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MONDAY MORNING MESSENGER

Message prepared especially for Members of the American Institute of Inspectors® as well as Home Inspectors abroad

January 24, 2000

GOOOOOD MORNING, A.I.I.™

It's a Great Morning here in Northern Utah. Have you ever received a present that was so awesome that you didn't even want to get dressed to leave the house and do an inspection??? Well, I just received one. I don't know where my lovely wife found it, but once I put it on, I don't even want to think about going outside into the cold Utah winter elements. What is the present you ask???........ It is the cuddliest, softest, warmest, bright red polar fleece housecoat. Did I mention that it is covered with black penguins??? It might sound like a strange present to be so thrilled about, but that is because you are not currently basking in its warmth. It is so long that even my calves are covered with warmth, and for some of you it would even be dragging on the ground...... I may never get dressed and do an inspection again! Or maybe this could be my new uniform...what do you think?? Is there a way to put my logo on it and come off looking professional?? I didn't think so. Oh well! I'm just gonna stay inside.

NOTE: I don't think it is possible for you to read today's MMM and not have a response. I encourage you to flood my e-mail box with responses.

INSPECTION 2000 ???

Last week I reported that many of the MMM readers would be enjoying the informational conference of the largest group of Home Inspectors ever gathered together in one place. Sponsored by CREIA/ASHI, it had over 1,100 Inspectors in attendance. It started last Monday which was also Martin Luther King Day. Instead of enjoying the 70 degree weather in San Diego, I opted to take the day off and snow ski with my kids here in Utah. For me it was a greater day than San Diego could offer because I was successful getting my third child to ski down the mountain by herself. That's right..... Haily (just turned 4) can now ski by herself including getting off the ski lift, turning and stopping at will.

Even though I was enjoying the wonderful Utah snow, I would be less than truthful if I told you that I wasn't thinking about San Diego. In fact, I was still holding out a hope of driving down to California to catch part of the proceedings and take Scott DeWitz up on his offer to bunk in his luxurious RV. That night I discussed my hopes with Shelly and it looked like an impossibility. She pointed out that it was 12 hours of driving each way and I needed to be back and ready to inspect by Thursday morning. At 9:30 pm it still didn't look like I was going to get to go, but at 11:00 pm Shelly booked a 6:30 am flight for the following morning (Tuesday). I was going to San Diego!

With 3 good hours of sleep I found myself on a Southwest airplane heading for sunny So Cal. Our biggest fear was that I would miss some income-producing business while away. You know the fear..... If I stayed home the phone would be dead the entire time, yet if I leave everybody will want my services. The truth is that we needed all available income possible. December was awful to our business and January has been so-so. My inspection schedule when I boarded the plane was blank, with no hint of business picking up. Shelly and I reviewed the stats of the previous Januarys and discovered that this past week is out biggest revenue producing week in the month and if I was to miss 3 days of it we might be hurting financially for the rest of the month.

As I was walking out of the San Diego airport with my luggage my cell phone rang. On the other end was an EIFS inspection client that said.... "Remember my wife and I? We scheduled an $825 EIFS inspection with you about a month ago, but our deal fell through and we canceled the inspection. Our deal is back on and we have to have the EIFS inspection today..... Can you do it or do we have to find somebody else!" This was my worst nightmare coming true. Not only was I missing an inspection, but it was an $825 inspection, and I had to think really fast. Still sounding confident (even though I was shattered inside) I said, "No." There was about 2 seconds of stunned silence on the other end of the phone when I continued..... "You see I am just walking out of the San Diego airport with my luggage heading to a huge Inspector's conference and I will not be back to Utah until late tomorrow night. If your deadline can wait until Thursday I can arrange my schedule and do it for you then. When I left Salt Lake City this morning it was pouring down rain so the evaluation could not be done today anyways, but I recall that the weatherman said that it would be sunny on Thursday and we would have to wait until then anyways." Mr. Smith was shocked at my refusal and explanation and pushed me for the name of somebody else that could come out and at least give him a visual evaluation of the EIFS on his future home. I was still confident as I responded, "Mr. Smith, there is nobody qualified in Utah right now because the great Inspectors are all right here in San Diego." Mr. Smith scheduled the EIFS evaluation with me and I caught my shuttle van to Inspection 2000.

