirror, he says, "Everything is impossible until it's possible." I love it.

[24:56] Cole: Like Kevin Garnett, back in the day, "Anything is possible." [laughs]

Jim: [25:08] Hey, Minnesota Twins...

James: [25:11] What?

Jim: [25:12] or no, wait. Minnesota...

[25:13] Cole: T‑wolves.

[25:14] [crosstalk]

Jim: [25:14] T‑wolves. I was close.

James: [25:16] I'm so glad you're a Minnesota guy.

[25:14] Cole: It's all good. [laughs]

Jim: [25:16] I was so close, a swing and a miss. It was basketball, fourth inning...wait, quarter. Never mind.

[25:23] Cole: [laughs]

James: [25:23] Cole, I'm sure we'll see you down the road. LGA, my friend.

[25:28] Cole: I'm happy to be here. Thanks for the time.

James: [25:32] We're going to be back at LGA...

[25:37] Cole: Y'all better be.

James: [25:38] Live.

Jim: [25:39] We're there.

[25:40] Cole: Y'all better be. We'll have a good time. We'll learn a thing or two there too. I appreciate the time. Anyone, anything from Louisiana, please holler at us, and we'll do our best to help.

James: [25:43] Shout out Louisiana.

Jim: [25:44] Dial 811 before you dig.

[25:45] Cole: Absolutely. Every dig, every time. I'm loving this new tagline. Look, I've got a...

James: [25:52] Oh, look at this.

[25:53] Cole: Let me show y'all these little stickers.

James: [25:54] Oh, no. We got a prop. Oh, not that.

[25:58] Cole: Are we live? No, I'm joking.

James: [25:54] We are live.

[25:55] Cole: These stickers. Let me give y'all one, while I'm getting up. I'm sorry.

James: [26:00] We'll be back.

Jim: [26:01] We'll be back.

[26:03] [audio splice]

Jim: [26:03] We're going non‑stop. Last time I saw Sean in the aisle, he was asking what's going on. I said to him what we're doing, talk to "Coffee With Jim & James." He's like, "I'm ready."

[26:16] [crosstalk]

James: [26:16] Planet Underground.

[26:17] Sean Cloghessy: ...all your equipment. Production is what we do. I see all that stuff, I get excited.

James: [26:21] That's a love language.

Jim: [26:23] Tell the audience what your name is and your company, and what you guys specialize in.

[26:27] Sean: My name is Sean Cloghessy. I work for Planet Underground. The best way I like to describe what Planet Underground is we are a media production company specifically for the underground utility construction industry. Incredibly niche, I know. We're the only ones that are doing it. Obviously, you guys are doing more too. That's always great to see.

Jim: [26:50] That's good.

[26:51] Sean: Any contract work people want training videos done, we'll do some videos ourselves and put on our own events. The big thing that we're trying to do right now is starting to get the word out about our training.

[27:07] We spent the better half of like two years working on all of this video stuff, all this curriculum to start making an online training course and try and set a standard now, an actual standard for locators for all the training.

Jim: [27:21] Let me ask you a quick question. We talked about here, Sarah did, CEO of CGA, about 50 and five. In five years, reducing damage incidents by 50 percent. Your thoughts on that. What can people do?

[27:35] Sean: It's absolutely a possible thing to do. The one way to make it work is you've got to commit to it. Whatever you think it is, if you think it's education or enforcement, whatever, commit to it and do it 100 percent.

[27:52] Don't just dip your toe in, see, like, "Oh, it might be working." You really need to give it all 100 percent of whatever you're doing to actually start working and getting those damages down.

James: [28:06] Absolutely. Intentional, deliberate behavior.

Jim: [28:10] He's a pro...

[28:11] Sean: [laughs]

Jim: [28:12] a pro.

James: [28:12] Sean, appreciate the work you do over at Planet Underground. I'm familiar. For the work that you all do, appreciate it...

[28:18] Sean: Oh, cool. Thank you.

James: [28:19] especially in this space. Man, thanks for coming on the show.

Jim: [28:22] Thank you.

[28:23] Sean: Great. Thank you, guys.

Jim: [28:23] Appreciate you. We'll be back.

[28:25] [audio splice]

Jim: [28:25] James, I have to tell you, I barely got out of my stool, barely, and all of a sudden I see this logo. I'm like, "I know..."

James: [28:32] Fast friends, man.

Jim: [28:33] I know that logo. Please introduce...

[28:36] Zach Harris: That's why I wear it. That's exactly why I wear it.

[28:40] [crosstalk]

Jim: [28:40] It works.

James: [28:41] tell us.

Jim: [28:40] We haven't really met yet, but I said, "Come on the podcast. We want to hear about you." Please introduce yourself and say, with your company, what you do.

[28:49] Zach: Of course. My name is Zack Harris. I'm the damage prevention coordinator for Southern Company Pipelines based out of Birmingham, Alabama.

[28:57] I'm over everything right of way for about 100 miles of pipeline, from Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee.

Jim: [29:04] Out of...I have an old friend. I don't even know if you know him. The name is Jim Denham. Do you happen to know Jim, by chance?

[29:10] Zach: I hate to say I do.

James: [29:11] Oh.

[29:12] Zach: He is my supervisor.

Jim: [29:14] Jim Denham is?

[29:15] Zach: Jim Denham is my supervisor.

Jim: [29:18] We could not have...

James: [29:19] Six degrees of separation.

Jim: [29:20] We could not have planned this.

James: [29:21] Six degrees of...

[29:22] [crosstalk]

Jim: [29:22] Do you know Anathea?

[29:23] Zach: She is actually my coworker. She is our public awareness coordinator. She is here. She's not in the building, but she is here at this conference.

James: [29:31] She is?

Jim: [29:31] She's on the podcast next. We're going to find her.

James: [29:34] We're going to track her down.

[29:36] Zach: She's having more fun.

Jim: [29:39] This is fantastic, to be a part of Jim's team. I've have so much respect for Jim. I'd known him throughout years, before he was great. No offense, Jim.

[29:49] Zach: [laughs] That's been a while.

James: [29:50] Sounds fire.

[29:51] Zach: See, I'm bald. I can't say too much.

James: [29:53] Shoutout.

Jim: [29:54] This is great. I love it.

James: [29:56] Zach, we're asking everybody while we're here to, is this your first CGA, just to start with?

[30:02] Zach: It is. This is the first time I've ever been here.

Jim: [30:03] What do you think?

James: [30:04] Really? What do you think so far?

