John T

Hey Ron you better run the day I ever start doing video's..lol. Never have to worry about that. I really enjoyed that video. My father also had 3 business partners and to this day he is still teaching me lessons but him and I are different in so many ways where I can do things for nothing in the business world where my DAD would never do that. But your right we all are prone to make mistakes and it's how we handle them that will set us apart. I am amazed at the way your speeding up in your thought process here. Your learning quick. Your not being a lightening rod of mass destruction(OK a little much).. but think of this Ron for one second. Let's say your taking a promotional exam to move up in the Police Dep't and you stumble across the Law questions and especially the court questions. If you don't know them you can't figure them out because there set in stone. Example how many feet away must you be able to see the headlight on a motorcycle on a clear day.. The answer is 300' in NY. You can't guess it.. You have to know it. With that said you can have a business plan to skyrocket this org but you have to know how non profits work...or that skyrocket will suddenly come back and crash into earth.. Your a smart guy and you need to grasp how the workings of these type orgs work. You can't make it up even if your ideas are better.. Learn them Ron..... There not hard. Get your board members to study them. One thing that Everett Abrams did was tell us where to buy the Robert Rules of order book and now with the net the way it is you can just study it on your I-pod. Get that down and there will be no stopping this org over something so tiny but over looked.. That can't happen when you know how these non profits work.. There a set proven formula.. Once you have that mindset... Now you can reach for the sky... That is all I've been saying all along. To make this easier you have a ton of baseball knowledge and you coached with some really good playing kids. How stuck in the mud would you have been if you never knew the rules of the game.... Well it's the same here Ron... And all I do is preach this on some bb's because I really want you to get this and grasp it.. Your to smart not to.. And you can do it. No one will give you a hard time now except for a few moans and groans.. Once you and the board grasp it... They will move at possibly great neck speed but that all depends on how efficient they become.... And you Ron can now do other non profits also with great success. And the Money in these things are unbelievable. (not talking about hospital non profits etc..only business) the chairmen can make millions and his members are making tons of money and they can employ many and also help out other causes(I think..still checking on that one). If you can figure this out then maybe down the road outside of Powerwashing this time I'll extend a visit to you and show you what some others are doing and what some others should be doing. For one thing I still have not entertained the Michael J. fox Foundation on an invite to explain a few things... Linda knows about this since she hooked me up... But it's not what I want to do.. I have different ideas for these org's.. And one of them is almost in place already.. Just be smart all the way thru and thicken your skin...not your arteries(k bad joke). Good luck.

Alot of positive post here. There all good points. I learned alot as a BOD when I first came on and Beth was already there. If it wasn't for the misfiring which seems to happen within Beth would've and could've been the first female president of the PWNA. That was a golden opportunity for the PWNA to have gone that direction but the implosion sent it down a different path. If you cared about that org. You can only wonder how much further along they would've been all these years later. You can learn a ton from people with experience in these positions from industry related orgs and of course outside org's. Don't be foolish and run like a blind man. I learned alot in a short period of time from Jim Grady who's an ex IWCA president and still to me one of the most respected person in the BOD business where he didn't have many who disliked him and alot who believed in him. His character is aces. You can learn from these people on what works and what doesn't so you can avoid it. It looks like from the post I've been reading that Ron is learning a little more each day how these non profits work. He really appears that he's listening and learning which shows that he's smart and he's driven.. Yes no ones perfect and anyone can fall off the wagon but now the stakes go up.. If this works like the way I think Ron can see it working then Ron will never again have to go defending anything because he backed it up....and Ron if your reading this... The ones that really knew you for years where hoping you can get to this point.. And to be honest... Especially after the last couple of years I thought it just wasnt in you to bother with a non profit.. Keep proving me and many others wrong because where in the perfect position thanks to you. We benefit if your right and stay on track... And we lose nothing if you don't because what was left with the ***** anyway besides broken dreams of what could have been. You got to love to be in a no lose situation.. No sweat, no tears, no pressure. But Ron and his board or should I say our Board, they do it right.... We win. Time will tell.

How do you post pics from a Droid phone or I pad onto this bb?? I never carry my Camera around anymore so all pics are mostly in phone and some in I-pad.

