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Tis the season for conferences and expo’s---- They are a great way to network, meet new potential clients, see a new place, and spread your company name. However, if you have ever been a vendor on the other side of the table at these conferences you know that not everyone who comes up to your booth is there to learn more about you company. In the name of entertainment, we have made this short and sweet eccentric people expo guide of the four types of people that you will run into at conferences and how to manage them. 1. Chatty Cathy This close talking conversation enthusiast can either help make a conference memorable or make your life horrible. Chatty Cathy comes in all forms, shapes, and sizes from the “let me tell you a story” guy, to “you remind me of so-and-so” person, to the “I like your shirts” randomness and many more. The whole risk comes from eye contact and a smile. This person is just looking for a nice person to help pass the time and you are that victim. If you are having a slow day, Chatty Cathy helps pass the time and is wonderful, making you laugh, and giving you something to remember. If things are busy though, you are possibly missing out on whoever it is you really want to talk to. The key to managing this eccentric person is making sure you can gauge your flow of other people and know what the agenda is for the conference. If it is a break time or coming close to one you need to help shed this chatty character. If not, enjoy the story, pull up a seat, or get a coffee. 2. Freebie Freddy Pretty self-explanatory, Freebie Fred only wants to know what merch you have for him. They come in, swoop by close enough to see if it is cool, flashy, or if it’s just simply for the taking and will slide it right into their goodie bag. You can typically spot Freddie a mile away, their bag is already full, they are wearing all the gear from previous booths and they also are immediately eyeing your table not you or your marketing material. Best thing if you actually are just giving some things away is to quickly direct them to something you want to provide and keep them moving. If you want, try to say hello or get your 30 second commercial in, but know you won’t get far so don’t take it personal. 3. The "I'm Not The Guy" Guy There are quite a few “I like it, but I’m not the guy” Guys who want to help but simply don’t have the buying power in their company to purchase your product. The key to these eccentric expo people is picking their brain. These well-meaning, non-decision makers can be your champion throughout the process and if you stay on their team, they will support you, talk about you, and be the voices for some of the new products and uses for your company. As they express extreme interest pick their brain on finding out what the typical process for decisions is for their company, who are the decision makers, what they like and don’t like and how you can work with “I’m not the guy” guy to change the company for the better. Keep in touch with them, offer to buy them coffee or lunch and keep them engaged and happy and it will be worth your while, but remember don’t go too extreme, because they are not “the guy”. 4. The Unicorn The interested future customer that has the buying power is the whole reason you are at the conference. If you can find them or realize you have one don’t let it go. Keep them engaged, find their interest, timeline and pain and how you can address their needs. Make sure you find out what else they are looking for, be a resource to them and yes do not forget to get their information and set up a follow up. You are a pro, don’t get mesmerized by the unicorn and forget to take a picture. Now, I know that this is silly and pokes fun at people, but on a more serious note, we love going to conferences and are happy to see anyone who is willing to come up and say hi, yes, even you Mr.Freebie. I know there are times where I have certainly been all four of these types of people depending on my company and the journey of my career. No matter who you are, you are always welcome to come to the STAC table and talk. 
