What’s in a Weekend?

Well, if you’re a NECA member who wants a great educational value without a lot of time away from the office, then a NECA 2013 Washington DC Weekend Package could be the best choice for you. Decide what’s in your weekend from two package options, which can be customized with either registration for the Energy Forum or the Safety Forum, along with Sunday, Oct. 13 management seminars, trade show admission and the Opening General Session. You decide if you’d like to include the grand Opening Reception, A Night at the Museum, on Saturday, Oct. 12.

Hope to see you there!

Weekend Packages (Available to NECA Members ONLY):

Package #1 & #2 both include the Energy Forum OR Safety Forum, Sunday General Session, Sunday Management Seminars, Sunday Trade Show with Lunch and Prize Drawing Tickets, Sunday Technical Workshops and Showstopper Showcase.  Package #1 Also includes the Saturday evening Opening Reception.

Weekend Package #1     –     $619.00

Weekend Package #2     –     $519.00

Safety Forum Sessions Schedule

Second Annual Safety Forum at NECA 2013 Washington DC

Saturday, Oct. 12 – Sunday, Oct. 13

$250 member/$599 non-member/Included with Weekend Package registration

Here’s the finalized schedule for both the inside and outside sessions at the 2013 Safety Forum on Saturday, Oct. 12 and Sunday, Oct. 13  at NECA 2013 Washington D.C. The Safety Forum kicks off with pre-convention workshops of Friday and Saturday, including the popular OSHA 10-Hour Course, led by James McGowan, Director, Safety Training for Quanta Services Inc, and chairman of the training task team (Task Team II) for the OSHA Electrical Transmission & Distribution (ET&D) Partnership. He helped develop the ET&D Partnership 10-Hour OSHA course and the ET&D Partnership Supervisory Leadership Skills Outreach Training course and is excited to bring this course to this year’s Safety Forum.

Sunday sessions at the Safety Forum will follow inside and outside tracks. Check out the table below to find the courses that will help you be a safety super-hero!

Safety Forum – Saturday 8/12 and Sunday 8/13

NOTE: The ET&D 10 hour course has an additional fee – to learn more click here >

Get Smart: Attend the Safety Forum at NECA 2013 Washington DC

Second Annual Safety Forum at NECA 2013 Washington DC
Saturday, Oct. 12 – Sunday, Oct. 13
$250 member/$599 non-member/Included with Weekend Package registration

When it comes to electrical construction, safety is everyone’s job. However, it takes a real leader to make safety a company priority. If you manage a workplace or jobsite safety program, enforce or develop safety standards, supervise workers, oversee a facility, or simply strive for a safe work environment, you need to attend the second annual Safety Forum at NECA 2013 Washington DC.

Mike Johnston, NECA Executive Director, Standards and Safety, discussion arc flash protection.

Safety leadership requires people who are ready to motivate people around a common purpose. Safety leaders see benefits not just for their workers, but as a tool to grow their companies. Today, clients are demanding evidence of effective safety performance and the integration of safety and health management systems to job site safety. Safety and health has evolved from a regulatory drive activity to and business development tool.

The Safety Forum goes beyond the basics. It is your opportunity to network with your industry peers, share best practices, and hear directly from the leaders developing and enforcing U.S. safety practices.

Safety standards evolve rapidly in the electrical industry. You need the most up-to-date information and resources, and the Safety Forum will deliver them on the issues that affect us every day:

Supervisor’s Guide to Job Safety * NFPA 70E for Contractors * Arc-Flash Protection
Systems Approach to Electrical Safety * ARC-Flash Hazard/Incident Energy Analysis*
OSHA Compliance

You can attend the Safety Forum by registering for a Weekend Package, as an a la cart program, or with your full registration. >>

Registration Going Strong – Still Time to Catch the Early Rates!

Beth Ellis reported that registrations for NECA 2013 Washington DC are coming in daily, putting this year’s convention and trade show on track for the same record-setting attendance that we enjoyed last year in Las Vegas. Beth has been making the rounds at all the NECA spring and summer meetings, getting the word out about this year’s great program in D.C. We caught up with her between travels to see what she thinks will make NECA 2013 Washington DC special.

Q: So what’s going to make NECA 2013 Washington great?

Beth Ellis: Well, this year will mark the first time NECA has been in Washington, DC since 2001 when we celebrated NECA’s 100^th anniversary. Of course, 9/11 was weighing heavy on all of us at that convention, too. I think this year will be a great time to examine how much the industry has changed in just 12 years. DC has changed, too. We’re going to be at the brand-new convention center, we have several new hotels we’ll be using for housing, and there’s a lot to look forward to.

Q: Like what?

Beth Ellis: We could only host a “Night at the Museum” opening reception at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in DC! Outside of that movie, how many people ever get to see what the museum looks like after all the visitors are gone? And no one expects to outshine the Hope Diamond, but we’re going to glam things up, too. We’ll have a great dance band and several other entertainers, plus bars and the best hors d’oeuvers in the city – not to mention a few other surprises throughout the museum!

Our education programs are also incredibly strong this year. We kick everything off with pre-convention workshops (that are a great value for intensive training), and we’re hosting the Safety Forum and Energy Forum again. We’re offering 19 technical workshops throughout the NECA Show and an array of management seminars with full registration.

Q: So you’re expecting crowds similar to last year?

Beth Ellis: If registrations keep coming at the same rate, we’ll actually have more people this year than we did last year. The Washington Convention Center is a beautiful, spacious facility and we have plenty of rooms reserved for attendees.