Bingo.. To be a great president you have to be passionate, give a damn and learn to listen because if your really good then the people you surround yourself should be the best and the brightest in there respective fields. Ron if he wants to be a good president he needs to take criticism and learn from it. He has to step up to the plate and be able to know when to swing or not and at what cost... Ron has to have a uniter personality and not a search and destroy attitude. He should strive to be the best and others will follow.. He should never lead by making others look bad or denouncing other orgs within this industry.. Ron needs to change in some ways and then with his energy things will happen.. I'm skeptical about Ron being a good team player. I think Rons strengths is being the boss for a private entity. His weekness by far is going to be fair-minded with a group of his peers when he has that my way or the highway approach. I only know one guy who could beat him if he really wanted to and this guy is a star who owns one of the largest window cleaning and pressure washing companies in NY.. His name is Jim Grady from the PWNA at ome time and was a past president of the IWCR... I'm going to probably hook up with him in New Orleans next year... Back to this if Ron can change his attitude and stop calling other people liars and just stay away and not entertaining the garbage and just focus in and stay that way he will win.. And once that happens he would need to just stay focused.. I think that's going to be tough but if he really wants it... It can happen.

Hey Marko sorry for your loss. We just did the same thing with Kath's Dad. It's very tough thing to go thru but to know your love one was comfortable and free of pain and as they begin to leave this world it's an honor to be there for them. We all will be there ourselves one day and it's good to know we have love ones around us now. May she rest in peace.

Hey Ron you want to get a fast education in this process I have to dig it out in my closet but you can find it on the net. It's Roberts rule of orders I think it was called. Carry out all your dreams and idea's and also know the inner workings of a non profit. Someone I know here started to form a non profit but they gave up and started an LLC instead because there much easier.. But if you want to grow large in membership at least from what I know.. The non profits people want to volunteer for...and you still can have paid positions in there so the theory that non profits won't work because people just volunteer and they get fed up.. Well successful one can have a paid board...and hundreds of volunteers on committees. That is way down the road. You win your the face and where the members.. And members Want there board and leaders to succeed because it benefits them.. So no matter what I wish you success because besides anything else...I am ***** member that could use like everyone else..some more bang for the buck..as in Benny's.

Nice analogy Charlie and in a perfect world that would work. I've known Ron for years and we get along. Just the last year or so we got sick of each other for many reasons but we still talk and argue...but since he's finally committed to something like this... You may noticed we stopped. You have to know the history with Ron to understand why some of us past volunteers and Ron tangled. I'm glad Ron's going for it. What Ron is going to find out if he becomes the Pres. Of the ***** is that there will be around 8-9 or so BOD's in there that all are business owners. Business owners in general have bigger ego's then most because for a lack of a better term they are "The Man" and the buck stops with them in there business. These are highly motivated individuals. So that's why in a Non Profits the Bylaws are golden. You try to circumvent them...your house of cards crashes every time. If you follow them and stay motivated like Ron can....the ***** will flourish. When new idea's come up someone makes a motion about it. All minutes are recorded and available to there membership. It sounds hard but it's relatively pretty easy. What's hard is if you get a dominate personality in there who takes the "My way or the highway approach" they'll be chewed up in there even if they are successful because once again it comes back to the bylaws. One or 2 of the BOD'S can be super motivated to become top dog or even a member can get motivated to target the Pres and look to get him out... And the Bylaws will do that.... Why? Because non profits get amongst other things tax breaks and if you all look the other way.. You all could he held accountable. One of the first things the BOD's should look to do is get bonded so there somewhat protected. It's not hard and Non profits if done right with a good leader and it's Board they should take off like a rocket ship. Ron will become the face of the org. And all eyes will be on him...and if you have any enemies because of jealousy or whatever or you have a super motivated business owner who see's an opening even if the org. Is now a 1000 people strong.. Dont' follow the Bylaws... They'll take down the leader and if they want they could also decimate the org. Non profits are great...just do it right and non profits are all of ours, Not any one individual and many will be motivated. If you want to work for one individual you get hired by there company...not a non profit.

Nice pics Tim. Beautiful day for that... Christmas coming already...I'm still in my thanksgiving mode..eating and drinking.. Happy Holidays.

I'm looking to buy another enclosed trailer that is 80-81" high. I need it to be 2-3 inches lower. I figure if I buy it with all the weight we carry that alone may lower it by an inch..but I could still use another inch or two lower. I could let out most of the air in the tires out at the job site to maybe get another 2" but then I was thinking to buy smaller wheels for it to put it on the trailer when we get there. I'm wondering if a smaller wheel can be put on. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Lol... That sucks.

My red trailer has ladder racks and that trailer goes everywhere. Alot of garages we do there's other ways to get in such as where trucks may go in for drop offs.. We usually dump the red trailer there but at times it stayed locked up in some shizz areas outside the garages but its fully enclosed and I look to park it by camaras completely locked up. All doors,hitch and wheels and all ladders we have them locked up on top of trailer with thick cables or if the area is bad enough those ladders go inside of trailer. My 32' ladder stays back at the shop when we do garages.