[30:04] Zach: I like it so far. This room is massive. I've been in this industry for about three years. I was with the overhead transmission with Alabama Power for eight prior to this. I've never been to a bigger hall than this, filled with all these vendors. It's amazing.

Jim: [30:23] You're going to learn so much. I mean, not that you don't know a lot now, but I'm just saying, you'll pick up so many things just by being here.

James: [30:29] Shoutout to CGA. They've put on a show.

[30:32] Zach: Yes, this is a great opportunity.

James: [30:32] Yeah, DJ out there. Did you check out any of the stuff outside yesterday or this morning?

[30:38] Zach: I did. I got in yesterday. It was a long drive from Birmingham, Alabama, but I got in yesterday. Was able to watch a little bit of that, get some rest tonight...or last night, and then enjoy this today.

Jim: [30:49] Good deal.

James: [30:50] Big day tomorrow, big day. You want to do the honors?

Jim: [30:54] Yeah. At the CGA, there's a common goal to reduce incidents, digging incidents by 50 percent...

James: [31:02] Damages.

Jim: [31:01] Damages, by 50 percent in the next five years. 50‑in‑5 is what they're saying ‑‑ reduce by 50 percent in five years. What are you and your organization going to do to help see that that happens?

[31:16] Zach: One of Jim's biggest things when he brought me on was zero percent late tickets. Zero late tickets with 811.

James: [31:24] I love that.

[31:25] Zach: That is my main responsibility as a Damage Prevention Coordinator. I review dig tickets daily, multiple times a day, trying to reach out. I've got every single one of our contract locators' numbers in my phone.

James: [31:38] Love it.

[31:39] Zach: I stay in contact with them, make sure they locate on time. If they can't locate on time...

[31:46] Zach: I stay in contact with them, make sure they locate on time. If they can't locate on time, in our procedures...Jim and Taylor Ray, before he moved on...

Jim: [31:48] Yeah, Taylor, yeah.

[31:49] Zach: They came up with a procedure that if...basically, lend a helping hand.

[31:54] If our locators can't locate on time, we do what we can to either talk with the excavator to get an extension granted to where they can locate, or we go out and locate for them. Jim was very adamant. We're trying to reach that zero late ticket.

Jim: [32:13] I love that. 50‑in‑5, zero late...

[32:16] Zach: It sounds great, it's a feat.

Jim: [32:21] I bet it is.

[32:21] Zach: We're slowly moving to that goal, but it is...we look at these tickets multiple times a day.

Jim: [32:28] Wonderful. Zach...

James: [32:28] Excellent. Zach, appreciate you, buddy.

[32:31] Zach: Yes. Thank you for your time. Thank you so much. Feels good to meet you.

Jim: [32:33] What a little bit of a nuance. That's great. We'll be back.

James: [32:37] We'll be back.

[32:38] [pause]

James: [32:38] We're back again, Jim.

Jim: [32:40] We are? [laughs]

James: [32:40] Yeah. I think it's going to slow down and it's just picking up pace.

Jim: [32:45] Non‑Stop. Thank you for coming to this show.

[32:51] Allen Gray: Allen Gray.

Jim: [32:50] Allen, great to see you.

James: [32:51] You don't have a name tag out, tell you normally...

James: [32:53] That's...oh, look at this! Here we go. Just real quick.

[32:58] Allen: It didn't match with what I'm wearing.

Jim: [32:59] He looks like he's been on the links today.

James: [33:01] Just show that to the screen. That way, post‑production doesn't kill me. Excellent, sir.

[33:05] Allen, tell everybody a little bit about what you do in our industry.

[33:09] Allen: I am the Utility Infrastructure Division Director with AGC of America, that's Associated Contractors of America. We represent about 25,000 contractors, companies and associated industries in the United States of America.

James: [33:26] Do you know Steve Allen, by chance?

[33:28] Allen: Steve Allen?

James: [33:30] Do you know Steve Allen from Indiana? Former regulator?

[33:32] Allen: No, I do not.

James: [33:33] All right.

[33:34] Allen: I do know Steve Allen was the host of "The Tonight Show" before Johnny Carson.

James: [33:39] While we're on the subject, let's address the elephant in the room. That is, you're way better at this than we are.

Jim: [33:47] That voice.

[33:48] Allen: That good?

James: [33:49] Can you do your radio bit for everybody?

Jim: [33:53] Please.

James: [33:53] It's so good.

[33:54] Allen: It was a, when I was younger, at a radio station in Greenwood, South Carolina, WGSW 1350 "Greenwood's Country Connection."

[34:03] [laughter]

Jim: [33:39] I just got goosebumps.

James: [34:03] That makes me happy, man. I love it.

[34:06] Allen: I'm sure.

[34:07] [laughter]

James: [34:07] We're at the CG...

[34:09] Allen: Wasn't the intended purpose for this.

Jim: [34:12] [laughs] That could be...Never mind, we'll just leave it at that. Go ahead, James.

James: [34:15] No, please, go ahead.

Jim: [34:15] CGA, how long you been attending the CGA, and what do you think some of the great benefits that you're taking away or giving to others by being at the CGA?

[34:25] Allen: The CGA, I was a part of the Common Ground Study in 1998, representing the construction industry when we first started all this. We came up with the Best Practices Project, which was, Congress ordered the Department of Transportation to conduct a study of best practices.

[34:45] We did that in '98, presented the results of that in '99, and then we got together and formed the Common Ground Alliance. I was there at the beginning and was a member of the chartered board of directors. What we had...

Jim: [35:02] Did you know this? Keep going.

James: [35:04] Sitting amongst royalty.

Jim: [35:05] Yeah, royalty is right.

James: [35:05] Industry royalty.

[35:06] Allen: What we did was the...before, in 1998, it was the Transportation Equity Act, which funded projects and everything, but within it was the requirement that the Department of Transportation conduct a study of best practices.

[35:25] They were going to do a one‑size‑fits‑all, One Call project because of a few accidents that had happened or incidents that had happened beforehand, with gas lines exploding, people losing life, limb, and property damage.

James: [35:42] Understood.

James: [35:42] Understood.

[35:43] Allen: We had an opportunity, the industries involved in damage prevention, the construction industry, the facility and the operators, the one‑call centers, which were scattered with no rhyme or reason at the time, telecommunication, energy, all the industries, to come together and develop the best practices.

[36:04] Over about 18 months, we developed 162 best practices with different teams. I was part of the steering team at that time. It was under the Office of Pipeline Safety, which is now PHMSA, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. I don't want to throw too many acronyms at you guys.

