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2003 Conference

The 2003 CWQA conference was held in Estes Park from October 3rd to October 5th, 2003.

One too many flew over the cookoo's nest,

Friday, October 3rd, 2003

Mark Rowzee from the National WQA offered a pre-certification class on the subject of "ozone applications". Those that attended learned a lot! In the afternoon a hand full of attendees took WQA certification tests. One of the benefits of coming to the conference is the ability to take tests locally instead of having to incur out of state travel expenses.

A solid group of passionate golfers enjoyed a round of golf, camaraderie and beautiful weather at the "Estes Park 18 Hole Golf Course" nearby the hotel.

Thanks to the generosity of our little “Vendor’s Fair”, hors-d’oeuvres could be enjoyed while mingling with new and old friends and learning about ways to improve our business and knowledge.

We would like to thank our vendors for attending and sharing.

Saturday, October 4th, 2003

The Registration Booth was open early, manned by Treasurer Skip Ruedeman.

CWQA President Peter Waelti extended a warm welcome to our conference with his opening remarks. What the CWQA stands for - our goals and purpose.

Mike Keller of Sybron Chemicals Inc. in Birmingham NJ educated us on well water problems, specifically the subject of iron removal. The hungry for information audience asked Mike tons of questions which he graciously answered.

Mark Rowzee CWS VI is WQA's Director of Education & Certification and traveled all the way from Illinois to teach us more about understanding and dealing with municipally-softened water and the effects on your business. Mark's easy approach of teaching makes the subject matter even for the "chemical knowledge challenged attendee" understandable.

Back by popular demand Mike Keller of Sybron Chemicals Inc. covered a second subject, this time the interesting subject of various applications for ion exchange. We appreciate that Mike covered two seminar topics.

As lunch was served we had the privilege of listening to our guest speaker Bob Ruhstorfer Jr.

Bob is not only President of RainSoft/Aquion in Elkgrove Village, Illinois, but also the Immediate Past President of the National WQA.

Bob mentioned the major challenges for dealers to the residential market:

1. An ethical demonstration to the consumer. Most don't wake up one day and decide they need soft water. They need to be educated first.
2. The application, the technical components, the correct seizing of equipment.
3. Installation, done according to local codes.
4. The last component is maintenance, the after market, the education on maintaining the investment properly.

Bob also covered changes within the National WQA, particularly the major re-organization that is taking place right now. Previously there were two dozen committee's, now by consolidating membership there are only four. They are:

1. Government Relations
2. Member Services
3. Marketing Services
4. Water Sciences

New market studies are on the way to consumers (why people buy etc.), which will be sent to all dealers as well.

Lastly, Bob stressed how important WQA certification is. It creates credibility to our industry. The CWQA makes every effort not only to offer certification at our conference every year, but also invites speakers that qualify for WQA's CEU's. This seminar accumulated 0.45 CEU's towards your certification requirements. If you participated in Mark Rowzee's "pre-certification seminar" on ozone, you added another 0.3 CEU's to your record.

The afternoon continued with a topic all dear to us. John Rickert and Skip Ruedeman covered selling ethically with audience participation. A video played different scenarios and different options were given to resolve issues. The audience had to pick which one was correct in handling the situation. This part of the seminar is extremely important, since all of us that are certified by the WQA have to take an exam on this subject matter. Workbooks and videos can be purchased from the WQA and were offered for sale at the conference.

Dealers and business owners really appreciated the contribution of the next speaker. Jeff Ross is the President of Open Vistas Networking and instrumental in “translating” the ideas and concepts for CWQA’s web site into reality and hosting it as well. Jeff covered the topic of building a useful web site for your business. Judging from the many questions that were asked, this topic was hot, considering that we not just entered the “communication age” but have to be able to keep up with it in a competitive market.

Lastly, as a summary and opportunity to hear the voice of the member body, CWQA President Peter Waelti conducted an open forum discussion and closing comments. We appreciated everyone's input and sharing their feelings and ideas with us.

Estes Park was perfect for our conference on and about water. Even the elk had their own agenda. They offered “bugling along with seminars”.

The guys did the “bugling”

and the ladies did the “seminar” by offering a “taste test” on the reservoirs water.

Some of us rejoiced at “Claire’s Gazebo” for a wonderful dinner and quality time with new and old members.

Sunday, October 5th, 2003

The business portion of the conference took place early in the morning. The Board of Directors met and all members were invited as well. The overall feedback was so great for location as well as topics that the Board decided to have next year's conference at the same place again! The beauty of the Rocky Mountains is addictive and hopefully we see you again next year at the same place at about the same time. Check the upcoming conference page early and often!