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S2-88: S&S Snow and Ice Solutions Field Day with the guys!
776 Plays1 month ago
The guys sit down with a few of the attendees of S&S Snow and Ice Solutions annual field day to talk about the event. This was an outstanding snow contractor networking event, and the guys break down the highlights of the day
Shout out to The Epicurean Delight Catering Company of Tunkhannock Pennsylvania who catered the event for S&S, the food was OUTSTANDING! Check them out at: Theepicureandelight.com
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Transcript
Introduction and Sponsor
00:00:02
Speaker
This no jobs podcast episode is brought to you by Top Gun Backblades.
00:00:41
Speaker
All right, Snow Jobs Nation, we are back again bringing you another episode of the Snow Jobs podcast powered by Top Gun Backblades. As always, I'm Steve. I'm talking to the Juicebox guy. And you know who's with me. We'll just keep it simple. Rick James. I'm on the baddest motherfuckers of all time. i' One of the best singers, one of the best looking motherfuckers you've ever seen. Hold my drink,
Weekend Plans and Travel Talk
00:01:01
Speaker
bitch. Snow legend, Jeremy Lindstrom. What's up, bud? Hey, buddy. Not much. Just ah sitting here on the weekend watching some football. I'm going to record a podcast. There you go. Back home in Fargo. Flight was good. Flight was good. Yeah, it was a good good time. Good trip. Gotcha. In and out.
00:01:20
Speaker
Got to send Steve Smythe past you in the plane to the back of the plane. Yep. Bitches in the back. Oh man, that's great. It was good
SNS Field Day Experience
00:01:31
Speaker
to see you again. We were, uh, we were traveling this week. We're in Pennsylvania, right? For, uh, SNS. Yeah, we were. It was a good, good to go East East coast again. It was fun. I don't know how we always have a good time with the guys, obviously. So quick turnaround, quick turnaround this week. What was it? 24 hours, 30 hours.
00:01:49
Speaker
No, I was there two nights. Yeah. Well, one and a half nights. Didn't you drive back to Philly the the second night? Yeah, but we're, yeah, I guess. we're I guess 48 hours. Like four hours. Four hours. We were at the hotel for like four hours, I think. That's cool. Well, we were we were all together again at S and&S's Snow and Ice Solutions Field Day. ah That was out in Taylor, Pennsylvania.
00:02:12
Speaker
And because we were traveling last week, we did not have a guest. So we're going to talk about that day because it was actually pretty cool. It was a little different than most of the events we go to. um And these types of events are really important for snow contractors. ah There was an interesting dynamic there that we wanted to discuss further. So today we have a few of the guys, ah both snow pros and a vendor that were there. ah They were all at the event and we brought them on to share their opinions about it. So here to help us discuss the day.
Guest Introductions and Humorous Anecdotes
00:02:39
Speaker
All right, we welcome back crowd favorite, Shawn DiVincenzo of Native Snow New Jersey. ah Making his Snow Jobs debut today is Brian Zurovinsky from All About Green Landscaping and Snow, sorry, ah from New Jersey also, and from the Weather Pros, the man who answered 57 hotline check phone calls last winter from me, ah Nick Samaras.
00:03:04
Speaker
I told him I'd be checking that hotline constantly last year to make sure they were picking it up. And and Nick did every time. So good for him. He got up at this year. That's it. Absolutely going to happen. We're going to call twice a day this year. But before we get into it with these guys, let's hear from Team Top Gun. We'll be back to do a quick week in review.
Sponsor Advertisements
00:03:25
Speaker
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00:03:56
Speaker
All right, guys, we're back. So we can review last week. We dropped two episodes on here, right? The main show episode featured Don Nelson, founder of Glacier Snow Management out in Fargo there. Don took us through the early years of how he got Glacier started and how it grew into the ah monster that it is today. And then Thursday, we dropped the product profile episode that was a special that featured Yeti Snow Software's founder, Kevin Spielman. And I thought that episode was fantastic. Right, Jay? That was that was pretty good.
00:04:27
Speaker
Oh, he's muted. he's a we This is only the 90th episode we've done this thing. Oh, here we go. Sorry. No, that wasn't good. It was a good episode. it was It was. Kevin was, he was very funny. He took us through Yeti and and all the features and stuff that it can help snow pros with on on a lot of different levels that some of the stuff I didn't even know about. So I think, you know, Sean's told us all about it before Mitchell. I think there were some things that maybe they don't even know about. Aaron. Aaron.
00:04:56
Speaker
um that's right not mitchell aaron told us about and it told aaron yeah
00:05:01
Speaker
Matti Muscles has it as well. They all love it. You know, we've still been unable to find anybody who doesn't absolutely love that software. So it was great having Kevin on to take us through ah all the features. And guys, if you're in the market for software, you know, it's going to help manage your snow business better on all levels. You know, make sure you check them out. All right. That check out that episode. Give Yeti a call. ah They are doing the the S.J. 24 promo code, right, Jeremy? First month free. yes You sign up. Yep.
00:05:28
Speaker
Sure are. So that's pretty cool. So thanks to Yeti for coming on with us and and doing that and taking the time to educate all of us. What
Event Hosts and Upcoming Expos
00:05:36
Speaker
else, brother? As we said, SNS Snow and Ice Solutions Field Day was last week. It was Thursday. We did attend and we want to thank Tony and Janet for having us. that It was a great time. We had a lot of fun. It was good seeing all the guys again. um Coming up, we got October 15th to the 18th, right? Equip.
