I've spent the past two days attending the 2007 Trimble Dimensions conference. During the course of the eight classes I attended, and the conversations I had over drinks and meals I came away with a lot of good information and wanted to share some of those insights with you over the next few blog posts. The first major impression that was made occurred during Monday's Keynote Presentation. Daniel Burrus, author of "Technotrends" discussed insights into the present and future opportunities made possible by rapid advances in technology. A lot of what he had to say about future trends and emerging technology was interesting, but the one thing that stood out to me was a practice he - and now I - believe should be applied to your business. That...

The "experts" predicted a 0.4 percentage decrease in construction spending for the month of September. However, the Commerce Department reported today that spending on construction projects around the country rose by 0.3 percent. The report also notes that spending by private builders on commercial structures climbed to an all-time high, as did spending by the government on public facilities in September. Commercial construction is once again going strong and softening, well pretty much, negating the blow of the housing slowdown. Great news for our audience as the commercial industry continues to grow despite repeated predictions of a slow down.

The National Association of Heavy Equipment Training Schools now hosts a number of videos that look at construction equipment, safety and other applications. These videos allow those within the industry, as well as the general public to become more familiar, knowledgeable and aware of the various types of heavy equipment. In addition, videos also highlight the association along with it's training and educational opportunities. A catalog of the all the videos can be found at www.nahets.blogspot.com where the videos are listed and organized. The majority of the heavy equipment profiles run around 45 seconds and give a brief and insightful overview about each piece of equipment. Also at the NAHETS blog you'll find the results of a survey...

Despite rain, tornado watches and a diet consisting of catfish, fried flesh and deit soda, another successful ICUEE show was held in Louisville, KY - and what a show it was. As I crisscrossed the four outdoor lots and inside displays in the South Wing, I was shown a host of new equipment and emerging technologies that were creating a lot of buzz at the show. Bobcat had two items on display that drew much attention. The first item being its V417 VersaHandler telescopic tool carrier (TTC). The fourth model in the VersaHandler line, this is the first one to offer the Bob-Tach attachment mounting system. The primary feature of this particular piece of equipment is that select attachments for large-frame skid-steer loaders (S220 – S330...