QSC Power Meeting rolls out new format

Quality Service Contractors President Dan Callies of Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based Oak Creek Plumbing.

Plumbing & Mechanical caught up recently with Quality Service Contractors President Dan Callies of Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based Oak Creek Plumbing about PHCC’s professional network’s upcoming Power Meeting to be held this week, March 20-22 in Kansas City, Missouri at the Intercontinental Hotel Kansas City at the Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri. Callies gives PM readers here a glimpse of the new Power Meeting format and what attendees can expect in Kansas City.

PM: What’s different about this Power Meeting?

DC: We have had a lot of great Power Meetings. I’ve been part of it the last 20 years. We had our last one at CONNECT in Albuquerque and then one before that in Savannah, Georgia. Those were as good as any other meetings we’ve had, but in some respects it’s the same meeting we had the first time I went to one. This one in Kansas City is going to be different. We’re rolling out a workshop format. It will be different and will provide some very strong takeaways. Rather than having a little bit of a really great topic, we’re taking a major topic and we are doing some deep dives.

PM: Why is this meeting’s topic on communication so important in our industry?

DC: We all have this difficult time of communicating. Everybody sees things through their own eyes and gets timid communicating those hard conversations because either they are afraid of how they will go or they don’t want to hurt feelings. We’re going to focus on how to have those hard conversations and how you can have those tools and mindsets that will allow you to get more done with your people through communication.

This is going to be unique. We are going to have one main workshop occurring. We’ll have a facilitator and then its workshops where we will be working out of a workbook and we’ll give attendees some take-home tools and techniques they can continue to practice.

PM: Long-lasting impact is the name of the game with this meeting format?

DC: We’re putting on a program that has some legs. It doesn’t stop when the Power Meeting is over and you end up absorbing maybe 15% of it. It’s about how do you take all of this and change in the long-term and have the tools and techniques to continue to practice these tactics. This meeting is designed to have a life that is going to carry on with you.

It’s going to help people get the right people in the right seat on the bus, all going in the right direction with the same thought process and mentality. We all have our own dreams, belief systems and agendas, but how do you get everybody together so that they have some input and have a voice in how they can communicate?

We’re focusing on communicating honestly and not so much emotionally so people can filter through all the other emotions that come with communication such as all the non-verbal cues. How can you get to the main focus of what the conversation is really about?

PM: This topic spans beyond our industry, correct?

DC: It goes beyond just business. You can bring this to your family and friends. Everybody you meet can take these techniques on how you can make people feel better by still communicating your thoughts and processes, and have a voice to influence people in a positive way.

For more information on the QSC Power Meeting, read more here.

Mike Miazga (former group editorial director for BNP Media’s Plumbing Group) is now the vice president of sales/membership at the American Supply Association (ASA). Supply House Times is proud to be the official publication and brand of the ASA — a relationship that spans more than a decade.

Mike’s relationship with BNP Media and the Plumbing Group continues today. He now writes a monthly ASA-focused column for Supply House Times and acts as an editorial consultant to BNP Media’s Plumbing Group.

In his 10-plus years at BNP Media, Miazga was senior editor of Plumbing & Mechanical and PM Engineer before taking over chief editor duties at Supply House Times in 2011. In addition to his role as editorial director, Miazga continued as Supply House Times chief editor and the editor of the American Supply Association’s PVF Outlook eNewsletter. He also enjoyed three stints as PM Engineer’s chief editor, holding dual roles as Supply House Times and PM Engineer chief editor on two occasions.

Miazga started his career in newspapers at the age of 19 and has more than 25 years of newsroom, management, editorial and public/media relations experience, and is a former high-school baseball and golf head varsity coach. Mike and his family are still based out of the Chicago area (with ASA Headquarters in Itasca, Illinois). You can reach Mike at PlumbingGroup89@gmail.com.