James: [36:21] We're familiar with PHMSA.

Jim: [36:23] We're good.

James: [36:24] We live in the OQ world.

[36:24] Allen: We went and put together these best practices. After it happened and the government said, "OK. That's fine," again, we were up against a federal mandate on what one‑call should be, one‑call at all, so we took control of the industry.

[36:43] Also, at the same time, excavation damage to pipeline facilities was on the National Transportation and Safety Board's top 10 list. That was pretty serious business and part of the reason that they instructed the Department of Transportation to do the study.

[37:02] Within two, three years after the study, they had taken the excavation damage off that list because we got our stuff together, of the ones that were part of the study, and then formed the Common Ground Alliance after that. What we said was we have these 160 best practices. We need to build on them and work together moving forward.

[37:25] One of the most important things we did was a consensus process to have a best practice. That means that everybody had to agree to a best practice. What this did was force each individual group to really put theirself in the shoes of another group, and nobody could pass anything. We have over 160 best practices now.

[37:52] When you look at that book, that's what gives us our integrity. The construction industry, the telecom industry, the gas industry, locating industry, municipals, everybody agreed to each best practice. That's where the Common Ground Alliance derives its legitimacy and its integrity from.

James: [38:11] Nice.

[38:11] Allen: After that, we formed the Common Ground Alliance and we formed up the committees, each one. The best practices, the data collection and those, and we have worked for 22 years. What we have done is very unique in that usually government goes and has regulations and you have lobbyists, everybody go against them, or put in it.

[38:36] They actually look to the Common Ground Alliance, what is the best practice on this? OSHA has recognized the best practices. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration recognizes [inaudible]. Since we have the nine elements of an effective program, which each state does as part of that, putting that together as well.

[38:56] We have been the master of our destiny all industries, but what we have accomplished is something that we can't put our hand on to measure. How many lives and property damage and everything have we saved at the Common Ground Alliance, but do what we do?

[39:14] It was a great public part of government public partnership in that, we took control of our industries and decided what was best before somebody else had to, and we all work together. The consensus process, I can't say how much that means to it, that everybody has to agree.

[39:36] Sometimes it takes three to four to five years to get a best practice through. We've been accused of taking too long. That group or that group doesn't want to do it, but at the end of the day there was reason for that, to put us together.

Jim: [39:53] I'm going to quiz you later on.

James: [39:55] This is my first CGA, Allen. You just gave me everything I need of what, I've sat in sessions, I love the knowledge share and transfer that's happening, that we're seeing everywhere. I love seeing the tech, but I don't have the background. That's amazing to hear.

[40:14] One of the things right now, 50‑in‑5, being somebody who just got here, I understand it. We deliver to the natural gas industry so we understand how important it is. That's a start. It's like I said, a big hairy, audacious goal. How are we going to get there, Allen?

[40:35] Allen: It's hard to get there.

James: [40:37] I know that's big.

[40:38] Allen: That's a lot to go with. You want to put into place, but it's going to take the utility facility owner operators, the gas companies, the telecoms, everyone. It's going to take the contractors and the locators putting together and everybody has got to accept their responsibilities in the process.

[40:56] The excavator has to call before they dig. They have to describe the job site accurately. The one call center has to take that notice. They have to pass it on to the utility owner operators, and the utility on operators have to respond appropriately with their locators' environment. Then the contractors need to verify the location.

[41:18] Any part of that process breaks down, they're all equally responsible. It can't be a locator's fault, it can't be the facility owner's fault. It's somewhere along that process. It's a process everybody has to be involved in and take part in, especially when it comes to the gas industry. We all are.

[41:41] When you end up with St. Cloud, Minnesota, and you have other evidence of circumstances where things went wrong. We have addressed those in the Common Ground Alliance.

[41:53] At St. Cloud, for instance, one of the problems there was there was an accident where a contractor ‑‑ forgive me if I don't remember every detail, this has been so many years ‑‑ was putting in a guide wire simply for a telephone pole and hit a gas line.

[42:09] They called the gas company. The gas company came out there. They were looking for leaks along the way, went to the basement and buildings around there.

[42:17] The 911 was called and they showed up. The gas company told them to stand back, we got this. While that was going on, there was an explosion that killed, I believe, seven people and destroyed a block of St. Cloud, Minnesota.

[42:34] The NTSB came back to the Common Ground Alliance and said, "We want you to change the best practice that says call the affected facility when you have a gas leak and put in there that call 911 first, then call the gas company." It took three years to get that best practice through because we looked at every angle, everything and finally passed the best practice that said, "Call 911 first."

[43:05] The NTSB even came to the Common Ground Alliance and said, "Why are y'all taking so long?" Once we did it, they understood. We had it covered, we knew every aspect. Now, in just about every law and in best practices, it says, call 911, have them come out, and then the gas company come onsite.

James: [43:24] Allen, you're an amazing person to get to know. Thank you for all the work that you've done, get to do.

Jim: [43:35] We had no idea when you were rolling up here, the wealth of information we were going to learn. I learned too, and I used to be at CenterPoint Energy, out of Minnesota.

[43:40] Allen: Oh, really? Did you know Michael McGrath?

Jim: [43:43] Yes.

[43:43] Allen: He used to be with up there. He was a good friend of mine, and was the second Co‑Chair of the Best Practices Committee.

Jim: [43:50] You got to be kidding me.

[43:52] Allen: No.

Jim: [43:52] [laughs]

[43:52] Allen: He was a good friend of mine.

James: [43:54] We need to hook this guy up with Steve Allen. All veteran guys. Good.

Jim: [43:54] Yeah, we do.

[43:55] Allen: I'd love to do this.

James: [43:58] Let's do it.

[43:59] Allen: I'd do the history of the Common Ground Alliance. It was every best practices we used to do. I was the on the steering team of the Common Ground Study, the original board of directors.

James: [44:10] Love it.

[44:11] Allen: I've been the editor of the best practices for 20 years now, me and Bill Boswell. I know where all the bodies are buried.

[44:18] [laughter]

James: [44:18] You head it here, but you didn't hear a thing.

[44:22] Allen: If you ever want to hear the history of that, let me know.

James: [44:28] Hey, we're going to have to have you on a full episode, because there's no way we can talk as much as we need to talk in this amount of time.

Jim: [44:30] We need to keep this information going and get it out.

James: [44:30] We're good.

[44:30] Allen: [laughs] So nice to meet you all.

James: [44:35] All right. Hey, we'll be back.

Jim: [44:35] Great to meet you.