00:05:54
Speaker
You quit. Yep. That's a good time. The last hurrah. The last hurrah before we get after it. We'll have to ask Nick about it. See if weathermen are always right. We talked to both weather companies, right? There were two weather companies at S&S.
00:06:12
Speaker
Yeah, we sure did. We had to go two back and forth. Back and forth. Take what one said and go to the other. Hey, can you confirm it with an eyeless? That's what I was doing. That's exactly what I was doing. ah Play them off each other. oh yeah But yeah, it was it was a great time.
00:06:29
Speaker
And, ah you know, I had a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to equip. Like I said, last hurrah for us ah before we get after it, get into the winter. If you guys are a snow guy and you're heading to equip, make sure you reach out to us on the Snow Jobs Instagram or ah shoot either one of us a DM on Instagram or Facebook. ah Let us know if you're going to be down there for that very very quick because we have some snow guy only events going on that, you know, we'll get you on the guest list for. What else?
00:06:56
Speaker
Ah, from Robert.
Snow Jobs Nation and Membership Growth
00:06:58
Speaker
The last few weeks, the Snow Jobs Nation Facebook chat group membership requests have like blown up or something. Like, i don't are we giving something away for free? I don't know what's going on.
00:07:09
Speaker
but the car idea he says it's been blowing up and a lot of requests have been getting denied because of non-answering of the membership questions. So a request without answering those questions guys automatically gets denied. It doesn't even get to the admins. All right. So feel free to reapply. And if you, you know, if you're going to answer those questions to gain access to it, continue to like, and subscribe wherever you listen to us guys. If you remember to do it and if you don't, who gives a shit, we don't. whatever I do. I do. Oh, Jeremy wants his reviews. Five stars only. Yeah. Yeah. Why not? Yeah. Okay. Uh, visit Jeremy, visit Jeremy at snow jobs nation store.com. Get all your snow jobs nation gear, including yeah the onesies and the car hearts, right? That'd be great. Cause if they're going to Louisville, it's going to be chilly. Well, so and that's what Nick said. It's going to be cold down there. They're going to need hoodies and cold in Louisville. All right. Yeah. There you heard it. I have no clue. I have no clue. I'm just saying that.
00:08:06
Speaker
I'm just get your car. just Yeah, get your apparel to wear down in Louisville so we can spot ya. All good. All right. You got anything else, bud? Um, Nope. All right. ah All right, money. Oh, let's hear from our partners. Guys will be right back to get into it with these guys. We'll be back in a little bit. Step into the future of snow removal with Arctic snow and ice products where innovation has been our driving force since the early 2000s. We're redefining efficiency and reliability for snow contractors nationwide. Explore our range from the game changing sectional snow pusher to the versatile double down salt bucket.
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00:09:01
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00:09:36
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00:10:17
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00:10:43
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00:11:02
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Networking at SNS: Small vs. Big Shows
00:11:22
Speaker
All right, guys, we're back. So let's just bring in the boys here. Welcome, Sean, Nick and Brian. Guys, how are we? What's up? Long time no see.
00:11:34
Speaker
Doing good, guys. How you guys doing? Doing good. Thanks for having me. What's up, guys? How are you? Thanks for having me. So S and&S, you guys were all there with us. um That was a different type of event than what we're typically used to. I mean, the focus was not so much on um the education and and constant lectures, but I thought the the extreme focus was the relationship building and kind of networking, ah both amongst snow pros and the vendors as well. It was like, Nick, you can speak to that when we get to it. like It was encouraged for the vendors to to get out there and mingle with the guys as well. ah There was a short Liquids 101 lecture by Jordan Smith of ah VSI Storm, but after that, it was almost entirely like you know networking relationship, right? Anybody feel differently?
00:12:22
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, it was it was great. No, definitely. It was cool. like They had all the vendors get up that were in attendance and introduce themselves, give a short little you know spiel about their products and stuff. But after that, it was kind of like they had stations right outside with the like liquids equipment and ah you know those leaky plows. What are they? The metal, metal something? Metal plus something? Yeah, metal plus.
00:12:49
Speaker
That was a sea of metal pluses out there man there were what got to be 78 guys there. Yeah yeah definitely man that was a whole field a lot of money think wait we gotta we gotta get jordan jordan's recording when he says when he does come on every time we yeah that bus shit ah so yeah every time we do that we can just play it up behind so we got jordan saying that because that's what it does every time yeah every time the joke boys called down and ah come come on boys joke it's all a joke and good fun But yeah, I mean, that was, I thought that was really cool. Like it was definitely not something I'm used to generally. Like you go to these one day events and there's usually three to four hours of some kind of lecture educational based. What about you, Nick?
00:13:34
Speaker
Yeah. So, um, you were a vendor there. i So every show for us, as mean you were a vendor. So give your point of view on on the day as far as that set up. Right. Right. Yeah. I mean, every show for us is kind of different.