INSPECTION 2000

Inspection 2000 is now in the books and it will go down as a great conference, There were a few glaring glitches that included high entry fees coupled with nickel and diming to death for food, snacks and drinks. The strong point was the amount of quality information shared. There was not a dead spot during the days that you weren't feeling like you were missing something else while you were currently enjoying the seminar at hand. There were at least 4 seminars going on simultaneously geared for candidates, advanced inspectors, marketers, and commercial inspectors.

I bumped into many old friends and so much information was shared in the halls, cantinas, and exhibit halls. The Vendors Area was packed with every major inspection-related company. ITA built an incredible sand castle home that was 5 ft 6 inches high and about 20 ft long. I took pictures to show my kids the wonder of the sand structure. On top of the sand home was a warning sign that read.... "WARNING: Not Built to Code."

3D INSPECTION BOOTH

As you probably guessed I spent a great deal of my time at the 3D Inspection System booth. For me, it was great to finally meet the 3D staff of which I had only known over the phone for the past 3 1/2 years. Darren, Tom, Jon, Mike, Donna, Chuck and Carl had their hands full of Inspectors who were wanting the details on their inspecting system. The focal point this year was the announcement of the CE palmtop inspecting machine. Talk about a buzz in the air. From the moment that I arrived it was non-stop CE palmtop questions from the 3D staff and Inspectors from all over North America. I especially enjoyed the talks with those from Canada and the East Coast, having never visited those areas.

SPECIAL NOTE: Here are some snapshots of the 3D staff as they looked in San Diego. I went for over 3 years without ever knowing what they looked like. The biggest shock was watching Carl perform his Kung-Fu moves on the other software vendors=:->

Carl Fowler
Chuck - Programmer
Jon - Sales

Donna - Tech

Mike - Network

Darren - Da Man

Tom - Tech

Kung-Fu Carl

My observations and experience with the CE platform was in big demand. I felt like I should have opened up a 3D CE Questions Booth. For $25 you could ask me any questions imaginable for 10 minutes. By the end of the conference I realized that every Home Inspector out there has the same CE questions and concerns.....

Does it really work?
Which machines should I consider?
What form sets will work on the CE?
What are the limitations?
Can I print from the unit?
Does it work well onsite?
How much is the 3D CE version?
When can I get my hands on it?

I received no negative feedback regarding the CE technology. New Inspectors and experienced Inspectors alike were all goo goo over the technology. The only Inspectors who were not totally thrilled over the technology were those who had already invested over $5,000 in micro technology mini pen-based units. These are the full windows 98 running mini computers. With the expensive mini machines, there are no compromises or limitation. With that luxury comes an incredibly high hardware expense. I have always felt that $5,000+ is unrealistic for 98% of the Home Inspectors out there. I always balked at the investment because it turns out that a $5,000 mini machine breaks just as easily as a $400 CE machine. Priced at over 10 to 1 difference, I have always envisioned the smaller, lighter CE as being the solution.

INSPECTION 2000 SOCIAL WISE

The socializing with the Inspectors at Inspection 2000 was great. There were small clusters and groups of Inspectors everywhere. Old friendships were being built upon and new friendships were created. It was quite interesting being around such a large group of people that all had the same goal. Regardless of our Trade Association affiliations, we all want the same thing--we want to be the best inspector and we want to prevent any lawsuits from our errors or omissions. Regardless of which country or state we operate our business in we all want to be successful. Over half of the participants of Inspection 2000 were faced with the shocking reality that those that are not computerized are quickly being left behind. Our marketplaces are becoming too sophisticated for pencils, check boxes and NCR forms.

There was never a reason to be alone at Inspection 2000. It didn't matter where you were, there was always somebody friendly to talk to. AII™ Inspectors spent a lot of time together and many of them made it out to dinner together. Those of you that are familiar with San Diego have probably visited Old Town. A group of us made our way there to enjoy the authentic Mexican food. We found the restaurant that was awarded "The Best Margarita in San Diego" and we watched Sylvan Stenge order a margarita the size of a hot tub. He dove inside, did the back stroke and drank it all gone. I shied away from the specialty drinks and opted for a lemonade and delicious beef chimichanga...... Mmm Mmm Good!

