God Knows, I Wish You Were here!
by Jordan Hendler, WMABA Executive Director
If I were betting on the blackjack table, I’d wager the majority of our Mid-Atlantic readership – that means you – are not making the trek to the SEMA Show and related events, and reading about it now.
When you read the plethora of offerings and opportunities abounding in Vegas coming later in this issue, you may have a bit of FOMO… and, honestly, I hope you do! That means you’re on the path to getting here! So, do as the article says and save the date for ’25 and make it happen. You will not regret a minute of effort to get there.
If you ARE here, then get into the guide starting on page 26, use it as a planner, and see or hear everything you possibly can. The old adage of “sleep when you’re dead” was made for just a time as this! Just keep the caffeine on drip, head to SEMA, CIC, SCRS’ Repairer Driven Education and maybe even all the other fun parties happening during the week. Just as the article outlines, our recommendations for your attendance will not disappoint!
Back at home, I’m constantly amazed by how resilient our industry is, but I know that comes at a high price. Dealing with the endless barrage of issues facing our shops, it’s hard to implement new strategies or address issues on a more global scale, rather than the one-at-a-time daily interruptions.
We need consistency to plan, strategize and implement. Without it, we are left to rely on history to show us how to best handle the ups and downs. It’s in these tight places, our instinct is to fall into old bad habits, to put on blinders and keep our nose in the grindstone. Please, don’t do that!
Take this as a knock on your door – maybe even a knocked-down door – to a better option: digest more, ask questions more, lean into vendor assistance even more. You have smart people you buy things from and we don’t ask them for their education enough. Think of this, as an example: “Mister (or Missus) Paint Vendor, how can I better track for paint materials, so that I know what I’m charging is accurate, and a consistent profit to educate and pay my people?” Or, golly, what about, “Hey WMABA, what can I do to improve my colleague interactions so that I can learn more from them?”
I know I often repeat what I say in my column, but if this is the only one you read, I want to be sure I always say to you, “We’re better together!”
You know that kids Disney movie, “A Bug’s Life,” where the ant colony figures out they can defeat the few grasshoppers, because there’s more of them than they knew, and together could rise up against them? It’s an analogy I love, because the enemy isn’t always the insurer, as you may be thinking right now.
Often, it’s really this phrase: “I have seen the enemy, and the enemy is Me.”
(Trust me, this is the most relevant.)
We, collectively, can enact the change we hope to see in the world. But only if “We” includes you, too.
See you soon!
Want more? Check out the November 2024 issue of Hammer & Dolly!