00:13:48
Speaker
um We have our small shows, our big shows, obviously the Simas are definitely the biggest, but um we we definitely like the networking that SNS had over in Taylor, PA. We get to see guys that we you know we already that already use us and we get to network with other people that we met at the show, which was awesome. um As for the lectures, I mean, the one in Connecticut that we went to ah two days prior, we had a lot more lectures to kind of get through, but this was the one in Taylor, the SNS show, we had a lot more time to kind of mingle as Steve was alluding to and sort of just talk to everybody, get them ready for the winter. Cause you know, it's, it's, it's happening in a couple of months, obviously here. um So it was definitely a really awesome time to just get, you know, get to, get to talk to everybody, ah see how they're doing, check in. um But yeah, we, we, we definitely liked the smaller shows as opposed to the bigger ones. Cause
00:14:44
Speaker
They give us that one to two minute timeframe to just you know talk about who we are, where the bigger shows don't really have us do that. ah We kind of just rely on the their website and you know how they're marketing us. So we we definitely appreciate that. The bigger shows are like cattle cars, right? Like try and get through as many people as you can and just get the contact written down on the paper. and This, this was good. I mean, you had, all right. So Jeremy, like, what do you, what was your feel for that type of event where it was more, it was more a networking and relationship based day rather than like an educationally based day. How did you feel about it?
00:15:21
Speaker
Oh, I definitely liked it. I'm i'm a big proponent of the ah networking with the guys. It seemed like, you know, we pick a lot up from talking to you guys all day long. And I mean, education is always nice and stuff like that as well. But when we're talking to these guys, we're getting education, seeing how they do stuff and what they're using for equipment or resources or what have you weather companies. It doesn't matter. It's all it's all about talking to these guys and see what's see what they're doing, I guess, the better word for it. Well, I think that was I think that was said perfectly, actually. You know, networking is education. It's not, you know, sitting there being lectured by one point of view. If you're sitting in a group of 15 guys, you know, we were having some great conversations out there during the afternoon. We got a whole mess of guys opinions on things. And I like you said, I think that was educational. I had never been to an event like that where it was basically more networking than anything and more just basically
00:16:16
Speaker
um It was almost like a contractor meetup, ah like a very high end contractor meetup day. Well, let me ask you this, Steve. Definitely. I wasn't there last year. It wasn't more educational last year. I think you said they had more. Yeah. like it was more um Last year, if I remember correctly, Jordan did they did a liquids thing. Then they did a state of the industry. Basically, what they they had a big research poll that they had done um previous before that. And I guess they released all their information about how the shift was going to equipment and away from trucks.
00:16:51
Speaker
ah So yeah there were ah there were a bunch more seminars or not seminars, but lectures. um You did still have time for networking, but it felt like this year, like the focus definitely felt like relationship building and networking was was ah the paramount. And this year they incorporated the vendors in a lot better. Like last year, the vendors were kind of sitting on the wall um with their little tables and boots inside the building. um And I don't think a lot of guys maybe maybe made their way over to it.
00:17:20
Speaker
This year, it was encouraged that that the vendors get out there and mingle and and sit in with with groups having conversations. like we had um For my end, going into the next thing about the vendors, we had the guy from HMK Insurance sit in on ah on one of our conversations out there, Alan, a very nice guy. And he was like, yeah, you know tell us you know tell me what you think. you know I'll tell you what what we think. And I kind of beat him up a little bit about about where the insurance is going for us in snow.
00:17:47
Speaker
But, you know, but he said like, wow, that's you know, that's a lot of good information. And I'll I'll definitely pass it up the line. I don't know if nothing's going to come from that, obviously, because, you know, the insurance is insurance and they don't lose ever. They're going to make their money. Don't worry. They're going to make their money. They love it. They love to tell you that I'm making money, they lose the money, but they're they're making money. Yeah. No, I have no doubt. But but yeah, I mean, as far as the vendors,
00:18:13
Speaker
Like Nick, did you think that was, did you like being involved in the conversation? I mean, you, you took a lot of crap. Like the the weather guys always take shit. It's a lot of fun, but like, did you get a lot out of sitting in with the, the, the snow guys talking about how they do things?
Event Feedback and Vendor Diversity
00:18:30
Speaker
Oh, we love it. We, we absolutely love it. I mean, Jeremy, Steve, you guys always give us shit for it and you know, we take it and it's a lot of fun. give it back i like i heard We give it back we all we give it back, but I mean just as i kind of just a person I am I mean we're gonna make mistakes in our field as always and what we're we're ready get on the little while guy just say he was st we're gonna the walk yeah make sure you mark that on the On the track that is that is a clip right there definitely an ai clip Look at that
00:19:05
Speaker
Admitting to my mistakes, you'll never hear that, I guess. That's not the norm. Isn't the norm just to make up another fake weather term and then you pass it on? No, they they just skate past and don't even mention what happened yesterday. They're like, oh, here's a new day. we do ah ah You love it, Nick. You love it. I love it. Going back to what Steve was saying, yeah, we weren't here last year, so we didn't even go to the S and&S. I know that was the second. I think last year was the first.
00:19:34
Speaker
Okay, yeah, so we were not sure about how the vendors kind of dealt with everything last year. But um between this one and the Connecticut groundskeeping show, I mean, just the fact that we were able to get up there and have a microphone and be able to talk for a couple minutes was huge for us. I mean, because maybe just just making sure that everybody knows who we are before they come outside. um That was big.
00:19:57
Speaker
We definitely got a few more people to talk to just from that um So I definitely like the way that Tony every like set everything up with that and gave us a chance to that for sure You guys we've all been to these one-day events and bigger shows. Have you ever gone to something like that? Where?
00:20:12
Speaker
They are, they do introduce the the vendors and let them talk on the mic. Like before Jordan's event out there, the storm day, and that was, I think born out of necessity because they just didn't have the room to have all tables and boots set up. They let the vendors get up there and and give 10 minutes on on their product and stuff. Have you guys ever seen or been to something where that happened before? No.
