The hydronics community comes together for
sharing and giving back.
After a three-year hiatus,
Dan Holohan
resurrected his “Wetstock” gathering of hydronic heating buffs in Denver April
12, drawing 205 participants and, for the first time, 18 exhibitors.
The Wetstock term was coined by Holohan in reference to the 1960s hippie music
festival at Woodstock, with its emblematic themes of love, peace and community.
It is a networking event bringing together a community of hydronic and
especially radiant heating enthusiasts, spanning the entire supply chain of
manufacturers, distributors, contractors, reps and engineers. Most participants
are regular visitors to “The Wall” — a hydronic heating forum that is one of
the most popular features of Holohan’s Web site at
www.heatinghelp.com. (Hit the “Questions”
link on the menu bar atop the lead page if you want to check it out.)
Holohan attempted to establish a semblance of order by selecting 20 topics for
discussion at different tables. The list included a variety of technical
(radiant controls, system treatment and cleaning, etc.) and business issues
(overcoming price objections, hiring and training, etc.). The 2nd Law of
Thermodynamics held sway, however, as most participants mingled in disorderly
fashion around the exhibitor booths that had a steady flow of traffic throughout
the day.
“What I think is significant about Wetstock is that it demonstrates the power
of a peer group that is let loose to share, without parliamentary procedure,
moderators or time limits,” Holohan says.
“Having the stimulus of the manufacturers’ products at Wetstock 2008 raised the
energy to an even higher level,” he adds. “The Wetheads had hours to focus on
these interesting products, concepts and techniques, and then to sit and share
thoughts with each other. It was wonderful to see how much feedback the
Wetheads gave to the manufacturers. This is not like a trade show, where people
flow by the booths like a river, and are often overwhelmed by too much
stimulus. Wetstock focuses the energy of the group like a magnifying glass.
Everyone is in one big room, and for a very long time.”
As the day wore on, people drifted to certain
tables for some like-minded conversations, although this interloper noticed a
tendency to stray from the designated topic before many minutes passed. Two
notable exceptions stood out.
One was a table devoted to discussion of solar-related topics, whose chairs
were filled almost the entire day with solar buffs staying largely on message.
Another perpetually crowded table was titled, “The House on Hummingbird Hill,”
hosted by contractor and water heating expert
Larry Weingarten. He and wife
Suzanne
built their ultra-efficient home in Salinas, Calif., entirely off the
electrical grid and were featured in a July 5, 2007,
New York Times article.
(You can access the article by visiting
www.nytimes.com
and doing an archive search on Larry Weingarten.)
Charitable Event
|
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| Dan Holohan and friends engage in some serious
business at Wetstock ’08. |
|
Wetstock ’08 was a charitable event that ended up
raising some $15,000 for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Funds
came from event ticket and booth sales, plus a silent auction and
raffle.
“It’s gratifying to be able to do this as a fundraiser for the Susan G. Komen
Breast Cancer Foundation,” Holohan says. “In every career, there’s a time to
learn, a time to earn, and time to give back. I believe that when people work
toward a selfless common goal such as raising money for breast cancer research,
they put aside pettiness, politics and other things that often tear apart
associations. This is how we build community. This is how we get things done.
And all while having a mighty fine time!”
Before its three-year hiatus, Holohan used to host several Wetstock gatherings
each year. That proved to be too much and attendance began lagging. He told us
he’s now planning to schedule them on an every-other-year basis.
For more information on the Susan G. Komen
For the Cure Breast Cancer Foundation, go to www.Komen.org.
