I had my first exposure to the Hydronics Institute when it was still the Institute of Boiler and Radiator Manufacturers and I was working for the manufacturers’ rep. My boss tasked me with passing out these cardboard counter-cards to the local wholesalers to spread the word that the I=B=R school was coming to town. I’d get permission to shove some stuff out of the way on the counters, open the easel back, place the card in a good spot, and hope for the best.

This was at a time when only NASA and universities had computers. The rest of us had thick binders filled with tables and charts, and that’s what the two-day I=B=R class was all about. And they filled quickly because hardly anyone was doing generic teaching in those days. If you wanted things straight-up, and without a manufacturer’s sales pitch, this seemed to be the place to be.