00:20:36
Speaker
No, that was our first time. That was our first time even being able to talk. I think works beautifully because then guys, it breaks the ice with the guys in the audience. The guys now know who you are. They know a little bit about you. They know if you're dry as fuck or if you have a personality and are worth coming up and having a conversation. I mean, all listen, that's part of sales.
00:20:56
Speaker
Like if you are, you know, if you are the the teacher from Ferris Bueller's Day Off just sitting there in a monotone as a vendor trying to sell something, I'm not going to talk to you. I don't care if I need it or not. I'll find somebody else.
00:21:08
Speaker
but I thought that was good definitely i also think They had a good variety of stuff too you had the like you said earlier and aen doing the insurance you have the guy for the equipment financing when do you ever get anybody to talk to about financing equipment i didn't see him you know there's it's yeah he was there he was on the table to the right in the back he so you could chit chat with him go through what rates are, what what they're doing for people, for you know keeping your capital, things like that. Then you had your vendors, the weather guys, it was just a ah great um variety of different vendors to see. I thought it was good. i think I definitely think it helps giving them all my time to introduce themselves and break the ice. And then it's not so ah ah not such a stretch that guys go up to the booth and and talk to them for a little bit.
00:21:50
Speaker
um Right. I mean, we we haven't even gotten into the food yet. The food there was unbelievable. and Shout out to whoever was catering that, but my God. They crushed it. Like, that was so far above and beyond anything you will ever find for a bunch of snow guys.
00:22:06
Speaker
I was like, I was like black tie type food, you know, it was we we were thinking like, should we just stay until 90 and the whole time? because I told my wife, I'm like, she's like, what did they have? ah I said the food was incredible. She goes, what did they have? I'm like, uh, they had a little cheesesteak, little mini cheesesteak. Then they had lobster rolls. She goes, they had lobster rolls at a snow guy thing.
00:22:28
Speaker
Like, dude, they had everything. It was crazy. they had i fit I think I think they had like stuffed mushrooms. I think you had one or two of those things, Steve. Two hundred. Maybe 200. The mushroom. married time but woman I was like, leave the tray, hon. Leave the tray. You like that. You give Steve the last call. One laugh. I'll not carry a tray back with one thing on it. You know, I'll take care of it for her. You know, she gets yelled at if she comes back with anything on the tray. So.
00:22:56
Speaker
Dude, they were made sure that was incredible. like the The mushrooms were great. the yeah what are the They had those egg rolls. the What was it? Buffalo chicken egg rolls? They had meatballs. Those are really good. Those are really good. That was appetizers. I know. Pass around.
00:23:12
Speaker
That was insane. mean It was a fat kid's dream. from yeah you But i you know, I dropped the
SNS Event Highlights: Food and Turnout
00:23:21
Speaker
ball on that. I actually should have called Tony so we could have given the caterer a shout out because they ah they absolutely crushed that.
00:23:29
Speaker
Whoever it was out there, it was just an awesome talk. Great. The food was absolutely phenomenal. Well, much more than we deserve as, you know, plus lunch. We forgot it. We even mentioned that was lunch. That was our supper or dinner, whatever you guys call it out there. But, uh, it's the lunch was fantastic too. They had so much food. I think I took down an entire cheese steaks from Moly.
00:23:49
Speaker
Oh, dude, ah that's the best part. There was a there was I mean, there was everything ah no matter what your your tastes were. There was food to to satisfy everybody. It was really ah they really went above and beyond on that. And um I mean, oh I got it. I got to say about that, about all the food and stuff they had is all the people that signed up and did not come. You guys missed out big time. Oh, yeah. Yeah.
00:24:15
Speaker
We're going to make sure of it. You guys definitely for sure. They had the place filled up. I mean, they they got it was supposed to get going at nine. And it was it was a little it was a beautiful day. And, you know, I think I think guys were a little delayed maybe getting their crews started for the day because there was a lot of local guys started filling in about 945, 10 o'clock. And the place really filled in.
00:24:40
Speaker
I thought I heard Tony say it would rain during the first couple of days of the week or something. So I think some of the guys are you were working because they got delayed. I think that's what he said. But I i could be around him. I thought I heard him say that. But all told, no matter how many guys didn't make it, ah there were there were more guys there this year than last year, definitely.
00:24:59
Speaker
So it is building and that type of event, I would highly recommend that, that, that it was just ah basically a snow contractor hang out with incredible food and just a lot of great guys.
Conversations on Equipment and Industry Insights
00:25:11
Speaker
Like speaking of great guys, like what conversation did you guys have with guys that had, you know, you found a lot of value in, you know, Sean, what about you? Nothing. Nothing comes to mind at all. He's on the phone all day. All those guys. are all talking and yeah he love talking everybody loved after the weather pro was That was great. Actually talking to a couple guys about um plowing roadways was pretty cool. ah Never did it.
00:25:42
Speaker
Uh, they were talking about miles of roads and I was trying to convert it into acres because that's what we do. And, uh, lane miles. I don't know. My math was not math. Yeah. I was like, that doesn't make sense to me, but it's a whole different formula. It's insane. Who was, do you remember who that was that was talking to me about it? Yeah, Brian, it was, um,
00:26:05
Speaker
Who was it again? I forgot. And you don't, uh, will, uh, it was Mike landscape. willis No, I do. I do. Willis was Willis, Willis trucking Corey from Willis trucking. And I think it was, uh, Mike Magdalena. I don't know if I said that name right or not. Cool. Yeah. So you got something out of that, that conversation. That's good. yeah was cool What about you, Nick?
