PDCA’s Residential Forum held a spectacular peer to peer business exchange meeting in Philadelphia with over 100 PDCA members in attendance. On July 23rd the 5th Annual - Advanced Shop Talk Educational Event (AST V) commenced in Philadelphia and PDCA Residential Forum Members, representing both large and small companies, were in attendance.

“Shop Talk has always been a favorite event for our residential contractor members”, said PDCA’s President, Robert C. Miller, who was in attendance as a distinguished guest. “The caliber of folks participating and sharing information at this meeting was truly impressive. This event just highlights one more reason to belong to PDCA”, he added.

The keynote speaker this year was Shawn Kershaw and she delivered a powerful message relating to time management and techniques to be better organized in business. Her overall theme was organization and focus drive better performance. The very best companies are the ones with a business plan, specific goals and a way to measure them. She stressed that part of the success equation is spending time on what really matters. The paradox of “time” is that you have all there is at your disposal. How you choose to use that time is the key to success in business and in life. For those of you that may have read Arnold Schwarzenegger’s book “Pumping Iron”, written over 25 years ago, he set the goals for himself as a young man to go to America and become a movie star. He chose bodybuilding as the vehicle for his objective, and as we know, exceeded his expectations. Married to a part of the Kennedy legacy, he is now Governor Schwarzenegger! He had a “business” plan and focused all his time and energy in that plan.

The entire program was devoted to round table owner to owner discussions on specific aspects of contractor business operations. The comprehensive topics list presented an opportunity for every attendee to participate in meaningful dialogue on best business practices, time management, and also general business management techniques.

 PDCA has four Forums…Residential, Commercial, Excellence in Craftsmanship and Industrial. Each of these Forums enables PDCA members to obtain additional member benefit through affiliation with other contractors who perform the same kind of work.

In order to become a member of any of the PDCA Forums, a contractor must be a member of PDCA, in good standing, and join the Forum or Forums of your choice.

To learn more about joining any of the PDCA Forums please contact

PDCA’s Residential Forum… Barbara Bivens    PDCA@bivenssurfside.net or (877)722-5050

PDCA’s Commercial Forum…Tom Lewis    tom@lewisrestoration.com 415-824-8300

PDCA’s Industrial Forum… Tony Kozak    tonykoza@pcom.net or (800) 697-7322

PDCA’s Excellence In CraftsmanshipForum… Mario Guertin   Guertin49@aol.com or (847) 612-5812