On-the-Record Media Training
Monday, March 25; 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

Industry leaders, product managers, executives and others who see the value in capitalizing on the opportunity to use the media to build credibility and awareness will learn how reporters think, what they're looking for and what they hate. Know your rights and how to exercise them, plus get ready for a variety of interview situations with videotaped practice sessions including a mix of friendly and hostile experiences.

Media Strategies for ABC Chapters (only 40 seats)
Tuesday, March 26; 8 a.m.-12 p.m.

Is your chapter seen as a credible, reliable source by local and regional media? Develop a strategy to position your chapter as a sought-after media source to generate positive news coverage. Learn what is news—and what isn’t (tip: your convention is not news). Discover how to make your story newsworthy, choose the most appropriate person for the interview and prepare that person to effectively represent you, the chapter, their company and the industry. 

This workshop will provide ABC membership and marketing staff who came on board during the last year with peer-based and professional training, including recruitment, goal planning, retention, volunteer management and engagement, membership sales, events and services. Learn about resources available through ABC National and chapter best practices, and build a network of peers whom you will work with throughout your tenure with ABC.

This workshop will provide ABC chapter education and workforce development staff hired during the past year with the skills to respond to challenges and opportunities, including working with external stakeholders, growing programs, managing instructors and leading a successful chapter education program. Attendees will work together to master topics relevant to their education efforts and build a network of peers to collaborate with throughout their tenure at ABC.

On-the-Record Media Training
Monday, March 25; 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

Industry leaders, product managers, executives and others who see the value in capitalizing on the opportunity to use the media to build credibility and awareness will learn how reporters think, what they're looking for and what they hate. Know your rights and how to exercise them, plus get ready for a variety of interview situations with videotaped practice sessions including a mix of friendly and hostile experiences.

Media Strategies for ABC Chapters (only 40 seats)
Tuesday, March 26; 8 a.m.-12 p.m.

Is your chapter seen as a credible, reliable source by local and regional media? Develop a strategy to position your chapter as a sought-after media source to generate positive news coverage. Learn what is news—and what isn’t (tip: your convention is not news). Discover how to make your story newsworthy, choose the most appropriate person for the interview and prepare that person to effectively represent you, the chapter, their company and the industry. 

The ABC Safety Academy is designed to help attendees understand the importance of leadership commitment, cultural transformation and the safety management processes in achieving a world-class safety culture. The academy goes beyond the technical side of safety and explores the emotional and behavioral components that take safety from one of many priorities to the core value upon which all decisions are based. 

Day One
Tuesday, March 26;  8:30 a.m.-12 p.m.

Day Two
Wednesday, March 27;  8:30 a.m.-12 p.m.

Day Three
Thursday, March 28;  8:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
ABC Safety Academy Facilitator Orientation*

To facilitate the ABC Safety Academy, a candidate must have completed all four sections of the academy and be able to deliver a safety discussion during the course. Facilitator qualifications include intermediate-to-advanced experience in classroom management and presentation skills, an uncompromising attitude toward safety performance, working knowledge of STEP and the SPR and time and experience in the field with responsibility for safety performance. 
*Open only to those who attended ABC's Safety Academy at Convention

Learn the keys to creating the conditions for world-class safety at this session that is an extension of the Safety Academy. Attendees will understand the impact of participation in ABC’s Safety Training Evaluation Process on overall safety performance via an in-depth walkthrough of the methodology and measures of safety performance.

When is the last time you bought something because of the product brochure? Yet the majority of associations marketing budgets still go to traditional sales media. This session will focus on how we capture, enhance and expand the member story—highlighting the association experience through their authentic voices. Walk away with new ideas on how to create the association evangelists who will tell your story for you.

Brand identity connects people to a mission. And while our mission hasn’t changed since our founding in 1950, we have reimagined the ABC brand for the digital age. Based on extensive feedback from chapters about challenges and needs, this project builds on ABC’s brand equity by delivering a new messaging template and enhanced graphic standards for logos, banners and signage, marketing emails and social media icons.

This session will cover all aspects of the CHAD Education and Training Module, including grades, attendance, on-the-job training entry and reporting. We’ll also cover student invoicing directly from CHAD and some useful utilities such as moving your students up to the next craft level at the end of the school year.

Hackathons are quickly becoming the most talked about conference experiences as they deliver on two key attendee expectations for events, learning and networking. Identify the essentials for designing a successful hackathon experience in this interactive session. Learn proven techniques to design hackathons that reveal breakthrough ideas to address industry challenges while igniting cross-disciplinary, collaborative conversations that advance learning and nurture relationships. 

What programs and services make an ABC chapter the most important business partner that every contractor needs? Learn not only the details of the most recent ABC survey that studied the return on dues investment for contractor members, but also the “why” behind the answers given.