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The Army provides opportunities that a normal civilian would not experience. I’ve been lucky to have a lot of different unique experiences and chances that most people would dream about. I’ve thrown hand grenades, fired machine guns, fired a grenade launcher, performed in war game maneuvers, driven Humvees and the larger trucks, tested my physical limits, and now I can add to that list making a massive explosion. Over the past couple of weeks, I had the opportunity to work side-by-side with an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) company. It was a chance to break out of the normal routine of the deployment and go to a different base and experience first hand a small portion of what EOD soldiers do. By far the coolest thing was disposing of expired ammo. For hours we help place this ammo into three shot holes. Basically, just a large hole in the ground. We placed all sorts of ammunition to include tank rounds, mortar rounds, AT4s (bazooka), smoke grenades, phosphorus grenades, crater bombs, and C4.  Once all the thousands of pounds of ammunition were placed, it was time for EOD to prime the fuses, and back away from the shot holes. Our vantage point was a mile away from the shot holes. We waited in anticipation during the 5-minute delayed time fuse. Finally, all at once there was a simultaneous explosion in all 3 shot holes creating a massive explosion. First was the massive fireball, even at a mile away we could feel the heat from the explosion, about 10 seconds later we heard the sound of the explosion and felt the shockwave. It was truly an awe inspiring and terrifying experience. The explosion created a massive mushroom cloud that ascended hundreds of feet in the air. It was like watching a firework show in which all the fireworks exploded at one time. NOTE: There is offensive language in the video (it is the Army) After the explosion we drove back down to the shot holes are we amazed at how much deeper they got. And there wasn’t a single piece of ammunition to be seen.  On the last night before we left, we had a cross training day followed by a grill out. I got the chance to put on the bomb vest (it’s roughly 90 pounds), got to play around with their robots, and got to watch them do their own practical exercises. During the grill out we had a fire, we were just sitting around the fire having a good time. If it wasn’t for the razor wire fences, and the constant sounds of helicopters flying overhead, I would have thought I was back in America. Nights like that truly raise the morale on the deployment. It’s easy to fall into a rut and be negative, I just try to take these small little things to keep the spirits up.
Getting care packages, facetiming with family, and getting pictures and videos of my daughter is a constant source of morale. I thankfully have been getting lots of care packages (which I am grateful for) and have over 700 pictures and videos of my daughter on my phone. I will easily have over 1,000 pictures before I leave. It’s still hard to watch her grow from here. But my wife is doing an excellent job at home holding down the fort through the numerous deployment trolls that have come up and raising our daughter. At this point I am almost half way through the deployment and can’t wait to go home after we complete our mission.
 OSHA Standard: 1926.200 (Subpart G)
Occurrence: Upon Initial Assignment Frequency: As jobsite conditions or roles change Background: According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, transportation incidents accounted for 66% of fatal roadway worksite incidents. In most of these occurrences, a worker was hit by a moving vehicle. Incidentally, backing vehicles accounted for 27 of the 48 pedestrian vehicular incidents. 60% of cases involving workers hit by backing vehicles involved dump trucks. Employer Responsibilities: Signs and symbols shall be visible at all times when work is being performed and shall be removed or covered promptly when the hazards no longer exist. Construction areas shall be posted with legible traffic signs at points of hazard. All traffic controls signs or devices used for protection of construction workers shall conform to Part VI of the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) Danger Signs: Shall be used only where an immediate hazard exists. Danger signs shall have red as the predominating color for the upper panel; black outline on the borders; and a white lower panel for additional sign wording. Caution Signs: Shall be used only to warn against potential hazards or to caution against unsafe practices. Caution signs shall have yellow as the predominating color; black upper panel and borders: yellow lettering of "caution" on the black panel; and the lower yellow panel for additional sign wording. Black lettering shall be used for additional wording. Exit Signs: When required, shall be lettered in legible red letters, not less than 6 inches high, on a white field and the principal stroke of the letters shall be at least three-fourths inch in width. Safety Instruction Signs: When used, shall be white with green upper panel with white letters to convey the principal message. Any additional wording on the sign shall be black letters on the white background. Directional signs. Other than automotive traffic signs shall be white with a black panel and a white directional symbol. Any additional wording on the sign shall be black letters on the white background. Traffic signs: Construction areas shall be posted with legible traffic signs at points of hazard. Accident prevention tags: Accident prevention tags shall be used as a temporary means of warning employees of an existing hazard, such as defective tools, equipment, etc. Summary: Take extra precaution when driving or working in a work zone near roadways. Don’t let outside distraction come into play, there are lives at stake.  Life has an interesting way of taking your plans and throwing them out the window. I remember the exact day, June 26th , I had a business meeting in the morning and an hour later I was back at the office and received a call from my battalion executive officer saying that I was being transferred to another unit, and the unit would be deploying in September. The next call I made was to my 8-month pregnant wife, Julie. Talk about a difficult call. With my mind scattered I left work and went for a 6-mile run. All the dreams and aspirations of the next year of bonding with my future daughter went out the window. But I always knew this was a possibility when I enlisted in the Army Guard. August 3rd, my daughter Jane is born. I get 8 days with her and my wife, before I must leave for two weeks for annual training with my new unit, the 637th Chemical company. I am meeting most of these people for the first time, and I will be spending most of the next year with these soldiers. After two weeks, I am back home for the next month before I leave. The next month I spent as much time with my wife and daughter. We go on lots of mini trips and even have a holiday party for all the holidays that I am going to miss. After that month was up, I went to Fort Hood for pre-mobilization training. That was the toughest day of my life leaving Julie and Jane. A day I would not want to live again.