[44:37] Allen: Yes, sir.

Jim: [44:35] We'll be back.

[44:36] [pause]

Jim: [44:36] You know what, though? This is non‑stop. We are going back to back to back. People are lined up, they keep going, and...

James: [44:42] How many time you've been on this show? 700?

Jim: [44:44] Me or him?

James: [44:46] You count the one at EWNCON?

[44:48] [laughter]

[44:48] M.G. Govia: If you don't remember, did it count?

[44:52] [laughter]

James: [44:52] Between the two of us, maybe there's one episode out of it. We won't bring that up.

Jim: [44:57] No.

James: [44:57] Too late.

[44:58] M.G: Three on purpose. Was it one room?

Jim: [45:03] Is it three only?

James: [45:05] Three and a quarter.

[45:04] M.G: ...and one bonus.

James: [45:06] Sorry, what are we doing?

Jim: [45:08] We're going, we're going.

James: [45:09] We're back.

Jim: [45:10] We're back.

[45:11] M.G: Hi, Jim. Hi, James.

Jim: [45:06] M.G., please.

James: [45:15] M.G., why don't you just take over? You intro us for a change.

[45:17] M.G: Yeah, somebody might not know. My name's M.G. I'm guest host of Coffee With Jim & James today.

James: [45:24] I like to call him JG.

[45:26] [laughter]

James: [45:26] No one gets it, though.

[45:28] M.G: I get it. Now we're the three J's. In case you don't know, we've got Jim, long‑time guy.

[45:36] [laughter]

[45:36] M.G: Then we also have James.

James: [45:38] Also a long‑time guy.

[45:40] M.G: He's been a guy just a little bit less time.

James: [45:41] OKIE811, what are we here for? You know what's up.

Jim: [45:46] It's great to be here. Thank you for having us today, M.G.

James: [45:47] We're in your world now. Sometimes you come play in our world, but today we're playing in your world.

[45:52] M.G: I go to you world, and I'm listening about OQs and all that stuff that I don't do at all.

James: [45:58] You've got to wear a sweater vest to those.

[45:59] [crosstalk]

[45:59] M.G: I have to ask what all this stuff means, and y'all teach me the ways. Y'all are my world now. We're at Common Ground Alliance, the...

[46:06] [crosstalk]

James: [46:06] Tell me, how many CGAs have you been to?

[46:10] M.G: This is my third CGA.

James: [46:10] I figured more. Sorry.

[46:12] M.G: I've only been in my role with OKIE811 for four years, and COVID knocked out one of those trips.

James: [46:18] That's awesome. Good event...

[46:20] [crosstalk]

[46:20] M.G: Yeah. CGA's a great organization. 811 wouldn't exist without CGA.

James: [46:26] Love that.

[46:27] M.G: That's the birthplace of the phone number. It's a great opportunity to learn and network and meet a lot of different vendors within the damage prevention industry.

Jim: [46:35] Maybe learn something new today.

[46:37] M.G: Yes, actually.

James: [46:37] Oh, tell us.

Jim: [46:38] Share.

James: [46:39] Keep talking.

[46:39] M.G: I learned a couple different things. A session I just came out of was a case study, if you will, about Colorado Springs and how they made...

James: [46:48] A client?

[46:48] M.G: ...an ordinance within their town about damage prevention. It's enforceable and fines and other stuff to reduce damage in Colorado Springs.

[46:59] It was really interesting. I don't know if it's something that I can slap in Oklahoma anywhere, but it's a great case study, and that's great for them for what that was.

[47:10] Earlier today, there was a session over regional partnerships that I was really impressed with, just bringing...

[47:16] [crosstalk]

Jim: [47:16] Steven Allen was talking about that.

[47:17] M.G: I learned a lot in that one, just new ways to engage partnerships, not only having those big events but the small meetings, the Zoom meetings, and get that message out there, because we lost a lot of our audience during COVID, and so trying to bring them back into the fold and revamping the message again. It was really interesting.

Jim: [47:39] You would say that the knowledge sharing here, a lot of benefits and values of that, would that be a fair statement for the folks that aren't attending and should attend next year?

[47:50] M.G: Yeah, absolutely. On paper, you're going to see the breakout sessions on different topics. CGA does a good job of trying to give you some variety and things to take home with you. Ultimately, this conference, or any other conference I go to, it's what happens outside of those sessions. It's the networking...

James: [48:04] When you get to, "Any questions?"

[48:05] M.G: Yeah. When I'm talking to my counterparts in California, or South Carolina, or North Carolina, or Tennessee, and we see how they're presenting the same message, I take these nuggets and...

[48:17] We've had this conversation that, one time I knew nothing, and then I just stole the best of the best of all these different places. Now people think I'm good at what I do. I'm not that good. I'm just good at stealing good ideas. [laughs]

Jim: [48:29] You know what, though, I would say that that is what the industry is designed for, is to do that knowledge sharing, because people want alliance, Common Ground Alliance. It's everybody getting together and sharing and using that data and passing it on.

James: [48:43] It's kind of the joke but not the joke in our segment, what I use as the statement is, you'll get in a session in natural gas, and then "My friend has a pipeline," one of those.

[48:56] [laughter]

James: [48:56] Then you get in some real dialogue, and it's like, "Are you drilling oil? My friend..." [laughs] Everybody is sharing and it's a place, it's not about checking boxes. We're building better systems, we're using better tech and better people, and we're understanding all that, making a difference.

[49:14] M.G: I love the idea that...so there's a lot of competition. You all are in Texas, right?

James: [49:20] Yeah.

[49:20] M.G: Texas 811 and Oklahoma, or OKIE811, we do the same thing, we have the same message ‑‑ we want to keep our people safe. Every once in a while, I'm like, "Texas stole that idea from me. So we did that better," or vice versa.

[49:33] It's great, because the liaisons that are in Texas, and I, we can have conversations. Like I said earlier, we just steal the best of the best, and we both just become that much better at what we do.

James: [49:43] Good artists borrow, great artists steal.

Jim: [49:45] You want to ask the question?

James: [49:47] No, please, you did so well last time.

Jim: [49:49] 50‑in‑5, that's a topic you were talking about. Reducing damage incidents by 50 percent in five years. Thoughts? What would you share as one tip for...

James: [49:58] How are we going to do that? Is it too big, hairy, audacious?

[50:00] M.G: No. First of all, the initial answer is, yes it is big and hairy.

James: [50:07] Yes, I love it, though. I wanted you to...

