Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108 Page 109 Page 110 Page 111 Page 112 Page 113 Page 114 Page 115 Page 116 Page 117 Page 118 Page 119 Page 120 Page 121 Page 122 Page 123 Page 124 Page 125 Page 126 Page 127 Page 128 Page 129 Page 130 Page 131 Page 132As president of the NTCA it is very gratifying to see our membership grow to almost 1,300 members – in fact it is amazing! The NTCA is the best investment I have made in my business, and I hope most of you feel that way as well. One question I would like to pose to our contractor members is: “What would it take to get more of you to attend our annual meeting at Total Solutions Plus (TSP)?” We do not get a lot of attendance from our mem- bers. We have constantly sent out surveys and asked questions at other tradeshows trying to get more partici- pation for this conference. In the past we have waived the registration fee, given product away and advertised in different media, trying to reach our contractor members. These have not worked very well. Our goal is to have 15-20% of our contractor members attend TSP. This would mean 150-200 contractors. Some of the most common answers I get from contractors who do not attend are cost and timing. In terms of cost, a lot of members think that the registration, hotel and traveling expenses are too costly. And members have also told me the time of year is bad; that earlier or later is better for them. Some contractors have told me that Coverings is a better fit. These reasons and more are all understandable, but I would like to address some of them and give rea- sons why you should at least try to attend TSP one time. • The educational and leadership opportunities are second to none as pertains to tile contractors. The educational tracks are designed around the tile contracting trade, and address everything from deal- ing with distributors to document- ing issues on job sites. • Networking with the leaders from the distributors and manufactur- ers of products tile contractors use every day.You get to meet the CEOs and presidents of these compa- nies in a setting that is a lot more intimate than huge trade shows. Receptions and parties are designed that enable you to talk one-on-one with these leaders. You can make contact with them and get a heads- up on new products, and try them before they are introduced to the public. You can even share your thoughts on their products. • The time of year question is inter- esting. TSP is planned out 12-18 months in advance and we try to distribute the conference in an East, Central, West fashion to hit all PRESIDENT’S LETTER James Woelfel 18 TileLetter | October 2016