There are many tips and tricks that make working in Access easier. Please join us to learn about some of these extremely useful tools. We’ll also cover how you can create emails and word documents specific to your chapter using the Email/Word Merge feature.

The decision to remain a member comes down to the experience that surrounds the interaction. The value opportunities you create for your members should be expressed as targeted solutions that can help them wherever they may be in their career. This session will challenge you to think about new approaches to create an experience that will deepen the connection with—and increase the retention rate of—your members.

(Repeat of 8:30 am session)
Brand identity connects people to a mission. And while our mission hasn’t changed since our founding in 1950, we have reimagined the ABC brand for the digital age. Based on extensive feedback from chapters about challenges and needs, this project builds on ABC’s brand equity by delivering a new messaging template and enhanced graphic standards for logos, banners and signage, marketing emails and social media icons.

“Human” customer service is key to satisfaction and, ultimately, profitability. But with speed and efficiency driving operations, are we truly delivering what our members need in terms of touch points, both physical and virtual? Learn how organizational culture can help improve guest experience, why “hugging your haters” is critical to increasing loyalty and how to show appreciation like never before through giftology.

A question-and-answer session open to everyone who has a question about CHAD. Come with a question or sit in and listen to others. It’s a great opportunity to learn how other chapters are using the application to its fullest.

The ABC Apprenticeship Trustee Academy will provide new and current apprenticeship trustees with the knowledge and tools to effectively lead the essential programs that develop our future construction professionals. In addition to world class trustee development, the academy provides the unique opportunity to network with fellow merit-shop trustees from across the association and witness the premiere craft competition in the construction industry at ABC’s National Craft Championships.

Day One (only 25 seats available)
Wednesday, March 27; 8:30 a.m.-12 p.m.

Day Two (only 25 seats available)
Thursday, March 28; 8:30-11:30 a.m.

The ABC Safety Academy is designed to help attendees understand the importance of leadership commitment, cultural transformation and the safety management processes in achieving a world-class safety culture. The academy goes beyond the technical side of safety and explores the emotional and behavioral components that take safety from one of many priorities to the core value upon which all decisions are based. 

Day One
Tuesday, March 26;  8:30 a.m.-12 p.m.

Day Two
Wednesday, March 27;  8:30 a.m.-12 p.m.

Day Three
Thursday, March 28;  8:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
ABC Safety Academy Facilitator Orientation*

To facilitate the ABC Safety Academy, a candidate must have completed all four sections of the academy and be able to deliver a safety discussion during the course. Facilitator qualifications include intermediate-to-advanced experience in classroom management and presentation skills, an uncompromising attitude toward safety performance, working knowledge of STEP and the SPR and time and experience in the field with responsibility for safety performance. 
*Open only to those who attended ABC's Safety Academy at Convention

Why are some employees motivated and others not? How do you retain good employee in a hyper-competitive market? This fact-filled presentation looks at changing attitudes and gives relevant insights on how to get people of all ages and cultures motivated and producing at a high level. Understand what motivates people, strategies to foster motivation and how increased motivation can deliver higher performance.

Learn how to become more aware of your surroundings while in the workplace and in public, manage the stress and physiological effects you might experience when encountering a threat and safely take action if and when faced with a threat. The speaker will share five immediate actions to take when confronted with a potentially dangerous or threatening situation in a clear and practical manner with the goal of empowering attendees. 

When you type, text or tweet, how persuasive are you? Online, you have just 2.5 seconds to convince people respond, so digital persuasion is an essential survive-and-thrive skill to master. Principles of psychology can help transform online activity into real relationships. Learn the three-step formula to digitally differentiate yourself and engage more of your sales targets without the power of face-to-face communication.
Check out a brief message from Erin about this session!

The expectations of human resources have changed, creating tremendous opportunities for HR teams to impact business performance. Learn what’s needed to successfully deliver people strategies that meet the evolving needs of business and the next-era workforce. Discover ideas and approaches that challenge traditional HR thinking so you’re more effective and prepared for anything.

With organizational resources tight and staff and management busier than ever, frivolous meetings are simply not an option. Yet they continue to occur. And, if you are the organizer or leader of unproductive meetings, it certainly doesn’t speak well for your personal management style, effectiveness or competency. Well-managed meetings don’t happen by accident. Get the tools and strategies you need to plan, manage, lead, and follow through on effective meetings.

Membership engagement explores how to get a snapshot of how much or how little your members are utilizing your programs and services and whether their activities coincide with the reason they joined. These sessions will cover how to set up and track contributions and participation a range of chapter/national events and activities, including education sessions, PAC, STEP, recruitment efforts, discount programs and other criteria specific to your chapter.