00:26:25
Speaker
Yeah, I think it was a couple, a couple of conversations that I have with guys were about like, um, at some of the different equipment that they were running. Cause you got to be able to, you know, hands on and they were like, Oh, we like this. We really liked this aspect of it. We really liked that.
00:26:40
Speaker
Um, and then even like, uh, conversations about current contract situations, like here's what we're dealing with. I know me and Sean are in the thick of it here in Jersey because nobody wants to talk about snow until October 1st. So just having conversations about current situations and contracts and discussions that have come up, things like that. I mean, it was, it was very valuable. What about you, Nick, any conversations that that you've had value to you? Right.
00:27:07
Speaker
I mean, I think for us, it's just kind of seeing our, our clients that we already have. Um, I know for Steve and Jeremy, we don't really get to see each other a lot throughout the year. I know we saw each other at Storks. Uh, I think that was back in April, but, um, as much as Steve calls me throughout the winter, I don't really get to see him in person. Winter friend. so that Winter friend. That's what I call it. If you're seeing me in person in the winter, it's really, really bad for you. voice It's fun to hang out with him in Denver when there's no snow falling, but, um,
00:27:36
Speaker
Other than that, I was telling you guys earlier on, this was kind of the first time I i met Mark Schanberg at True Weather. And obviously, there are competitors. You guys have talked about it on multiple shows and definitely have the utmost respect for him just talking you know about the weather in the upcoming winter. And we definitely respect that the product that they have over there has has really blossomed over the last couple of years. um They're doing a great job. And we I think it's just really cool that As weather guys, we we we we share a lot, obviously, because we're hobbyists and we love the weather. But just the way that we go about our business in general, I think there's some similarities there that we can we can pick up on. And you guys always talk about learning from other people. And I think I learned a little bit more just from talking to another meteorologist. yeah You got know guys share a lot in what you do. not Not an Emmy, but you know you share most everything else. A nice peeping score. Rob did have his Emmy there on the table. is What was it? Daytime Emmy? It's a meteorologist.
00:28:38
Speaker
You got to talk to him or Billy Moore. Billy Moore will tell you more. Oh, man. I liked having both of you guys there because I was fact checking you. Mark would tell me something. I'd go to you guys and say, what do you got? This is what Mark's saying. Oh, well, let me go. You said I was ah the unprofessional one. Oh, shots fired.
00:28:59
Speaker
And then Jeremy called me the little guy. I also left. you like bra Well, you left. You didn't understand the whole concept there. You were wrapping up the Emmy. And I was like, oh, Rob's got you doing his little work for him. Putting Emmy away. That's when I came back.
00:29:14
Speaker
not Nice. Oh, my God. It's funny now. We've got each other. that's That's what friends do. lot who There were a lot of a lot of cool guys there. Did anybody meet anybody for the first time that had a you know, that was pretty cool or had an impact on you?
00:29:33
Speaker
Um, I don't know for the first time, I mean, I met Matt in person from, from Clippers. I mean, we had him on the show, but I got to meet him in person. I got, I got to hear a lot more about his, his company and how he does all the salty sales and stuff was pretty cool. I mean, we heard it on the show, but to actually get into it, talking to him about it when we were sitting around the hotel and stuff, it was, it was pretty cool. I mean, he, he runs a hell of an operation out there. I mean, shit, those guys kill it. And with even with their plot, right? Stakes into him and Eric.
00:30:00
Speaker
yeah the the volume they're going through now and stuff. It's it was it was just fun getting to talk to them a little more and learn more about their business and obviously snow power, Rick. I mean, he was always it's always Rick. He's great. so You didn't get to talk to Matt and Eric much at um at SEMA.
00:30:16
Speaker
I talked to him, but not like I did at this show at SNS. It was more, you know, because they stay in the same hotel as us. We were hanging out in the lobby absolutely down there. And then then we said we said that, you know, underneath that tent that day and we talked to, I mean, all those guys are underneath the tent. We're just, you know, throwing shit back and forth at each other. That's that's that's all. Yeah. That's how you bond, honestly, is no you guys know that that's how you bond. And if you're not if you're not throwing shit at each other, you're probably not going to be friends. Right. Yeah.
00:30:41
Speaker
Just a bunch of hobby pushers sitting around firing shots. Yeah. Hobby. ah Oh, man. but yeah know i ah For me, I actually got to talk to Bob Marks from EMI. We actually were able to have a conversation. We've been at a couple of events, um but just for various reasons, those things go those days go super fast and you don't get to have an actual real conversation about some stuff. so while we were talking They just replaced a bunch of their case fleet.
00:31:12
Speaker
With case with new stuff. So we were talking about that and you know, it's pretty cool to talk talk to him and and hear his take on things and You know, we kind of mesh up on a lot of stuff like most snow guys do we we usually most of us feel the same way on the the big topics um But yeah, that was that was cool for me. Yeah, I mean, I think this was this was the type of show where if you did meet someone for the first time you had a Yes, right. Like you had it you had a lot. Yeah, you had a lot of moments to just go up to them and sit with them, eat the the awesome food that we got or, you know, have a beer with them. And that that was that was awesome. You know, we don't usually get that. It's usually a high and by kind of thing at these bigger shows. And ah Tony and Janet did a great job. Anybody you met for the first time?