[50:10] M.G: I was so quick to say no because I want to say I can do anything. Here's what the climate of the industry is. We say 50 percent less damages. Cool, but we have to define what that is.

[50:20] Are we doing it, saying, "Hey, we have a hard number. We had 100,000 damages," or whatever number we have, and go, "Well, we need 50,000 in five years."? No, because our infrastructure is rolling out so much money into fiber and all these installs, we're going to have more excavations than ever before.

[50:37] The last five years in Oklahoma alone, we've had an increase of tickets. If you have an increase of tickets, that means you're going to have more opportunities to have damage. We need to say, "Are we still doing it per 1,000 tickets, or how are we just defining it?"

James: [50:49] Yeah, "What's the metric, what's the measures?"

[50:50] M.G: Once we focus on that and get that laser out and focus on that, then we go and try to solve the problems. The problems are, it starts with putting in a locate request.

[50:59] My title's Education Outreach. When someone doesn't put in that locate request, I take the fall, because in a way, I'm like, "How did I not reach that person? What are we doing that, that person didn't feel like they needed to call, or they didn't know about us?" That's a huge percentage that would knock out a lot.

[51:17] Then comes the excavation safety practices, to tolerance zone, respecting the marks, things of that nature, and getting that education in front.

James: [51:25] All of them. It's stuff we're doing here.

[51:28] M.G: In Oklahoma, I'm proud of the program that we're doing. We are expanding our curriculum outside of OKIE811. Same information, I'm just giving other organizations the opportunity to teach it, organizations like Oklahoma Association of Electric Coops, OMAG, others like that.

[51:42] In less than 30 days, the Association of Electric Coops ‑‑ big shoutout to them, I hope they watch this ‑‑ have certified 260 individuals.

James: [51:51] I know them.

[51:52] M.G: Last year, me, just by myself, running around, trying to do the same thing? Less than 600. They're are a third of the way...more than a third of the way there in one month. They have plenty more to talk to.

Jim: [52:05] Kudos.

[52:05] M.G: It's awesome. It's going to be a good opportunity for us to see that needle moved. If I hear that phrase one more time this conference, the needle is moving.

James: [52:13] We're moving the needle, man. I said the needle again. I told you.

Jim: [52:18] You said that I should use it in my tagline, "Let's move that needle."

James: [52:24] Let me tell you we would've downgraded you for that.

[52:28] M.G: Yeah, I would've.

Jim: [52:30] Allegedly.

James: [52:30] Nobody wants to move the needle.

[52:33] M.G: I know.

James: [52:34] There's a lot of needles.

[52:36] M.G: I know, I never understood that phrase.

James: [52:40] You know what, we want to move the needle in the speedometer?

[52:13] M.G: Go faster?

James: [52:13] Yeah, however we want to...whatever the pressure, anything. Yeah, I don't know.

Jim: [52:15] [laughs]

[52:15] M.G: I like it.

James: [52:41] I didn't make it up. I'm just saying we're moving a lot of needles. You know our show, we want to move the needle in terms of putting people in this industry.

Jim: [52:50] Yes, definitely.

James: [52:50] We know we're losing that, so we want to move in a good way.

[52:55] M.G: That's a good point.

Jim: [52:57] Good point, and we're doing that.

James: [52:57] Let me just say, thank you for the work you do in Oklahoma.

Jim: [52:59] Absolutely.

James: [52:59] I see it firsthand because I'm there, I do a lot of work there. I see you there, I see you doing the work. I know you're always out there. Thank you. Thank you from all of us. It's not just the Oklahoma people, we've got to...like you said, we got to cross all the borders, do all the things. Thank you so much, as a neighboring Texan, and I'm Oklahoma by proxy.

[53:19] M.G: Yeah, you're there often enough. You've had some really good food in Oklahoma now, so you're figuring this out.

James: [53:27] Done a little bit of everything.

[53:29] M.G: Yeah.

James: [53:28] M.G, Thank you, brother.

[53:30] M.G: No problem.

Jim: [53:30] Thank you, brother. I appreciate you.

James: [53:31] Always a guest...

[53:32] M.G: Appreciate you.

James: [53:31] in our house. We'll be back.

[53:35] [audio splice]

Jim: [53:35] See you, friends. James, we are icon after icon.

James: [53:39] Icon heavy.

Jim: [53:40] I can't...

James: [53:43] Here's the funny thing is that we're newer in this space. We do a lot of natural gas.

[53:50] [crosstalk]

James: [53:50] This is my first CGA. He's been here multiple times. We don't know if somebody's the most important person that ever sat down with us, so we have to rely on everybody.

[54:02] Louis Panzer: We're the most humble people too.

James: [54:03] We are.

[54:04] Louis: No one will take credit for anything, other than to pass it on to somebody else, for sure.

James: [54:08] That's exactly right.

Jim: [54:09] We are...

James: [54:09] Everybody's full of it too. You can't trust a soul.

[54:13] Louis: They are full of it. We're all full of crap.

James: [54:13] [laughs]

[54:13] Louis: That's true.

Jim: [54:14] Especially Allen. Oh.

James: [54:15] Oh.

[54:15] Louis: What?

Jim: [54:16] [laughs]

James: [54:16] Just kidding.

[54:17] Louis: Mr. Gray. Talk about an icon.

James: [54:20] I'll tell you what.

Jim: [54:21] He is...

[54:22] Louis: I could spend my whole three minutes talking about Allen Gray.

Jim: [54:23] I'm going to tell you right now, Allen Gray is unbelievable. That story...

James: [54:26] We had no idea.

Jim: [54:28] that was fantastic.

James: [54:29] Louis, do us a favor.

[54:31] Louis: Yes, sir.

James: [54:29] Let everybody know who you are and who you're with.

[54:33] Louis: My name's Louis Panzer. I'm executive director of North Carolina 811, been there for 12 years now, at this point. I'm also the co‑chair of the Data Committee currently for the CGA.

James: [54:43] Oh, that's a very important job right now, from what I hear.

[54:48] Louis: Part of that 50‑in‑5.

James: [54:48] Let's talk about that.

Jim: [54:50] Let's talk about 50‑in‑5. Sarah brought it up as a goal. It's a lofty goal. We all understand that. What are your thoughts about reducing damage incidents by 50 percent in the next five years?

[55:02] Louis: I think it's very important to have a large goal for yourself. I think this industry, on the whole, is happy with small victories overall. They'll take the five percent or the six percent or whatever and say, "Hey, we've done a good job. My boss is happy. We're doing it. We're whittling it down."

