Any suggestions?

[Sheertile'n]

I'm having a hard time convincing my wife that my going to Coverings and the CTEF are a good thing for my business. You guys seem pretty sharp, any ideas or really good sales pitches?

[RandyL]

Gid'day, forget about the explaination to your wife idea......what you need to do is administer the "hide and seek" technique. Basically it works like this.......you disappear for a few days ....go do what ever, such as Coverings and the such......then return! When she gives you the " Where the hell were you?" routine, you say "Hi Honey, sorry i didn't call, but I was out with the boys......and am i ever tired, I'll explain it all to you tommorrow." As your pretending to sleep, you think of some crazy idea to make her not mad at you so that everything is O.K............

Works everytime.........trust me......

[Danny Ferguson]

Hey Rob,

Coverings and CTEF would be great for your buisness. You can never have to much education on retail or installation. Knowledge of your profession keeps you ahead of the rest. The more you know the more you realize you don't know. When education stops, so does growth. Every buisness experiences the dreaded plateau. When starting out, growth comes easily and fast, but after a while the growth slows precipitously everything levels out and sometimes recedes. This is a sign that you have gone as far as your skill level or vision will take you. The only way to continue growth is to acquire new skills and change what you're doing. Don't let it slip by.

Hope this helps. It worked on my wife. She packs my bags for every trip now.

Danny

[cx]

I can't speak for the value of Coverings to your bidness, but any course you take at CTEF will be of benefit, for sure. And if you can get a slot in the Schluter school (same place), you will very likely be converted to some new products and applications if you're not already using Ditra and Kerdi.

If your spouse can't see the value of continuing education in your chosen profession, I think you perhaps have a problem beyond the scope of any of our forums.

Although we get into damn near anything inna Mud Box.

My opinion; worth price charged.





Actually, it's rumored that Danny's wife frequently packs his bags when he has said nothing at all about taking any trips.

[Tool Guy - Kg]

The seminars are excellent. Show her what you can learn.

[Shaughnn]

Rob,
Invite her along. That usually works to convince my wife to let me go places by myself.
Shaughnn

[T_Hulse]

Invite her along AND tell her it's a tax deductable vacation. They love that.

Randy you're not married anymore, are you?

[Theoderik]

so, two guys are sitting at the bar discussing what they are going to do when they get home.

The first guy explains that every time he goes to the bar, when he gets home, he turns the car off half a block up, coasts into the drive and quietly shuts the door of the car. He slowly takes out his house keys and unlocks the door and steps inside. He continued to explain that he then takes off his shoes and in his sock feet, he tip-toes up the stairs to the bedroom. He undresses in the hall and then slowly opens the door and sneaks quietly into the bedroom. He tiptoes across the bedroom floor and gently lowers himself into bed next to his wife. As soon as his head touches the pillow though, she starts on him for being out all night and what the hell was he thinking and blah blah blah. The first guy just can't understand how his wife could possibly hear him so he figures she is staying awake all night just to yell at him.

The second guy (Randy ) explains what he does every time he goes to the bar until wee-hours in the morning. . .. "Well," he starts, "I screech into the driveway a hundert miles an hour slamming the car door. I walk in the house - and slam the door. I tromp up the stairs like a herd of elephants and into the bedroom. I then take off all my clothes, let out a loud belch and climb into bed. I reach over and say, 'Honey, I'm home and horny - how about some lovin'??'. And," he concludes, "it never fails that she lays there as quiet as possible and pretends like she's asleep."

sw (shawn)

[Sheertile'n]

CX,

I have been to the Schluter workshop in Canada. It really opened up my eyes to the fact of how much I really don't know about tiling. The Schluter guys were top notch. They are the reason for me being on this forum. I have really enjoyed reading all the topics that you guys discuss. I hope that if I do make it to the tile school or coverings that I might run into some of you guys. I can tell that you guys really know your stuff. I thought that I was the only wack job that eats, sleeps and breathes this tiling thing.

[Sheertile'n]

I tried just about all the suggestions on her nothin' worked. The belching, getting naked, getting drunk didn't help much either.

[tileguynky]

Rob, continuous education is required for any company. Heck, it is known as Kaizan in Japanese and Toyota is built upon that idea. I know, I worked it for 8 years. Coverings is a great way to see what direction the tile industry is going. Great to see new installation techniques and to learn about new products. Last year was my first year going. I felt it was very beneficial to my business. In fact, went to all the glass tile seminars that were offered and felt very confident once retruning home to start taking on glass tile projects. Look forward to going this year. I would like to work in a trip or two to CTEF this year, especially for the Schluter School.

[John Bridge]

Hi Rob,

I go to Coverings every year. To me it's a chance to see friends in the business and also to schmooze a little. Depending on the nature of your business, it's possible that Coverings will pay off in the long run, not the short run, though.

How is it that you are in Cleveland and you went to Schluter school in Canada? Guess you ran into Kempster, eh?

[Sheertile'n]

Thanks for the response Greg. I agree 100%. Furthering my education in this field is what I really would enjoy. I love what I do and it makes it that much easier to get up every morning and dive to work. What is the Schluter school that every one is talking about. Is it their Two day Innovative workshop or is it a different one?

[Sheertile'n]

Hey John,

Yeah I ran into Dale cause he is the one that did most of the teaching. I'll tell you what, he is a super nice guy and I could tell that he is very passionate about tiling knowledge. I sat with him at the TTMAC dinner (Canada's version of the NTCA). As to your question about how I ended up in Canda. I was invited by my regional sales rep, Eric Williamson, another super nice guy. I was impressed by his mud skills, too. I told them that they had to steal me away from Wedi board cause that is what I have been using for the last five years. I will say though I was convinced that kerdi and ditra are great products after seing them up close at the workshop. I have a job next week where I will be using both wedi and kerdi in a steam room. Wedi for the pan and kerdi on the builder installed hardibacker. I have also put in a couple of jobs with ditra and really like how the stuff went in.

[John Bridge]

Say hi to Eric W. next time you see him. Schluter school is the 2-day/3-day workshop. I met Dale for the first time at Coverings this year.

Wedi and Schluter should make for a great steam shower.