00:32:00
Speaker
Yeah, I actually ah had the same guys, Jeremy. We actually we went to dinner with them ah the last night there. And that was Eric um with yeah when Matt and Eric from Plowright. And Met Matt for the first time. He's a great guy. Good conversations. Runs an awesome operation. like He's got to be your idol. All the salty cells. Oh, oh yeah they were they were talking salt big time. so that ah then Salt Matty and Salt Zaddy. There they are. Yeah. All right.
00:32:37
Speaker
I even shared some of my sweet potatoes casserole with him, and you know if I can share food, I'm not a shot. I'm like, Sean's not feeling well or something. I don't know what's going on.
Snow Power Plows Appreciation
00:32:46
Speaker
like Normally, he's putting a fork into your wrist when you reach for it. Oh, Jesus. Brian, what about you? Anybody you met for the first time that you had a good conversation with?
00:32:58
Speaker
Um, Rick from snow power. That was, uh, I've heard a ton of, you know, the ads on the show. Plus he was on here and you hear his passion for the product that he creates and to see it firsthand. Um, I thought it was awesome. I think it's going to be a great plow. I think it's, you know, definitely something to look into for, for the future. Um, what, what was that the first time you saw snow power? That is the first time I saw a snow power in person. What do you run now?
00:33:27
Speaker
I thought it was, uh, I'm a Fisher guy. So I'm all XV2s, 86s. Um, so to see that and to see the technology, the downward pressure, um, we always clip our edges. So to watch the blade when they go into travel mode and have it go up a little bit higher, so you're not hitting anything. Um, I thought that was really awesome. Um, and obviously the technology was hydrogen.
00:33:52
Speaker
nitrogen yep nitrogen, nitrogen that they're using to keep the downward pressure and the leveling um aspect of it, too. A lot of the stuff that we do here, there's nothing's level. So you're making a scrape one way and a scrape back the other way. So I thought that technology was was really, really something special. Yeah, it's it's it's phenomenal. It really is phenomenal. Game changing stuff. and And Rick, like if you get Rick, you will he get given 10 minutes and that guy will put so much stuff in your head. It's unbelievable.
00:34:22
Speaker
It's crazy. And you know what, that his passion and his drive and his backing of his own product is, I think, something that just, if you know, forget the cost, you're like this guy will will 100% back this piece of equipment. And I think that's a huge thing in our industry is like you want to buy something that you know,
00:34:39
Speaker
something goes wrong, or you have a question, they're answering the phone. He's over he's like, he told us a story about overnighting a part, driving it out to somebody that needed it. I mean, that's, you know, we've all had issues, I think, Steve, me and you talked about Case and some of the issues that, you know, that you hadn't, just just the fact that that's what he would do to back up his product alone makes it so much more interesting and so something to consider. Yeah, we're talking about YouTube in Atlantic.
00:35:06
Speaker
when I had the I had that first problem that my local dealer bombed out on. But doug yeah, no, I mean, that's it. If you're standing behind it and you're going to stand behind a product line, that that's like the holy grail for Snow Guys, because we all know no matter what product we're using, it's going to break.
00:35:22
Speaker
At some point, it's going to break up. You know, you're going to catch an edge. You're going to have a guy misuse it somehow. It's do. Do I have the ability to pick up the phone and have somebody answer it and make me right? You know, so yeah, I agree with you 100 percent. We got you. I don't even think you need five minutes with Ricky. Talk to him for two minutes. Do you know that guys?
00:35:43
Speaker
just the passion and just just by looking at him and I, he's one of the he's one of the guys you can just shake his hand or his he gives you his word and that's all you need. I mean, he's he's that kind of guy. and There ain't many of them around anymore. No, no, absolutely. I told him stop driving parts to guys. You got to rest. You need your rest. yeah But no, he will. He'll he'll do anything, anything he has to do to to get guys up and running. and though but I'll tell you I don't know though those things are tanks like I actually I didn't get a ah real good chance to to go through the V plow at Sima and I was able to to check it out on the truck there and That thing is a beast man. It really is a beast. It's it's
00:36:27
Speaker
I think he said it weighs like 1,300 pounds or 1,100 pounds. I think it's 1,100 pounds, but man, like he thought of everything. He really did. It's it's a good plow. I just i really, that that middle section is what gets me that, what is it, two feet wide, that middle flat section on the V? That being flat allows you to now have those wings collect so much more snow and scoop than a regular like my Western MVP 3s.
00:36:55
Speaker
you So it yeah, it was, I love being able to check that out. And yeah, Rick is, Rick's crick's great to talk to. He will you will definitely put some knowledge in your head, that's for sure.
Personal Connections vs. Formal Education
00:37:05
Speaker
um What else we got? and Anybody wanna say anything else about SNS that I haven't brought up yet? About the day.
00:37:18
Speaker
mean I think with the smaller um situation to be a little bit more hands on, I know I've talked to Jordan a bunch, but to see um the VSI spreader and the hand remote versus the cell phone and like some of the stuff you hear about, but you actually got to see and, you know, as people kind of meandered away. He was like, oh, you want to check this out? You want to do this? It was it seemed to be a little bit more hands on for me. I haven't gotten to a ton of these shows. So now to be able to go to the last couple, it just seemed like a little closer. Me and Sean were jumping in loaders and you could take them for a ride. The guy from highway equipment is like, dude, i let me turn the batteries on it and here's the keys. Like take it for a ride. Yeah. Yeah. Let's let's talk about that some more. ah But first, let's just run some commercials real quick from our partners and we'll be right back, guys.