James: [55:21] Woo‑hoo.

[55:22] Louis: The challenge is not just 50‑in‑5. The challenge is that we're in the face of a whole lot of excavation coming down the pike, way more than we've experienced with the infrastructure bill and that.

[55:34] It's not just reducing damages. Somehow we have to keep pace with the fact that we're going to be seeing extraordinary amounts of increases in the amount of tickets that are created by these one‑call centers.

[55:45] How the industry responds to that, in my opinion, the way we get there is going to be technology ‑‑ better maps, sharing of maps, the improvements of the ability to communicate.

James: [55:56] Agree.

[55:57] Louis: It doesn't stop with 811. 811 is a great start, it's a great way to get the ball rolling, but excavators, locators, folks have to communicate through this process, get to know each other, and know who the people are in the ground, who you're working with every day.

James: [56:12] 100 percent. I have nothing to add.

Jim: [56:16] I don't either.

[56:17] [laughter]

James: [56:17] Here we are again.

[56:16] Louis: The sound bite.

Jim: [56:18] It's like, I put a stamp on that.

James: [56:21] It's so good. 100 percent. Trademark it.

[56:24] Louis: My pleasure.

Jim: [56:25] Thank you so much.

[56:27] Louis: Thank you, gentlemen. It was awesome.

James: [56:30] I look forward to getting to know you.

[56:33] Hey, we'll be back.

Jim: [56:34] We'll be back.

[56:36] [pause]

Jim: [56:36] I have not been away from the stool, James, since we started this, and it hasn't been minutes.

James: [56:33] Just take a quick break. It's all right.

Jim: [56:33] I can't even step up without people wanting to come by and be on the show and talk about safety, damage prevention...

James: [56:38] and training.

Jim: [56:40] Please introduce yourself to the audience, please.

[56:44] Debbie Shelley: I'm Deb Shelley. I'm from Global Training Center, and one of your Canuck friends, your Canadian friends, here at the Damage Prevention.

James: [56:51] I love that.

Jim: [56:53] Welcome.

James: [56:53] Canadian partners.

Jim: [56:54] Where in Canada?

[56:55] Debbie: Calgary, just outside of Strathmore.

Jim: [56:58] I've been there many times. The library downtown is phenomenal, with the...

[57:02] [crosstalk]

[57:02] Debbie: Do you like that? Is that cool? It's all about that self‑discovery and being learner‑centric. They actually designed it with the learner at heart. It's like what we do.

James: [57:11] I love it. Tell us more about that.

Jim: [57:14] Yeah, tell us more, what you do.

[57:13] Debbie: [laughs]

James: [57:13] Tell them about it.

[57:13] Debbie: You know what, I'm very lucky. I lead a passionate team that's all about making sure people get home safe at night.

James: [57:21] Oh, man! That's our favorite.

[57:23] Debbie: You couldn't ask for a better calling, and you couldn't ask for a better day at work than to know that somebody's going home safe to their family. That's what this conference is all about. It's all about damage prevention.

Jim: [57:34] The passion in her voice is resonating.

James: [57:37] We're training company, and that's at our core as well. When I first started ‑‑ it's funny you said that ‑‑ I was the Director of Marketing. One of the first ads...I needed to see myself, I needed to see the impact I was making. We're a technology company, so at the end of the day, I'm thinking, "We're making software, we're can tech, right?" but I had to see it. I had to see it firsthand.

[58:05] One of the first ads I made was a dad throwing up his kid on the couch. It was exactly that message was, we're bringing people home safe at night, so they can do that very thing. It landed for me, and I knew what I was doing from that point forward. Love it.

[58:24] Debbie: It's so true. For me, it was, I experienced a fatality on one of my crews. I came back ‑‑ I was working out of Brownsville, Texas ‑‑ came back to Canada with a total mandate to make a difference.

Jim: [58:37] I've been to Brownsville, so wow!

James: [58:37] I'm from Texas.

Jim: [58:38] He's from Texas, I'm in Florida right now.

[58:42] Let me ask you a quick question. CGA were talking about 50 percent reduction in damage incidents in five years. Thoughts on that? What do you think we can do to achieve that?

James: [58:52] How are we going to get there?

[58:55] Debbie: Do you know what, I first of all think that it's going to take stakeholder commitment all the way across the board. You saw it today, probably at the luncheon, where we talked to the excavators, locators. We have the tendency to be siloed in that aspect.

[59:06] That's where maybe a little bit at Canada, we've done it well. We've brought everybody together and written some standards, and created some best practices that everybody's bought into and everybody's utilizing. We have regulators that are behind us. It helps when you come at it almost symbiotic versus in these independent little pieces.

James: [59:25] I love it.

Jim: [59:27] That's great.

James: [59:28] You can't get a better answer than this.

Jim: [59:31] No.

James: [59:32] You can't meet a more passionate person. Fantastic. Thank you so much.

[59:36] Debbie: [laughs] Hey, thanks, guys.

Jim: [59:29] Thank you so much.

[59:30] Debbie: Like I said, thank you guys for what you're doing. This is huge.

Jim: [59:39] Absolutely. Thanks for joining us.

James: [59:41] I feel like we've gained a listener today.

Jim: [59:41] Number 10.

James: [59:42] Can we confirm that?

Jim: [59:44] Number 10.

James: [59:45] Can we get that recorded?

[59:46] Debbie: [laughs] Yes.

James: [59:47] Are you a new subscriber?

[59:47] Debbie: No, I have not even subscribed until, and I will with the QR.

James: [59:51] You're about to.

[59:52] Debbie: That's why I was taking the picture of the QR code. [laughs]

James: [59:53] Yes, we'll do it.

[59:54] Making one difference. Thank you so much.

Jim: [59:56] Thank you.

James: [59:56] Hey, we'll be right back.

[59:57] Debbie: Have a great day.

[59:59] [pause]

James: [59:57] Jimmy?

Jim: [59:57] We are back, we are ready to go. You're good?

James: [1:00:01] Yep.

Jim: [1:00:01] Yep? You're good? Please, introduce yourself.

James: [1:00:03] Very compliant.

Jim: [1:00:04] He is by‑the‑rule, I can tell he's by‑the‑rules.

James: [1:00:09] Rusty, man...

[1:00:10] Rusty Poore: He told me to do it. I'm Rusty Poore. I'm Senior Damage Prevention Coordinator for CenterPoint Energy in Indiana.

Jim: [1:00:14] Oh, my old stomping grounds, CenterPoint Energy.