E-mail. Texts. Social media. Interruptions. Common distractions make it almost impossible to get anything done. But with some forethought and effective strategies, as well as some discipline, it is possible to find your focus, even in a hyper-distracted world. We'll share a game plan ideas for getting and keeping your distractors under control and finding critical focused productivity time every day, leading to better performance and clarity of mind and purpose.

Tight margins and today’s less-skilled labor pool create new challenges for contractors. An effective coaching process is a proven tool for improving performance at all levels. Develop the tools, knowledge and skills to coach employees to higher levels of performance and productivity. Effectively correct deficient employee behavior and to develop bench strength for future success. Understand and implement processes for regular reflection and feedback and increase retention through employee satisfaction.

If your organization is threatened, will you and your team know how to respond in the moment?  This session covers the basics to get your team ready to react and respond in an emergency situation. Topics to be covered include Guardian Defense’s Policy-Train-Drill initiative and how to deal with potential threats, such as protesters and workplace disrupters. 

If your social media content isn’t driving the conversations it used to, it’s because persuading others to engage with you requires a strategy not just for what story you are sharing, but who is sharing it. Social influence has shifted from brands to individuals. Learn how to find and engage your most effective social ambassadors authentically to get the ROI you desire from your social media efforts.

Membership engagement explores how to get a snapshot of how much or how little your members are utilizing your programs and services and whether their activities coincide with the reason they joined. These sessions will cover how to set up and track contributions and participation a range of chapter/national events and activities, including education sessions, PAC, STEP, recruitment efforts, discount programs and other criteria specific to your chapter.

What do you need to know about baby boomers, Generation X-ers, millennials and now Gen Z to engage your workforce, teams and customers effectively? What are the dynamics of a multi-generational team that create value? Understand the unique generational characteristics, stereotypes and influences that are affecting the way we do just about everything and learn essential strategies for engaging every generation in your space.

Refresh, engage, encourage and inspire. Join your peers for an opportunity to network in a fun and informal setting and share key takeaways and insights.

The ABC Safety Academy is designed to help attendees understand the importance of leadership commitment, cultural transformation and the safety management processes in achieving a world-class safety culture. The academy goes beyond the technical side of safety and explores the emotional and behavioral components that take safety from one of many priorities to the core value upon which all decisions are based. 

Day One
Tuesday, March 26;  8:30 a.m.-12 p.m.

Day Two
Wednesday, March 27;  8:30 a.m.-12 p.m.

Day Three
Thursday, March 28;  8:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
ABC Safety Academy Facilitator Orientation*

To facilitate the ABC Safety Academy, a candidate must have completed all four sections of the academy and be able to deliver a safety discussion during the course. Facilitator qualifications include intermediate-to-advanced experience in classroom management and presentation skills, an uncompromising attitude toward safety performance, working knowledge of STEP and the SPR and time and experience in the field with responsibility for safety performance. 
*Open only to those who attended ABC's Safety Academy at Convention 

The ABC Apprenticeship Trustee Academy will provide new and current apprenticeship trustees with the knowledge and tools to effectively lead the essential programs that develop our future construction professionals. In addition to world class trustee development, the academy provides the unique opportunity to network with fellow merit-shop trustees from across the association and witness the premiere craft competition in the construction industry at ABC’s National Craft Championships.

Day One (only 25 seats available)
Wednesday, March 27; 8:30 a.m.-12 p.m.

Day Two (only 25 seats available)
Thursday, March 28; 8:30-11:30 a.m.

ABC has conducted three surveys of more than 3,000 members and prospective members in the last three years. Learn how to interpret this gold mine of data and put its insights to good use at your chapter during this interactive session. 

Does the thought of mingling with strangers send you into hiding? If so, you’re not alone. Yet networking is one of the most important ways to grow your career, client base and company. Learn how to confidently and easily strengthen and grow your contacts at networking events, client receptions and conferences. You’ll master the art by learning key techniques to improve your comfort, confidence and conversation skills.

Learn how to set up an event in CHAD so that you can start tracking your registrations online and then import those registrations into CHAD, eliminating the need to manually enter them. If you are currently offering online event registration or you are considering it in the future, this session is a must.

The construction industry is poised to see a jump in productivity and security thanks to the use of next-generation technology that connects machines collecting data about themselves to the network. Based on his book Precision Construction, Vince Vasquez will share the Precision Framework to help construction professionals understand the practical business applications that IoT—the Internet of Things—creates for the industry on the jobsite today and tomorrow.  

Construction is feeling the effects of the workforce shortage and applicants who can’t pass a drug screening.  One-third of all incidents on construction jobsites are drug- or alcohol-related, and construction companies must safeguard their workforce and their jobsites from these threats. Learn the realities of drug and substance abuse in today’s society and strategies to identify and tackle the challenges of hiring and retaining a safe workforce.