At the risk of sounding like a broken record, DistribuTECH 2014 in San Antonio, Texas reinforced the reasons why I love this industry. The amount of brain-power on that floor was, as always, impressive and was a great feeding ground for my little gray cells. The very nature of the exhibitors made learning not only a tremendous pleasure, but also fun. Many of my meetings ended with a personal knock on my noggin with the silent affirmation – “This is fantastic stuff?”
Smart grid, big data, cloud, renewable technologies, infrastructure hardening, and thought leadership were predominant amongst exhibitors. The Ontario, Canada government is well aware of the value the show can bring and it too was on hand with several Ontario companies in tow all dedicated to transmission and distribution, from all generated sources.
One of the things I like to do is simply stand in a booth and listen to the conversations between exhibitors and attendees. The approach to problems, difficulties, and possible solutions is as unique and expansive as the personalities and knowledge of the engaged people. I can’t profess to be able to remember all of what I hear but very often pertinent and interesting bits and pieces sink in.
Flying from Toronto’s Pearson International Airport to the U.S. to get to the show started very early in the morning. In order to clear the customs hurdle that has been in place since 9/11 one has to be at the terminal at least three hours prior to wheels-up. My flight was for 6:40a which meant my being there at approximately 3:00 in the morning. A friend drove me to the airport through a raging blizzard and because we left a bit early I walked through the terminal doors at 2:30a. The American Airlines check-in staff wasn’t due on site until 3:00 and as it turned out, they were weather-delayed and didn’t make an appearance until four. One good thing about being that early is you are near the front of the line where I had the dubious pleasure of hearing about upcoming holidays to the Dominican, a golfing vaca in North Carolina, a junket to Disneyland, and a holiday planned at a dude-ranch in Texas.
As usual, like most places in Canada, the topic of discussion eventually turned to hockey and of course everyone has to hear about everyone else’s favourite team and the hope it will make it to the Stanley Cup. One fellow stood out because his only luggage was a beaten-up gym bag, which was only partially filled. He was on his way to see his ex-wife in Miami. Curious about his lack of luggage, I asked him how long he planned to stay. Two to three weeks was the answer. I hope he had a drawer full of underwear somewhere otherwise he’d end up with just an elastic band around his waist after all that time.
Once the airport staff got their act in gear, we moved quickly through ticket check-in only to be held up yet again when the staff had to hustle everyone in a tour party to Miami to a waiting airplane. The snow just kept blowing and blanketing the aerodrome and dozens of us just kept standing in one place.
While we were waiting I struck up a conversation with a fellow DistribuTECH attendee. He was operations and communications manager at one of the most advanced public utilities in south-eastern Ontario. We agreed to stay in touch – it’s good to have as many quality contacts as one can muster in my job.
Once through passport control and baggage check, I headed for the security screening. Shoes off and on the conveyor along with jacket, belt, wristwatch, and pocket contents in a tray and then through the arch for me – done. Or so I thought. As I was waiting for stuff to come out of the ‘oven’ the security agent across from me started muttering to her colleague seated at a screen. I saw my jacket reversing and stopping for closer scrutiny. The agent looked at me and said, “Sir, is this your jacket”
“Yes,” I said matter-of-factly.
“Reach into that pocket and take out the contents and show them to me,” she sternly said while pointing to that area of my jacket.
I reached in and immediately knew what this carry-on was about. I had inadvertently left my house keys there and a small Swiss Army Knife was attached.
“Take the object from the ring and show it to me.”
I did as she asked.
“You can’t take that on board.” Her smugness was starting to piss me off.
“How do I get to keep it then?” I asked.
“You will have to take it outside to a designated area, put the object in an envelope, address it to yourself, and pay a fee for postage and handling. Then you must come back through customs,” Her self-satisfied look was really getting to me.
I was already standing in my socks, holding my beltless trousers up and picking up my other valuables so wasn’t too inclined to hang onto it. “Do you like this knife?” I asked facetiously.
No answer was the strange reply
“Who doesn’t like a Swiss Army Knife?” I half seethed. “You keep the bloody thing. I hope you find happiness with it.”
Thus ended my experience with pre-boarding clearance. Not once did the agent or her colleague utter the word ‘knife’ Swiss Army or otherwise.
Finally on board and after a lengthy wait on the de-icing apron, we unstuck over an hour late on our way to Dallas where I was to change for the flight to San Antonio. The gentleman next to me on the first leg was also on his way to DTECH. He was an engineer with a well-known electrical company and was a guest speaker on a panel discussing microgrids. Another excellent contact especially for our work in the magazine on renewable energies.
On the 400 kilometre short-haul flight to the home of the Alamo, I was given the aisle seat on the last row of the plane. The outside view was the port-side engine nacelle. I asked the gentleman next to me in the window seat to let me know immediately if he found he suddenly had an unobstructed view of the sky through the window so I could get my affairs in order. Luckily for everyone on the flight I was there to ensure all of the tri-head screws remained in place and tight on that engine cover. One can never underestimate the power of will and suggestion.
There is always at least one lousy traveller on every flight. If they’re not constantly up and down like an outhouse seat checking on their belongings in the overhead bins, they’re on an endless back-and-forth trip on the aisle to the lav. On that flight I’m sorry to say ‘that person’ was the guy in front of me. He couldn’t change position without throwing himself against the seatback and he kept putting his feet on the bulkhead in front of him and pushing back. The worst of it was that my seat didn’t recline because there was baggage stowed behind it against another bulkhead. Every time he drilled himself into his seat hoping to recline it further, the headrest portion nearly flattened my nose against my face.
My seatmate was also on his way to the conference. He was the owner of a company that designed and built the communications units that are used inside the new meters that help make them ‘smart.’ His sales were in the millions. His company also had the maintenance contract to service units from another firm. We struck up a delightful conversation and we too agreed to stay in touch. Luckily he had a sense of humour similar to mine as we both made stupid remarks about the view, missing engines, and amateur flyers.
No matter what, though, you can handle anything if you turn it into an adventure. My adventure started early and I wouldn’t trade it for the world because if you have the right frame of mind, there’s always a bright spot. In my case it was DistribuTECH and all that it offered.