I like those hydraulics but I'm not at that level. My trailers I buy Are usually second hand and we may switch out the axles and coat the floor...that's about the range where at.. Maybe one day.. Or maybe buy that boat and stay small and hang out on a boat in the Harbor not far from my house.... And having fun with non profits.... That's my speed these days.

Thanks Jim. I'm laying in bed after another Marathon day on the horn and reading emails. My other Job is hooking me up and yet I'm finding myself getting extremely busy again. My guys are in Manhattan tonight and tomorrow night so thats good because the weather will be dropping here soon.. The other stuff is going to another level and that's fun... Now if I can just get this guy to sell me this trailer..that's been tough:lgbugeyes

Hey Nigel-- what do you think about this.. I haven't bought the trailer yet because my offer wasn't returned yet. He's going to think about it.. But I was thinking of buying smaller powerful wheels and drill holes in the wheel where the lug nuts don't line up. This trailer will be no more then 7000lbs loaded but in there will be the Swabby and I may put the Ppwerwasher back on wheels again and tow them out at the garage so that's 2000lbs right there to come out and then put in smaller wheels if there is a problem. I also though about buying 4 crappy right sized wheels and have no tires on them and put them on with sheet metal underneath and roll it in like that.. Crazy the ideas that we come up with..but it needs to be something easy and not time consuming. I'm going to look into airbags for the axles. I've seen trailers that have something like that where they can be raised or lowered.. Hmmmmm

Interesting. I have to think about that one.. Thanks.

Good points Scott. So far the lowest point we dealt with was about 5'8" on an underground parking level which was insane but the height to get in some of these garages my flatbed truck was to hi because of the mi-tm PW on there which is going to come off. That height put my trucks heights point at 6'9" or 81" and one garage we we an inch to high and the tanks were full and some air out of tires and we still missed by a 1/2". We were going to unscrew the whole garage door mechanism but were gunned down... We'll be doing that garage again next year so this time we'll hopefully be more prepared and the enclosed low profile trailer is a good option here due to mainly weather conditions and at times security reasons but that's mostly ok since these garages almost all have camaras now and we leave our trailer equipment at sight at times.

Yup this trailer I want to get into parking garages. It's a used trailer but the guy is offering it up pretty cheap. The trailer is sitting @ 80 inches in height. I need to get down to 77-78" to fit into just about any garage I deal with. I can't mess with the axles and the springs because that would cause problems. It looks like either I can take most of the air out of the tires when I get to the garage and maybe lower it an inch or so or I can try to find a different size wheel to put on the trailer only at the garage site. With my guys it would take less then 5 min to switch out the wheels the question is can you put a smaller wheel on the trailer just for that purpose and then switch them out inside the garage or do it when where completed. This trailer also has jacks on the ends so I can put them down to help support the trailer with the smaller tires on it. Do you think a smaller wheel can be put on the trailer for this purpose only?

This is the first PWNA convention I went to in years. At least 5 years if not longer. We were told that this years convention was there best in the last few years. If I had to guess there were between 125-150 people there if not more. They signed up a bunch of new members and when this show was over the Treasurer gave the financial report and they came out in the black big time. Very impressive. The opening of the Convention with the Master of Ceremonies in command Joe Walters was special. One of the members came up and told a Babe Ruth story. That was special to Linda. Joe told some humorous stories ran it thru with such ease. He is the MC that's all heart. Eric Clark open up the presidents speech with exciting news of what lays ahead. The trade show and the demos were very good as was the classrooms. My wife and I attended Dan Galvins marketing class which was packed. Some people had to stand since there was no more chair space. Probably at least 30 people in that tight room. His class was excellent. The PWNA is finally on tract doing it right. There doing certifications classwork by the only national Powerwashing organization in the country and there cost is pretty inexpensive and there backed by the national org. That's a huge marketing plus. My boohoo was I missed the environmental certification class due to excessive barwork the night before:) The cocktail 3 hr function sponsored by facillitec USA and Scotts Pressure Wash was alot of fun to be at. Eric Clark did a fine job running that and Christie Kaye from Facillitec won one of the major awards which I believe was the Joe Walters Award or the Robert Hinderliter award. Its slipping my memory who won the other award. After that I came on and said a few things then I introduce Linda and Andy. She told a little about Babe Ruth and what her mothers dying wish was. After that I told the crowd why I did what I did.... And being terrified of public speaking on this one nothing was going to stop me so I went in with no outline or any notes because it all came from my heart which makes it easy. The show closed with some big prizes including I think a $3500 50/50. This one was great because what happened. Everyone was allowed to by 50/50 tickets because there always money makers.. So who wins.... The PWNA president Eric Clark.. He was shocked. I think this caught him off guard.. You can see it by his reaction. Boy I'm glad I wasn't in Erics shoes.. He gave his winnings...every dollar of it back to the org. He did the honorable thing there. The big prize was the Hydrotek Skid.... Man I really wanted that one. It was listed at over $9000. The guy who won it was the next table next to mine...darn.. But good for him. I did win something though and to me it was priceless. The PWNA gave me an award and I'll leave it up to them on that one because I was totally caught off guard but honored they would do that. I also was asked to get back in as a BOD again or maybe join there convention committee for the next year show. The BOD slot... I'm not sure because I am retired from that for the time being but the Convention committee slot that is a possibility because I've done 2 of them already so maybe the 3rd one is the charm... Will see. All in all it was a good Convention. This time around I like the PWNA's business type atmosphere. My goal of course is to have a nationwide org. To market with my advertisements. The PWNA looks bright.. So I may jump back in with them because there business model is now fine tuned.

