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You’ve registered for an annual convention; now what? Whether this is your first convention or your tenth, it’s natural to feel a little overwhelmed. Which education sessions should you attend? Will you know anyone there? How to be efficient with your time? With so many options and opportunities, it’s easy …

Our company has a research and training committee. One of its responsibilities is to schedule instructors and develop material for seminars and webinars that are conducted internally and for outside organizations. In the past, most of the instruction was done by a small group of senior associates. We recently expanded …

Let us go down memory lane for a bit. I remember driving in my father’s 1962 Buick Skylark, his 1969 Volkswagen Beetle, and his 1974 Ford Country Squire Station Wagon (yes, it had the plastic wood-grain siding). The first car I drove was the station wagon. I looked so cool …

I have served on NFPA technical committees for over three decades. During that time, I much too often exhibited a lack of common sense in my efforts. To wit, I can be guilty of developing solutions and then searching for the problem. I call this the “what if” approach, and I …

We Must Teach Leadership Before We Expect Ownership If you spend enough time around fire sprinkler contractors, the conversation eventually turns to labor. Hiring, turnover, and the next generation dominate nearly every discussion. I’ve spent years trying to solve the same workforce challenge and assumed the answer was more opportunity, …

Editor’s Note: This article is a sponsored guest post from Winsupply, a Diamond Sponsor of AFSA45.  In the fire protection industry, project timelines wait for no one. When contractors are on the clock, they need fabricated pipe and critical supplies that are precise, reliable, and delivered exactly when promised. That …

This blog contains sponsored content. This month, we introduced Stella, ServiceTrade’s agentic workflows that end the operational drag that costs revenue for commercial field service teams by eliminating busywork, applying institutional knowledge instantly, and clearing the path to scalable growth. The response made one thing clear: people are ready to talk …

Buckley Honored With the 2026 Joe Heinrich Young Professional of the Year Award When the American Fire Sprinkler Association’s (AFSA) NextGen selected Mindy Buckley as its 2026 Joe Heinrich Young Professional of the Year, it recognized more than an emerging leader. It honored someone who has helped shape her family’s …

This blog contains sponsored content. Ferguson Fire & Fabrication is the leading independent distributor of fire protection material and the largest ISO certified fabrication provider in the country. Relationships are paramount to our business, so we’re there for our customers every step of the way with project management support from …

If there is one thing the NFPA standards development process proves year after year, it is that deadlines have a remarkable ability to inspire productivity. The public comment period has closed for the 2028 editions of NFPA 13, NFPA 13R, NFPA 13D, NFPA 20, NFPA 24, and NFPA 291, while …