James: [1:00:18] You must know Steve Allen.

Jim: [1:00:18] Steve Allen.

[1:00:19] Rusty: I do know...

Jim: [1:00:20] Jim Francis?

James: [1:00:21] Is that a good thing?

[1:00:23] Rusty: I know Jim, I know Steve, yes.

James: [1:00:23] Did you know Jim Francis painted a picture of us?

Jim: [1:00:25] Of us. Did you know that?

James: [1:00:27] Did you know?

[1:00:29] Rusty: Really? I did not know that.

James: [1:00:27] After he came on the show, he painted us a picture and sent it to us over Christmas holidays.

[1:00:33] Rusty: That's nice of him. I'm sure it's good, too.

James: [1:00:35] I'm not kidding, I cried when I got it.

Jim: [1:00:38] I did, too.

James: [1:00:39] Because I knew he had thought about us. I know it's weird, but it's very thoughtful.

[1:00:46] Rusty: I didn't know Jim real well, he was a senior leader, but he was always...Whenever I ran into him at safety events and stuff like that, he was always a very good guy.

James: [1:01:00] He's awesome. Shoutout, friend.

[1:01:01] [crosstalk]

James: [1:01:01] A friend of the show.

Jim: [1:01:03] Richard is now on the electric side.

[1:01:06] Rusty: Yes, he is. I've had the opportunity to meet Richard. Another great guy.

Jim: [1:01:12] He is. Listen, we are talking here about 50 in five, reducing 50 percent of the damage incidents in five years. What's your thoughts as to how we're going to achieve that? Any thoughts?

[1:01:16] Rusty: It's a very ambitious goal.

Jim: [1:01:18] Achievable?

[1:01:18] Rusty: I think it's achievable. When they were talking about it, they had to set a bar. They were talking about damages are staying flat, which is good. At least they're not going through the roof, but you got to set a bar to get better.

[1:01:39] All stakeholders have to take ownership of what they do. We're a natural gas operator. We got to make sure that we oversee our contract locators. We keep our maps up to date. Everybody make sure that what they could control, they can do that. Just making sure that everybody is accountable.

James: [1:02:00] I like it. Y'all are doing great things in Indiana, believe me. Steve and I talk probably once a week, every 10 days. You know when you talk to Steve Allen, it's not for five minutes. I get to hear...

[1:02:15] Rusty: No. He's pretty passionate about damage prevention and driving change for the better.

James: [1:02:19] He is. We love Steve:

[1:02:21] Rusty: We have a stakeholder group in Indiana. It's a group of leaders, decision‑makers that get together from all the stakeholders. Steve moderates it.

[1:02:31] It was going really heavy before COVID. Then when COVID hit, it stopped, here in the last few months, we've got together a couple times and trying to get together to make some law changes. We've made some changes with rulemaking, but trying to get some legislation passed to make everything better for damage prevention.

James: [1:02:50] I know all about it. I'm telling you. He tells me all about it. He's excited. I'm excited for Steve and for y'all to be able to get to work together again, do everything that wanted to do pre‑pandemic. Now that it's kicked back off, I can tell you he's excited.

Jim: [1:03:11] He is.

[1:03:12] Rusty: He is.

James: [1:03:13] He is. That's a good thing for our industry.

Jim: [1:02:50] He's right over there.

James: [1:02:52] We appreciate all the work you guys do, seriously.

[1:02:52] Rusty: Absolutely. Thanks for having me on.

James: [1:03:15] Thanks for coming on, brother.

Jim: [1:03:15] Thank you so much.

[1:03:16] Rusty: Always good to see you guys.

Jim: [1:03:18] Please send our best everybody that we know in Indiana.

[1:03:21] Rusty: Sure will.

James: [1:03:22] Keep doing the good work. We'll be back.

[1:03:24] Rusty: Thank you.

[1:03:25] [audio splice]

James: [1:03:25] Hey, Jimmy, we're back.

Jim: [1:03:23] We are.

James: [1:03:25] We are about to be outdone because his voice is like...

Jim: [1:03:30] Craig, just say something.

James: [1:03:32] Every show we get one person that is built for this, that could out‑podcast us, no problem, and I think we found him.

[1:03:41] Craig Ingram: [high pitched] When you guys invited me on it was...

[1:03:43] [crosstalk]

James: [1:03:43] is such a liar.

[1:03:44] Craig: I've heard it a number of times, like, "Hey, you've got a great radio voice." I always take that to mean, like, "Are you making that joke that I've got a face for radio, and no one should be looking at me?" I never know if it's actually a compliment or not.

James: [1:03:57] I've not had to turn anybody down yet until this moment.

Jim: [1:04:01] Did you just turn Craig down?

[1:04:02] Craig: [laughs]

James: [1:04:02] I just turned Craig down. He's so good. Man, it's going to be great when you're yelling at people.

[1:04:06] Craig: I'm used to projecting to a roomful of contractors. [laughs]

James: [1:04:08] Love that. Perfect.

Jim: [1:04:09] Please introduce yourself. Tell them what you do and who you're here with.

James: [1:04:12] Do me a favor. Just give a quick like that, because post‑production will hate me if you don't. Cool.

[1:04:20] Craig: My name is Craig Ingram. I am the public awareness manager for Tennessee's 811 system. Our office is based in Nashville to be central for the state, but I am currently a Memphis, Tennessee, resident on the far western end of the state. Go Grizzlies.

Jim: [1:04:34] Go Grizzlies, and we are old friends. He came walking up and I said, "When did we last see each other?" It was March 2020. I was at your conference in Franklin at the Embassy Suites.

[1:04:46] Craig: That's right.

Jim: [1:04:46] James called me and goes, "Hey, there's something like this COVID thing going on. You've got to get out of there." I'm like, "It ain't no big deal. I've been there before." Then he called me four hours later. He goes, "Airports are getting shut down," and I literally...

[1:04:57] [crosstalk]

James: [1:04:57] I told that story. That's the intro to my speaking up, several time speaking lately. I tell that same story, and it's funny it's. It's that event part.

Jim: [1:05:10] It's that event.

[1:05:10] Craig: It is so crazy, because as I was telling you guys, if we had had that conference one week later, we would have had to cancel it, shut the whole thing down.

James: [1:05:18] It was such a tricky time.

[1:05:20] Craig: Here we are now, able to be back together and all that kind of stuff, but just think about the fact that in that moment, we were learning about this pandemic and had no understanding of it. It's crazy to reflect on that.

Jim: [1:05:29] Zero. I thought it would be, like three weeks. In and out and done.

