As many of you know, I spent last week in Orlando for DHI’s annual conference – conNextions.  Since I was one of the many people teaching education sessions at conNextions, I wondered how attendance would be – it’s tough to drag people away from their busy lives and jobs to attend a conference, and once in Orlando it’s easy to get sidetracked by the other options.  I mean…can Code Jeopardy really compete with The Wizarding World of Harry Potter?

Apparently, it can.  🙂  Although attendance figures for industry conferences in general seem to be trending downward, I saw MANY of my hardware pals, former DHI classmates, and coworkers in Orlando.  I met some of iDigHardware’s readers in person for the first time, and received a multitude of compliments on this resource that you have all helped to build.  Along with my coworkers, Tim Weller & TJ Gottwalt, I taught 6 sessions of Code Jeopardy, and I think it’s fair to say that everyone in the room learned something.  If you are interested in having a Code Jeopardy class taught locally, click the orange Help button up at the top of the screen and email the Allegion code expert for your state, or email me and I’ll connect you to the right person.

At the Celebrating our Industry event and the Foundation Keynote lunch, we heard about important changes being made to the organization, the educational programs, and the options for industry certifications. You can learn more about these changes by visiting DHI.org and downloading the brochure and poster, or by watching the video below.  We also heard about work in progress by the Door Security & Safety Foundation, to raise awareness of the unintended consequences of classroom barricade devices.

And something exciting happened at the conference for me personally.  A few days before I left for Orlando I got a call from my friend Sue Flowers of Cleveland-Vicon.  Sue asked me whether I had gotten pretty good grades while I was in school.  I thought about it and started to respond that I got a lot of As and Bs…occasionally a C.  Sue said, “Well, let me ask you this…before today, did you ever get a D?”  Me: “Weeeeelllll…there was that 8 a.m. Tech Math class in college…”  Then it hit me…I had been awarded the “D”AHC – or Distinguished Architectural Hardware Consultant award.

This was announced at the conference and along with the many people who congratulated me, several asked what the award was for.  According to DHI’s website, “this award is based on technical expertise and may be conferred on any DHI consultant member (AOC, AHC, EHC or CDC) with a minimum of 10 years as a contributing member of DHI.  Nominees shall have:

• demonstrated a high degree of technical excellence and standards of performance of DHI consultants
• contributed to the improvement and promotion of the body of knowledge of the door and hardware industry and/or
• aided in the technological advancement of the industry.”

I’m so honored to receive this award.  I had no idea that I had been nominated, so it was a very pleasant surprise.  When I look at the list of distinguished consultants that I’m now a member of, I see many of my instructors, mentors, and industry experts that I have looked up to throughout my career (yes Bill Elliott – you are one of them!).  I’m proud to be part of this group!

I hope to see you at conNextions 2017 – in Phoenix!

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