BINGO...I couldn't have said it any better. The networking at a PWNA convention or at a roundtable at some far desilite place is priceless. The Internet is for a quick connection..but the deals and friends you make and the network that can be done there you can make yourself some good money and some lifelong friends... Face to face in real time and not in android time will forever rule. Very well said Matt.

Probably your best bet.

Unless I read that wrong it looks like you bought a 12v hot water PW. I had 1 12v hot water pw over the years and every now and then I ran into problems where the burner did not run right or run at all. It always seemed to be involved with the burner not getting enough voltage because of the battery not charged enough, a loose wire here and there etc. Even though a 12v hot water skid can be a bit of a space saver I never bought another one. We always use a generator for our hot water PW and without counting wrecking a few generators due to one going bad and others having something fall on them(twice).. They work best. But that doesnt help you with this. I would do some of what ur doing and I would also check and clean and protect with a spray or a grease every wire connection that can be the cause of your problem and then recheck with your voltmeter. I hope your burner didnt go bad. The mechanic pros here can give u some other ideas on what to look for. Good luck

Yes exactly what I thought. I know many stories about Robert Hinderliter and he's an amazing source of information in this industry. If there was ever a true giant of an Icon in this industry from all the people I ever spoke to, text to, emailed to, hung out with etc.. Robert by far would be that person and he has all the history and one heck of a bio that Many know to back everything up that he says.. I hope to see Robert again in the future at an even more successful PWNA convention in 2012. The tides are turning where orgs. In many industries will start to take hold because it's getting tougher and tougher out there to stay ahead of the more and more lawballers who spring up now because they lost there jobs in other fields. Every bit will count as well as your PWNA membership. Maybe I'll get to meet you at the next PWNA convention in Tampa or one of the up and coming roundtable events. Best of luck.

There are so many great guys and gals who do volunteer cleanings all across the country. These are a special type of person or groups that do these. I like to call these powerwashers our unsung heroes. I'm leaning towards doing this with 10 finalist who will get documentation for this and having one winner every year. I'm looking into this to see if and how I can get possibly Snag grant money for this and maybe even giving out money along with a trophy to the finalist and the winner. I have a few ideas in this but right off the bat to do this I think it should be affiliated with some type of group or groups for that matter and I'm leaning towards non profits at this time. This award can be given to one affiliation or multiple affiliations to present. Keep in mind there are also parking garage orgs, window cleaning orgs along with the orgs that most know I belong to on these bb's..and don't forget my local org nyspa I'm putting a poll up here to get a feel of what others thoughts are on this. Thanks, John T.

Off thread here but the award process for volunteers has already been accepted. Now to implement it an get the committee started with a chair in place it should work beautifully.. And no I will not chair it or be on it. I'm am just the architect on how it works and what is needed. The Chair will also have something to take on besides that and there are two people who I have in mind for this if I can get full approval. There positions are going to be duly noted in the right ledger. This should be a Co-Chair or a Chair and a Vice Chair. This position will reach beyond Powerwashing in responsibilities. No announcements on this until I get it all worked out. This one is going to be a doozy. Everything I do soon I will pass it on from Roundtables, Seminars,Conventions, Dinners I attend and wherever else I travel to with significance in 2012.

Next year which is coming up fast on one of my to do list is figure how to go about getting grants issued. Also on my list is to network with a few to see if an org. In this industry can gain over a couple of thousand of members and can grant money then be had to help with member benefits. This is the year I give what I knew I could when I served with orgs but never really had the time but I did have the money and to serve for your members tends to cost thousands so I have to evaluate that to see it it's worth it.. OK I already evaluated it...and it's worth it not in money but for me to help others and see it does benefit them. Life is good as Jeff L. Says