00:38:05
Speaker
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00:38:24
Speaker
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00:38:52
Speaker
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00:39:08
Speaker
All right, we're back. So overall, did we like this type of event where it was more of a snow contractor meetup type event versus a purely educational thing? I kind of like the networking in that atmosphere myself. I thought that was a nice change of pace, honestly, for most of the shows that we go to. ah did Did you guys feel differently? how did what do you What do you think, Jeremy?
00:39:33
Speaker
Oh, i this is my kind of show. I love it. I like to mingle around with guys and talk, you know, there are enough vendors there. You can talk to whoever you want to talk to for vendor wise, you know, like we said, we have Powerade, Snowpower, Kami, and BSI. I mean, every, I mean, kind of all the things you use or for the most part were there. I mean, yep that you wanted to, but it was just, I'm more of a networking guy. I like to chat with guys. So, sure I mean, I thought I ah probably had,
00:40:01
Speaker
just a good a time there as I did when we rented a Simon show them where we didn't do, you know, we didn't do much there. So no, no, I agree. I agree completely. I like the I like the intimate setting. I like that we could have 15, 20 minute, half hour conversations with guys. um You know, you can't really do that when you're trying to get to, you know, 25 boots and and, you know, see 25 different products. I thought that was a great meet up and um And it was mostly guys from the same area. So that was cool, too So, you know, you got to to meet guys in your general vicinity What about you Sean? Did you agree with that that you like this type of event more than a regular or you know? Do you like the other ones too? Well, I like them both um I think they both hold a lot of value and
00:40:50
Speaker
and I wouldn't discredit the classes um in any type of way. I did, I did some classes in Simon. and They were good. You know, you get to pick which one you want. um So doing different types of events is just awesome. So it was cool that this one was different than just like a whole another Simon level type event. Obviously, if you do too much of that, you don't get the same thing out of it. So if you, if you could do a mixture of both, you can make it to Simon, you can make it to ah an event like SNS. They both hold a lot of value and I definitely like, um,
00:41:21
Speaker
definitely lean towards the S and&S more. but I can understand why people would like the seminar type classes also, especially when we get to like a year. Yeah, you definitely, there's definitely always a place for formal education. But to this point, I have never been to a show that wasn't formal education based. Like this was more of a like, Hey, let's get 30 guys together and have ah a bite to eat and have a cup of coffee and just talk s snow. Like that was really cool. I thought that whether it was intentional or unintentional, the the day turned out awesome, you know, to being able to do that, I thought.
00:41:54
Speaker
Yeah, I know about you, Nick. Great. Yeah, I mean, as a vendor, um obviously you you spend a ah ah decent amount more money going to these bigger shows, which means that you have a larger reach throughout the country because you're meeting guys from Milwaukee, Chicago, Northeastern PA, Massachusetts, all that kind of stuff, whereas this is a lot more localized and it is you know it's cheaper for us to go out there.
00:42:21
Speaker
Um, which means less leads, but you also increase the, the value of, you know, PR and getting out there and actually meeting these guys that either use you or use a competitor of you, which is totally fine. And we've met a lot of people that use, uh, true weather and weather works, um, which is totally fine. we We love talking to them as well. And we we love just like hearing their side of the whole snow plowing game. And, and we learn a lot from you guys. I think that's like the biggest thing. Like as a weather guy.
00:42:51
Speaker
We go through a winter, we're looking at models, we're sending you guys information, but we also want to know exactly what you guys do on the ground because it gives us that inside information that your local TV guy would never have had even thought of. So just talking to you guys, like spitballing at the table, drinking beers, doing all that kind of stuff, that helps us out, believe it or not, more than just going to you know the bigger shows and and pitching our information, getting your card, exchanging cards like that.
00:43:21
Speaker
Um, just, just hearing what you guys do throughout a winter and, and just, just having the utmost respect for all of you as, as always, um, it really ranged true with these smaller shows as opposed to the Simon's and the bigger shows like that. I agree. What about you, Brian? Did you like, uh, do you like this day or are you more of a, uh, formal education type, uh, event guy?
00:43:44
Speaker
yeah I like this day, I think for being a one day show. I think it was great for this format, because you got a little bit of everything and you weren't tied to anything specific. I think some of the bigger shows to Sean's point earlier, like, Simon, you have a multi day thing, you can sit in classes and you can kind of spread out your time um for the for this for this amount of time. I think it was great. I like the mingling and the you know getting to talk to different guys in different areas that are all local to us. I thought it was just a goal a really good setup. I agree. I agree. Yeah. What what did highway have there? ah Highway equipment. What equipment? Because I didn't even get out there to see what they brought. They had a Volvo compact and a Volvo um big loader. How are the Volvos?
00:44:34
Speaker
They're really nice. That was my first time sitting in one.
00:44:40
Speaker
I ran the little compact just a little bit you know back and forth to play with the bucket. Had a really cool feature on the um the arm of the machine with a little red line, which let you know the bucket was level, which was like really cool. Takes the guessing out of it. you know um which was just like a piece of rod with some tape, but if every manufacturer did it, it
Volvo Equipment and Hands-On Networking
00:45:04
Speaker
would be awesome. I think everybody's got some kind of little meter, right? Jeremy, doesn't every manufacturer have some kind of little marking? Yeah, for the most part they do. the all art We all have. yeah ye and cool what Did they go over prices, like Sean, on the Volvos? What were their price rates? a Yeah, I want to say the big ah the big loader was about $225.
