The Master Specifiers Retreat will take place June 19-21 in Chicago, and registration closes on March 15. Jon Lipka CSI, CCCA, CDT, AIA, attended his first Master Specifiers Retreat in California last month. Here, he shares his top three takeaways from the event.
1) The networking events are really great. The reps who were present were really good at connecting with people and truly LOVE what they do—and want to share that passion with spec writers. I was going to skip out on a dinner the final night, but was encouraged by a couple reps to come, and I'm glad I did.
2) The education sessions dug into topics and technical matters that would have probably bored ninety percent of my coworkers, but I found incredibly interesting and useful.
3) Speed-dating meetings were helpful. I would suggest reading up on a few of the companies that you aren't as familiar with, and coming with prepared questions for those with whom you already work. We do a lot of projects with a couple of the manufacturers, and we were able to dig into the details of their new, featured products and how we can improve what we're already doing well.
If you are planning on attending MSR in Chicago, here are some more top tips for making your event a success.