INTERACTIVE HIGHLIGHTS

Many of the past AII™ Presidents were at the conference. Dan Back, Jim Lucas, Steve Bradley, Jon Gudnason, myself and our current President Scott Merritt all discussed inspection and Association ideas.
Carl Turnbow stopped me to share that he reads the MMM each week and quite often thinks that I am stepping outside the Umbrella of Safety and am getting all wet. Carl went on to share how he has joined up with a co-op of Northern California Inspectors and quadrupled his business. In fact, I would urge some of the struggling Inspectors to talk to Carl and see how he is doing it.
Russ Colliau, AII™'s newest member wrangled me into his room and within an hour I had him completely set up and running with software and his own customized 3D form sets.
Scott Merritt, Scott DeWitz, Steve Bradley, Earle Alford, Sylvan Stenge, Russ Colliau and myself had a mini-AII™ gathering around the pool side to enjoy the sun, weather and talked about AII™.
Bill & Betty Ball were there manning the Home Inspector's Bible & Inspector's Field Notes booth. Betty was thrilled to see the AII™ friends as she manned the booth alone for the first couple of days. Bill shined in his best arena being in front of a crowd while he was inwardly struggling with the passing of one of his closest friends. Our prayers are with you, Bill, in this time of grieving.
Doug Treloar was present and accounted for and was excited about the event.
Glenn Strong also made contact with me, but we were never able to spend any time together. That is the drawback of super huge events..... The time just flies by too quickly and before you know it the event is over and you are traveling back to your own enterprises.
Earle Alford has decided to have his long-used handwritten form computerized.... (I'm working on it as quick as I can Earle).
Jon Gudnason was intrigued with the possibilities of the Forensic Inspections presentation. This is where the Inspector becomes the team leader for the diagnosis of major structural defects.
Dan Back was spending very little time in the Vendors Area because he already owns every gadget out there for the Inspection industry. He should offer to become the gadget guinea pig tester and get his new gadgets for free. His business is still thriving and he is doing well.
I'm sure that I am missing quite a few of you, but I didn't meet anybody who wasn't having an incredible time.

AII™ INSPECTOR HOTLINE

I'm sorry to announce that our AII™ Inspector Hotline is currently out of service and I'm not sure why. I should know that answer later on today and we are working on getting the system up and running again. I have been flooded with e-mails from the membership saying that they are unable to post anything to the Hotline. It should be an easy fix once I finally get a live technical support person on the phone, so please be patient.

FLIER TIPS

I received a call this week from an AII™ Inspector who has been in business for about a year. We were discussing advertising fliers and I asked him if he wouldn't send along a copy of his most recent flier. I told him that I would change the identifying information, post it to the MMM and then request feedback from the readership. The size of the flier has been reduced to save on the download time, but I would ask you to scrutinize the flier and offer you suggestions via e-mail so that they can be shared next week. The names, phone numbers and addresses have all been changed.

Click Here to download a full size PDF version of the flier. Please e-mail your feedback now!!!

CASSIOPEIA SPECIAL

One of the contacts that I have made regarding the 3D CE software turned me onto this internet online special......

http://www.staples.com/products/themes/special_offers/casio/E100/default.asp?sku=385973+++++++++

This came from Eugene Boswell in Georgia. Clicking on the link should take you to a special internet ad for the same CE machine that I use. The Casio E-100 is normally sold for $499 and is currently on sale for $399. Part of the reason for Eugene's urgency is due to the special offer from Microsoft for purchasers of Palmtop color CE machines. They are currently offering a $150 modem for the machine for $49. They also offer a $69 multimedia disk for free as well. This is only for the color machines and only for purchases made before January 31, 2000. I just received my modem and multi media disk and I will review them in the weeks to come..... Thanks, Eugene, for the hot tip on the CE deal.

FLYING LADDER

Last week's shared experience of my Little Giant Ladder flying off my rooftop on the freeway brought a lot of verbal feedback in both San Diego and over the phone. The feedback ranged from..... "You were so lucky not to have hurt anybody!" to "I was right there with you placing myself into your shoes. You had me laughing so hard at your experience that I had to get my wife to read the experience, too."