My second mistake at IBS: arriving on time for certain seminars doesn’t get it. In fact, it didn’t come close to getting me a seat. More than 880 people wanted to hear Shinn’s seminar, 25 Sure Ways to Improve Profitability. I did too. Even hung around a back door to sneak in when someone left early, but no one did. More than 80 people were standing in line hoping for the same thing. Most didn’t make it in.

When listening through the door didn’t work, I snagged a handout of what I hope Dr. Shinn (he has a PhD) was talking about inside. Number one on the list is Get Rid of Bad Deals. Number 3: Fall Out of Love With Your Houses. Other topics include Improve Purchasing, Maintain Construction Schedules (bullet point 2 is consistency before speed), and How Much Profit Can You Make? (You should be averaging 10-15%.)

Dr. Shinn (www.shinnconsulting.com) has some good ideas that I think I will follow up on later. He must be an efficient speaker to cover all the topics he had on his handout in one hour. He is a consultant and offers seminars around the country. Perhaps the big crowd was the result of builders seeking to increase their profitability by hearing the consultant at IBS for free.

I wandered briefly into the South hall, where I tested my skill at the Hilti wheel of swag. Spin the wheel and get a pencil, a tee shirt, a knife. I wanted the knife, and I spun right to it. After such good luck, I decided to pass on testing a Hilti (www.us.hilti.com) drill in a block of concrete. I’m sure it would have bored true. My knife is very sharp, and colorful.