00:45:27
Speaker
And the compact was 110 or 115. Does that sound right, Brian? Yeah, I think it was about 115. Cool. Yeah, I actually, I didn't get to talk to that guy much. And that guy and the, the Kamian guy.
00:45:42
Speaker
I didn't, I didn't really talk to him. There were like, you know, that was the only downside is there seemed to be like two groups. Like there was an outside group and an inside group with the conversations and stuff. And each group had like a good amount of people in each group, but they only like filtered like one or two at a time would kind of switch out between groups. So there were, I think, uh, I think the the other couple of vendors were with the other group talking.
00:46:08
Speaker
But yeah we had we had our guys outside and and we had great conversations. ah Anybody got anything else about the day that they wanted to make sure we talked about?
00:46:20
Speaker
Um, I would just like to thank Tony and Janet for putting on a good show. Honestly, it was a fun time. And I, I got to call Janet and see if I can get their recipe for the old nor'easter. She came up with that drink, the dr or drink signature. drink Yeah, that was, that was great. love that great I thought it was solid. for host I know she served you like an hour before, hour after me, but that was a, well yeah yeah i'm not I'm not on your, I'm not on your level, Nick. So I got shut down when I went to the bar. She's like, we're not open. I'm like, well, Nick and Rob got it, but I don't have an Emmy either. So
00:46:55
Speaker
i showed my that's I thought they just, I thought they killed it. I thought they really did a great job. I thought they were there. I know they, they were, they wanted a couple more people there, but I mean, I think there was 75 guys there, which is not bad for a one day local show. You know, it's, it's pretty, I was very happy with the turnout, you know, and and the amount of guys we were able to talk to. So I thought definitely i think especially i mean during the week, during the week, during working hours, it was a Thursday. I mean, yeah a lot of people came out. It was a Thursday.
00:47:43
Speaker
Yeah, middle, middle of the show, it was definitely very crowded. Like guys were kind of sneaking in that front door three, four at a time. They had a bunch of, they had a bunch of like the local town crews that were in there too. So I think those guys like kick kind of snuck in, ah hound around for a little bit and then kind of bolt it out of there. Like four, four 35. Absolutely. Yeah. It was, I thought we, we kind of cleared out of there with time, like eight 30.
00:48:07
Speaker
yeah I think so. yeah eight eight thirty i mean it was It was a long day, but it was a great day. We had a great time. And again, thanks to Tony and Janet for putting on a great event. And we can't wait for next year. um Anybody else got anything to add before we wrap it up? I'm getting a lot of shaking heads. I think we're good. I think we're good. I mean, it was a good way. We've gone through it. It is. it is it's Hopefully next year we can go back and have another good time. So so there's one thing I want to throw in that that we learned at the show that's not related to the show, but because we're in the season right now, we're bidding and and and stuff is going on. I want to say while we were there, we learned that without mentioning names, we learned that a guy lost a site.
00:48:53
Speaker
that last year was $78,000 and a broker put that site up for nine, was it 19 grand? Thanks, bro. $16,000. That was $16,900. No, I think it was $19,000. No, one was cool. Yeah. No, one was $19,000. The lost one was $19,000. And another guy at the show got an offer to bid on $1,000, $16,000. These are ridiculous, ridiculous prices. So right there, a broker just knocked off from $78,000 to basically $20,000. He just knocked $60,000 off the top of this. It's just we can't afford to. It's like a manufacturer.
00:49:31
Speaker
What's that? Manufacturers. It was a manufacturer's name company, I think. It could have been. But bottom line is, make sure that um guys no make sure you guys know your numbers.
Advice for Contractors and Episode Conclusion
00:49:43
Speaker
Do your homework on what it actually costs to do these sites. Do not do them for free. And worst case, do not lose money on them.
00:49:51
Speaker
Alright, these sites are getting watered down. your half you cant as you candian put your You can't even put salt on the site for the for the year for that cost. It'll cost you more money than souls. The guy that we were with that that we're talking about that got screwed, not mentioning names, he was super proactive, called right away, and he's got two more properties up right now. so He's ah he rebounded pretty good after. Well, he always does. But bottom line is, these contracts that are going for 80 grand the year before are now getting knocked down to 20 by these companies. We all know who they are. Stop saying yes. all right If they're telling you what they're offering price-wise, probably 99.9% of the time, you can make damn sure that it's not benefiting you.
00:50:43
Speaker
All right, so stop. Do your homework. Figure out what your actual costs are to do these, what you have to do to equip them properly, to salt them properly. Stop accepting these stupid offers. All right, they're frigging insulting.
00:50:55
Speaker
All right, and that's it. That's the rant of the day. So we're we'll we'll wrap it up. We'll wrap it there. So that's going to do it, guys, for this episode of the Snow Jobs podcast. All right, we want to thank Sean, Nick, and Brian for coming on. It was great. Thanks again to Tony and Janet at S&S for having us. um Again, know your numbers, do proper bids, do your homework, do not work for free, and definitely don't take a freaking loss.
00:51:20
Speaker
All right, guys, chances are you're not making out on that property when they're telling you what they're willing to offer you. All right. You make damn sure that it's skewed the other way. All right. Everybody have a great week. Be safe out there and keep pushing.