The mission of the 637th is to be the only chemical response company for the entire Central Command. Basically, we are like firefighters, except instead of responding to fires, we respond to chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear events (CBRN). My role in this mission is that I am a team leader (I have two soldiers in my command) of an Initial Entry Team (IET). After a CBRN event my team is the first team to make entry into a building to provide a site characterization. I have to be the eyes and ears for the Command Post (CP) to provide meticulous details about what I see. It sounds easy enough but talking into a radio while wearing a level A suit with 2 layers of gloves, SCBA unit with a full face mask can be difficult. The whole site characterization at minimum takes an hour. The most difficult thing is the shield fogging up. It’s hard to do a site characterization when you can’t see. You have to remember to bring a towel to wipe down the face shield.  After the site characterization my team goes through the decontamination line and go to the medics. Next I brief the CP and they make decisions on next steps. Which is either sending another IET or send the sampling team into the site. Day-to-day we have PT at 0600 and then eat and shower and start our workday at 0900. We do various training event: practical exercises, equipment training, SCBA training, and various army warrior task. The day is usually over between 1600-1800.  The hardest part is being away from friends and family. My only connection to my daughter is the 3-4 times that I can Facetime with her and my wife, the 8-hour time difference makes it challenging to align schedules. It’s hard to see her grow up and not be there with her and experience everything that she is experiencing. She is almost 6 months old now and rolling over and smiling all the time.  But I am taking it day by day. I’m using the experience to learn more about my army job and grow physically and mentally. Everyday is a new challenge, but I look forward to completing our mission and eventually coming home.
 One simple information input will automatically create and update the OSHA 300, 300A, and 301 forms. Within the system there is the ability to filter between type of injury and year. Whenever necessary or at least annually, download the summary to the correct OSHA format for printing and displaying with the office or jobsite and submit to OSHA.  OSHA Standard: 1910.134 Training Frequency: Upon initial assignment (before mask is worn), and annually. Training Style: Hands-on When is Respiratory Protection Required? - In any workplace where respirators are necessary to protect the health of the employee or whenever respirators are required by the employer Background: Respiratory Protection Program: Respiratory protection program requires the employer to develop and implement a written respiratory protection program with required worksite-specific procedures and elements for required respirator use. The program must be administered by a suitably trained program administrator. In addition, certain program elements may be required for voluntary use to prevent potential hazards associated with the use of the respirator. The program shall be updated as necessary to reflect those changes in workplace conditions that affect respirator use. The employer shall include in the program the following provisions:
The employer shall provide respirators, training, and medical evaluations at no cost to the employee. Training Information: The training must be comprehensive, understandable, and recur annually, and more often if necessary. The employer shall ensure that each employee can demonstrate knowledge of at least the following:
Retraining: Retraining shall be administered annually, and when the following situations occur:
 OSHA Standard: 1926.102
Training: Initially Upon assignment and as conditions or equipment changes The employer shall train each affected employee:
Protectors shall meet the following minimum requirements:
Eye and face protection equipment required by this Part shall meet the requirements specified in American National Standards Institute, Z87.1-1968, Practice for Occupational and Educational Eye and Face Protection. |
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