And if you don’t have time to attend the full convention, our weekend packages are a great choice. You get the maximum education and networking opportunities for a minimal time commitment.

But everyone should get their plans and registrations made sooner rather than later – not just for the Early Registration savings, but to make sure they get their first-choice for hotel and travel. There’s so much to do in the city, and October is the perfect time of year to be here.

There you have it: NECA 2013 Washington DC is shaping up to be another blockbuster convention and trade show, with lots of special touches that can only be found in the nation’s capital city. Make your plans to be there today!

Plan, Prevent, Protect: At the Safety Forum

NECA’s first Safety Forum at convention yesterday brought together a dedicated group of safety professionals from both high voltage and inside electrical contractors.

The group kicked off with a breakfast discussion led by Scott Margolin from Westex, who offered up compelling evidence for the important of PPE when electricians are working hot. Margolin’s presentation included dramatic slow-motion video of the damage that occurs in an arc flash incident. “You can see there’s a lot of molten copper in there,” he commented. “That metal is more than 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. So even if you’ve avoided the initial blast, the real damage can occur after the incident.”

Westex was a key supporter in bringing safety to the forefront of education programs at NECA 2012 Las Vegas. In addition to the Safety Forum, management seminars and technical workshops on safety are scheduled throughout the event.

“Safety has to be a partnership, not just between employees and employers, but between manufacturers and users,” Margolin said. “We learn what the true concerns and hazards are from contractors, and we can respond to those needs.”

Mike Johnston, NECA executive directors, standards and safety, was gratified by the discussions at the forum, “Shifting a safety culture in the electrical industry requires education, communication, and cooperation, as well as a thorough understanding of the specific hazards involved and how to avoid them – that’s the goal of “safety through design,” he said. Another valuable aspect of this conference was the focus not only on what safety rules require, but how to effectively implement them.

NECA Vice President George Adams  has made safety a core value of his company by frequently asking, “is this the best we can do?” Adams challenges the notion that “productivity is king,” believing productivity, quality and safety have equal value. He wrote about his experiences in a recent column published by the Oregon Daily Journal of Commerce.

No, It’s Not Too Late to Add a Pre-Convention Workshop to Your Registration!

Congratulations to you for taking full advantage of the education available at NECA 2012 Las Vegas! It’s easy to add a pre-convention workshop, special session, extra Opening Reception tickets or a tour to your existing registration. Pre-convention workshops run Friday, Sept. 28-Saturday, Sept. 29, and tours are scheduled throughout the event.

You can add pre-convention workshops and tours to your existing registration online or call Katie at 301-215-4506 for help.

If you want to make the changes to your registration online, follow these steps:

1. Visit the 2012 Las Vegas registration page: https://www2.cmrreg.com/neca_c3/ (Click on Attendee Registration button at the top right of the NECA Convention website.)

2. Scroll down to “Already Registered?” You will be prompted to enter the confirmation number and email address included in your registration confirmation you should have received by email. Click “Resend Your Confirmation” if you can’t locate your original confirmation email.

3. Click “Review or Change Your Registration.” Your registration contact information will be displayed.

4. Click through the pages until you reach “Pre-Conference Workshops.” Select any workshops you would like to add to your registration.

5. Click through the pages to see if you need to update any other information. The cart at the top of the page will display any items you have added.

6. Click “Update Registration” once you’re finishing reviewing. You will receive an email confirmation of your additional registration items and billing information.

That’s it!

What’s On the Safety Forum Schedule?

The best value in safety education is the new Safety Forum at NECA 2012 Las Vegas. This special two-day workshop for inside and line contractors starts Saturday, Sept. 28 with a breakfast discussion about preventing arc flash hazards from Westex.

“Safety is as important as productivity and quality on a job site,” said Mike Johnston, NECA executive director, standards and safety. “The Safety Forum is a great way to learn about the practices and policies that can make a difference in a contractor’s operations.”

Following the discussion are separate breakout sessions for inside and line contractors. View the tracks and session descriptions online.

Line contractors who need to earn their ET&D OSHA 10 Course can also get their training in Friday, Sept. 28-Saturday, Sept. 29. This course is a separate registration fee from the Safety Forum.

The Safety Forum will wrap up with the Safety Roundtable, Sunday, Sept. 30 at 1 p.m. following the Opening General Session and lunch.

Register now!

More Safety Than Ever at NECA 2012 Las Vegas

Safety Roundtable

Sunday, September 30, 2012 at 1:00 am – 2:00 pm

The Safety Roundtable is being conducted for the third consecutive year. The roundtable allows for two-way discussion on NECA’s Safety related activities and electrical industry needs. Participants will have the opportunity of hearing and engaging in the lively discussions. Learn more about education offerings at NECA 2012 Las Vegas >>

NECA Safety Forum

September 29-30, 2012
Presented by NECA Premier Partner Westex™

Electrical Transmission & Distribution OSHA 10 Course

Saturday and Sunday September 28-29, 2012
8:00 am – 5:00 pm

The ET&D OSHA 10 Hour is introductory awareness course for electrical line construction. The course is conducted over a two days of classroom instruction. The course objective is to train trainers to enhance accident prevention, review electrical safety principles and how it relates to today’s electrical line construction industry. It’s intended to prepare workers to gain an understanding of how to identify concepts and techniques of electrically safety related work practices of line workers. The course also covers an overview of OSHA construction safety regulations with an emphasis on electric generation, transmission and distribution (1910.296 and 1926 Subpart V). Upon completion participants will receive an OSHA 10 Hour card with the ET&D Partnership logo. (Course is not part of the Safety Forum or Weekend Package) Pricing: $450

Register Now >>