Ahh my vacation – attending SkillsUSA National Championship as a judge in the TeamWorks event. Yep vacation; no pay, staying at a hotel but having one good time. For those that don’t know – TeamWorks is a four day competition that mimics real life. There is one Carpenter, an Electrician, a Plumber, and a Mason […]
SkillsUSA 2017 – Picture Tour
This marks my 5th year attending the SkillsUSA National Championships and once again I have been blown away by not only the talent of some of these up & coming tradesmen & women but how well they act and carry themselves. Just think, out of the 6000+ competitors I would estimate that over 2/3rd’s of […]
SkillsUSA 2015 – TeamWorks the Pics
This last week marked SkillsUSA 50th year with the Nationals (NLSC) now being held in Louisville, Kentucky. One of the nice things about this is that the TeamWorks event (a team of 4 – one carpenter, an electrician, a plumber & a mason work to complete a project in less than 2 days) isn’t being held a few miles […]
SkillsUSA & some guy named Mike Rowe… The recap
This is my third year making it to SkillsUSA for the National Championships and I guarantee you it won’t be my last. While many conventions & events seemingly get stale that doesn’t seem to be an issue here especially with so many stories to tell – whether it is a carpenter leading his team from […]
SkillsUSA 2013 – the day before
So how do you complete a bathroom remodel in 5 days, build a house in 7, or pull off a 35 Million Dollar contest involving over 6,000 students from over 50 states in basically 4 days and make it look easy? Well the answer is pretty much the same, logistics & a lot of hard […]
My take: Soft Skills or are you always Selling
Wow has this year flown by – it’s hard to believe that in just two weeks I will be back at SkillsUSA for the TeamWorks event. I know. What in the world does that have to do with selling? Well one of the key components of this competition has nothing to do with the actual […]
Guest Post: Skills Alabama Recap
As I got taken to the Tool Shed for last years piece on the Alabama Skills competition, why not see if they would like this years piece directly? Well I am humbled & pleased to say that they did and this years recap of the 2013 Alabama State Skills Championship is now live on the mikeroweWORKS […]
SkillsUSA 2012 – TeamWorks Video Recap
Last year as many of you know, I was more than impressed… I got to say though that the level of competition this year was amazing. While sitting through some of the presentations I was looking at their timelines & going – yeah right… Well in the “Show Me” state, they did just that. In […]
SkillsUSA 2012 – Day 1
Stairs & the Dreaded Stair Stringer: Codes & Tips
In all my years in the building industry, the two biggest items that I see most people stumble with is math and stairs –generally you either you get it or you don’t. In a way it is funny listening to some custom home contractors compare staircases to black holes as they do nothing but suck […]