1. We CAN all be winners. Only one tinter out of 42 can walk away as the champion, but that doesn’t mean that there were not other winners. Despite being told my whole life by my mother that I am special and meant to do great things, I have learned that you can be good at what you do and still have an off day or not live up to your own expectations. One wise contestant, James Williams, told me that just entering into the competition paid off for him because of all of the preparation—it already made him a better tinter. To my mother, you were right—I am a winner. To James, thanks for reminding me what a winner really is.
2. I’m not the only one who is socially obsessed. I actually felt giddy when Sara Santiago took the podium. My inner nerd was sucking in every word she said. I must learn how to grow my tweeting skills, post better Facebook statuses and write interesting blogs. The social guru encouraged all of us to tweet about the session and by the time I signed on I found I had been beat to the punch by a number of people in the session. I secretly glanced around the session to see if I could find my kindred spirits, but everyone was paying attention—then I realized I might be missing something and snapped back to devouring the presentation. I’m so glad so many of you are embracing the social world.
3. People generally do want to work together. I was pleasantly surprised to see so many manufacturers chatting with each other at the show. Everyone put aside their differences to come together to support one event. How refreshing! I know that business is rooted in competition, as we also learned from keynote speaker Mike Eruzione, but it was nice to see so many people caring about the industry’s growth above their own business competition.
4. Lines always have an end. The registration line was insane. I don’t think I have ever seen so many people arriving for something at the same time. I offered my alphabetical skills to help find badges and registration materials for attendees and honestly I was blown away by the amount of people there. Every time I thought we were catching up more people would join the line. However, my prompt readers, you all arrived right on time and after the initial wave of registration the line did slowly dissipate.
5. We need to hear more from dealers. What I took away more than anything from the event was the opportunity to hear dealers speak about what they see in the field on a daily basis. I enjoyed hearing Chris Robinson from The Tint Guy talk about his shop, what he struggles with and what he wants to see change. For dealers who are reading this, let’s chat. Send me an email at khodge@glass.com and let’s talk about what is and isn’t working for you and who knows—maybe I will feature it in my blog or a future article. 

Until next time, THIS is what I know for sure.

Window film attendees spent time with Lyle Hill of Keytech North America learning about the latest in glass and window technology.

“One thing the Department of Homeland Security is considering is blast mitigation for federal buildings and airports,” says Hill. “They want to know the good and the bad about it. Glass replacements and newer systems can take too long. What becomes the answer? Blast mitigation film.”

In addition, sessions on Internet marketing and social media were popular and provided attendees with hands-on information that they could take home and apply to their businesses immediately.

“The Internet marketing session really was an eye-opener and the social networking session showed the enormity of the social world and how to get my business out there.” says Nicole Agai, owner of Solar Control Glass Tinting in Garden City, Kan.

These sessions included advice on Linked In, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Google and other search engines.

“Advertising on Facebook has become more and more important over the last few years, says Sara Santiago, president of Roll, a social/mobile marketing, mobile web and mobile application development company. “It has actually become quite lucrative.”

“Doing business on the Internet is just like having a retail storefront. Its all about location, location, location,” says Cody Flanagan, president of iRazor Strategies. “If you are not on page one of a Google search you are missing 85 percent of potential sales.”

The highlight for many was sitting in on the keynote session which featured the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team captain, Mike Eruzione. The hockey star encouraged everyone to apply their personal values to their business and encouraged the idea of teamwork producing success.

“There are a lot of important values in life. The most important is respect. If you don’t respect your competition and the people you work with you will not be successful,” says Eruzione. “You have to check your ego at the door. How good would our best player be without the team?”

Following the keynote, attendees participated in a panel discussion and a session on working with energy service companies (ESCO’s).

“Why work with ESCO’s? Because they have hundreds of people,” says Kirk Heston, founder of Heston Wind and Renewable Energy LLC. “Can you imagine the branding? You can’t believe how much traction you get. Every customer that I ever brought in on an ESCO project had something done on a personal level, either their cars or their houses.”

The show closed out Saturday with the final day of the International Window Film Exhibition/Extravaganza™. Look for the November/December issue of Window Film magazine for more on the event.

The finals and announcement of winners will be taking place tonight.

Stay tuned to windowfilmmag.com for more updates straight from the International Window Film Tint-Off™.

“I feel okay about next week. I was in the 2004-2005 competition so I don’t have any butterflies or jitters this year,” says Nevarez.

“I really didn’t have any nerves until just now when you called,” says James Williams, owner of Shade Tree Glass Tinting in Metairie, La. “Overall I am feeling really good. I’ve been really paying attention to minor details that would typically pass by the average customer and I have been working to be perfect.”

Other contestants are looking forward to more than just the Tint-Off. Ron Talley, owner of Midwest Tinting Inc., is hoping to take away some education from the conference.

“I’m excited and have never been to Memphis so I’m looking forward to it,” says Talley. “I’d like to get some knowledge out of the other stuff that will be going on as well. We are planning to take a couple accreditation tests with the IWFA while we are there.”

Contestants’ expectations for the event are all the same. They want to win the grand prize. With so many tinters vying for the same title the competitive spirit is already alive.

“We’ve been spending some time figuring out what kind of materials to bring,” says Talley. “Hopefully I will win.”

Other contestants, like Williams, feel as if they have already gained a lot of helpful knowledge just by signing up.

“The Tint-Off has made me think about what I can do to be even better,” says Williams. “I will be able to take that way further than just the competition. Whether I win or not, I will still take home a lot of knowledge just from preparing.”

Events will begin on Wednesday with accreditation testing from the International Window Film Association (IWFA) from 1 p.m.- 8 p.m. For more information contact the IWFA to get signed up for testing.

In addition, the IWFA will be giving out IWFA t-shirts to all registrants and those wearing the shirts will be eligible to win random drawings throughout the event for door prizes.   

Registration will open Thursday in the Memphis Marriott Downtown at 7:30 a.m. and in the Memphis Cook Convention Center at 1:00 p.m. On Thursday, educational sessions will begin at 11 a.m. in the Marriott and the Tint-Off will be kicking off at 4 p.m. in the Convention Center.

For times and locations of specific seminars visit http://www.windowfilmmag.com/tintoff/seminars.php.

The 72” Filmhandler to assist in minimizing waste and improving efficiency. This slitter makes precise horizontal and vertical cuts on rolls up to 72″ in width. It can easily be mounted on a wall or ladder in the shop, keeping film clean and off the floor. Many installers take their film handlers on location—just load it in the truck and leave a lasting professional impression with your clients.

The heat lamp display’s instantly shows the difference in performance between untreated glass and various film types and technologies. The four provided panes can be customized with a choice of window film.

“We thank Solar Gard for their thoughtfulness and generous donation,” said auction chair Jean Pero. “These excellent products are a great addition to the auction.”

The silent auction will take place on the show floor from 6:30-8:30 on Thursday, September 15 at the Memphis Cook Convention Center in Memphis, Tenn., and is open to all attendees. To donate an item please contact Katie Hodge at khodge@glass.com.  

Come learn how to better market your company using your website and other related links. This expert speaker has developed a presentation geared specifically to meet your needs. This seminar will discuss the importance of lead generation, and increasing business at the dealership level.

Ten participants will be randomly selected on Aug. 19 and will receive roundtrip airfare, a welcome dinner, three nights at the Marriot Courtyard in downtown Memphis, breakfast in the morning, lunch and dinner on Sept. 14, and admittance to the International Window Film Tint-Off and Conference on Sept. 15.

Each order that is placed will have a promotion code listed at the bottom of the invoice. The promotion code and invoice number are required to register.