James: [1:05:31] This podcast came out of it.

Jim: [1:05:33] It did. That's how it screwed.

[1:05:35] Craig: That's nice.

James: [1:05:34] If we're going to beat it...I hate that it all happened, all things went down, but we're thankful to be here today.

Jim: [1:05:40] We are.

James: [1:05:41] CGA, my friend. How many times have you been here?

[1:05:44] Craig: I was thinking about how many conferences I've been to, and I should be getting close to the 10 mark.

Jim: [1:05:50] On CGA conferences?

James: [1:05:52] Impressive.

[1:05:52] Craig: Yeah...Well, including the conferences before, the different organization now. I've been with Tennessee 811 since 2006. Spent the first...

James: [1:06:01] Started when you were two. [laughs] It's a bad joke.

[1:06:04] Craig: I was pretty young and I was fresh out of high school. I was on the call center side for a few years and then moved to the external side. Man, I just love it. I never would have, if you asked me, because I was 18 when I started. If you asked me when I was 18 if I would still be here, all these years later, the answer would have been no. I'm just glad to be here.

James: [1:06:24] We are blessed.

Jim: [1:06:24] You must have a passion and a purpose for, yeah. Absolutely.

[1:06:26] We at CGA, as you heard, the goal 50‑in‑5. 50 percent reduction in damage incidents within the next five years, or within five years. Thoughts on that? Achievable? If so, how are we going to do that?

[1:06:41] Craig: It's completely achievable if we just take these little bite‑sized chunks away. Look at these recommendations that are being put out by CGA, balance it against the root cause information and everything that not only do we see in the DIRT report, but that we see reflected in local enforcement and what the root cause of a violation is, in Tennessee, when someone violates the dig law.

[1:07:03] The goal is just to identify the little things that we can change, that we do have control over, eat away at those. Earlier, in one of the sessions, we were having this conversation. For years, we've spent time on identifying what the challenges are. Now it's time to actually make sure that we're taking steps to fight, though.

James: [1:07:21] Solve it.

[1:07:22] Craig: Don't just talk about the pie‑in‑the‑sky big things that are years down the road. Talk about what are the little steps that we can take right now.

James: [1:07:28] How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

[1:07:31] Craig: That's right.

James: [1:07:31] You've got to get started. We appreciate you, brother, all the work you do in Tennessee. Thank you so much.

Jim: [1:07:37] Great seeing you again, absolutely.

James: [1:07:37] We'll be right back.

Jim: [1:07:39] We'll see you.

[1:07:40] [audio splice]

James: [1:07:40] Jimmy, we are back again, brand new friends. I'm just kidding. It is for me.

Jim: [1:07:43] Steve Allen was in the house. All of a sudden Chuck came walking by. We recognized that. I said, "Chuck, how long has it been?" He goes, "Last conference." I'm like, "TouchÈ. That is true."

James: [1:07:53] Steve is a closer. He brings us so many guests.

[1:07:55] Chuck Muller: That's why these conferences are so great. Damage prevention's all about communication. Building these relationships with other partners is how we keep the world safe, really.

James: [1:08:09] That's right.

Jim: [1:08:10] That's good.

James: [1:08:10] Chuck, for those that don't know you, do us a favor. Let the world know who you are and what you do.

[1:08:16] Chuck: My name's Chuck Muller. I'm the director of safety for MetroNet. We're a fiber‑to‑the‑home company. I've done work for MetroNet for four years.

[1:08:24] Prior to that, I started working at Indiana 811 at the call center. I worked there for close to 25 years. Indiana is probably one of the top states in the country as far as damage prevention awareness.

[1:08:42] We started out, holy moly was our mascot. We had the best logo. It was, "Chomp, chomp, chomp. Dig dig, dig. Holy moly, I did it again."

James: [1:08:53] Love it.

[1:08:54] Chuck: We had a great radio ad that we used. Indiana's a part of my life, part of my home, and damage prevention actually is my life.

Jim: [1:09:04] That's wonderful.

James: [1:09:05] This is why we're here.

Jim: [1:09:07] This is it.

James: [1:09:08] Steve Allen told me that you're the reason he is the way he is. I'll take that any anyway you want to take it.

[1:09:15] [laughter]

James: [1:09:15] He said everything of damage prevention stems from you, sir. That's quite a compliment from somebody like Steve.

[1:09:23] Chuck: I had a lot of mentors over my life and Steve came in when he was with the IURC. He came in later. He worked for the gas company for many, many years. I lived and breathed Indiana Gas and Vectren and now Center Point.

[1:09:40] They've been my manners ever since I got started in the damage prevention business. The state of Indiana, we have one of the best programs as far as the UPAC committee and all that money goes towards fines.

[1:09:55] One of the reasons that we are so good in Indiana is because all that fine money goes to 811 awareness and education.

Jim: [1:10:03] That's right. That's fantastic. Let me ask you a quick question. We talked here at the CGA about 50 and five, reducing damage incidents at 50 percent in five years.

[1:10:15] You're a mentor to so many, what would you recommend, how can people achieve that? What would be your recommendation?

[1:10:24] Chuck: You got to get back to the basics. It's all about the communications. At Metronet, what we did is we built a road damage prevention program that is based around communications.

[1:10:35] We communicate with our partners, the communities we're in, the homeowners. When we go out and build we say, "This is what to expect, this is what we're going to be doing."

[1:10:48] We work with our contract locating partners across the country to make sure they keep three days of paint out in front of each one of our crews.

[1:10:58] If a crew gets a thousand foot today, we're calling in another thousand foot of locates for them, to maintain at three days of paint out in front of them.

[1:11:06] You have to work together as partners. That's how we're going to get to 50‑in‑5 is to have everybody in the country work together and get the job done safely.

Jim: [1:11:17] Wonderful.

[1:11:17] [crosstalk]

James: [1:11:17] Chuck, appreciate all the work you do.

[1:11:21] Chuck: Thank you.

Jim: [1:11:22] Thank you.

[1:11:22] Chuck: Thank you, guys.

James: [1:11:23] From all of us here, appreciate it.

Jim: [1:11:26] From everybody. Absolutely.

[1:11:27] Chuck: You guys are doing a great job.

[1:11:26] [background music]

Jim: [1:11:26] No, team work.

[1:11:27] Chuck: Now, Coffee with Jim & James, man, here we go.

James: [1:11:31] We'll be back.

[1:11:32] Chuck: I can add that to my resume.

[1:11:35] [laughter]

[1:11:35] [music]