Swimming Pool Steve 2018 Industry Leadership Award
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2018 has been a wild ride so far with a huge increase in the popularity of my www.SwimmingPoolSteve.com website. I continue to enjoy creating content and tutorials for pools and spas, and helping establish a technical standard and point of reference for both pool owners as well as pool industry professionals. The swimming pool season has come to an end for most of North America, and so too has the Pleatco Perfect Pool Guy & Gal contest, with the winners Dick Abare, and Andrea Nannini, both from Florida, taking top honors. Congratulations to these two, and a big thank you to Pleatco and Genesis for sponsoring and conducting this exciting contest. For more information about this contest you can view the official winners announcement page here.
In participating in this contest I received a huge amount of support from friends and family, but also from readers of my blog, and other industry professionals. I am genuinely appreciative of the love and support that was shown and overwhelmed by the positive responses, reviews and nominations that I received from (literally) around the world! Well, guess what...
I have some great news - I WON!
While I may have missed out on the award of being the 2018 Perfect Pool Guy, I have been awarded the 2018 Industry Leadership Award...and to be honest, this feels like a better fit. I am far too flawed to comfortably call myself a "perfect pool guy" but I can say with absolute certainty that I am working to change this industry for the better. In this way I feel that being recognized as an industry leader is a role I am ready and willing to fill and a torch that I am proud to carry. It is serendipitous how this contest has worked out one might say.
So what did you win? - Just the facts ma'am. Aside from the rather prestigious industry leadership title I have received a trip to Las Vegas for the 2018 Swimming Pool, Spa & Patio Expo at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. This is being generously provided by the Pleatco family, and the awards ceremony will take place November 1, 2018 at the Pleatco booth (#3137).
2018 Perfect Pool Gal - Andrea Nannini
2018 Perfect Pool Guy - Dick Abare
2018 Industry Leadership Award - Steve Goodale (that's me!)
2018 Big Heart Award - Chris Richards
2018 Community Leader Award - Eric Honeyman
2018 Customer Service Award - Libby McKennon
2018 Future Leadership Award - Lamar Jeantinoble
Again, thank you to Pleatco and Genesis for taking the time to create and host such a contest. They could easily spend their marketing dollars on Google AdWords ads, or by schmoozing the right CEO out on a golf course somewhere, but instead choose to draw awareness to their brand by highlighting some of the people who are active in this industry. This is a fun, smart and rewarding way to increase engagement from people, and give pool industry workers the opportunity to shine, all while promoting your own brand in a positive way. I know that Andrea was absolutely beaming when it was announced that she won. Just think of how much happiness this has brought to her, (and Dick) as well as myself and all of the other winners this year, not to mention that the name Pleatco has been mentioned online about a brazillion times during the past few weeks. This truly is a win-win experience for everybody involved and I am very proud to have been included in this group.
New Swimming Pool Rules - Effective Immediately!
Now that I have been given the Industry Leadership Award things are going to change around here. As the official leader of the pool and spa industry it is about time that we start fixing some of the problems that have been hanging around over our heads for too long. It is now my responsibility to steer this ship and as the new Captain I have some official decrees to lay on you. All of these new rules come into effect immediately.
No More Pool Parties
Go ahead and start scripting up some letters to your customer lists. Effective immediately there will be NO MORE POOL PARTIES. Any customer found referencing an approaching pool party date is to have their pool drained. No longer will pool service workers be a slave to your get-togethers. No more will we toil well into the darkness on a Friday night to prepare your pool for a Saturday engagement. Pool parties are canceled. Your daughters wedding reception will have to be held elsewhere, and little Timmy doesn't deserve a party this year anyway. We tried to be nice to you pool owners but you kept pushing and pushing...well fine. Now look what you have done. What did you learn?
Pools Are To Be Cleaned Tuesday & Thursday ONLY
You know what is not fun? Working every day, all day, from before dawn until after dark, sometimes seven days per week. By the power vested in me by Pleatco, and the Industry Leadership Award, I officially declare that all pools may be cleaned on Tuesday and Thursday only. If a wayward leaf should find its way into your swimming pool on a Friday, simply retreat to your bomb shelter until next Tuesday when your service technician will make their regular maintenance rounds and remove the offending debris and ensure satisfactory sanitizing of the water. If you do not like swimming in cloudy, green water, then learn how to dunk a test strip and knock over a jug of chlorine into your pool...or even just begin enforcing the shower-before-entering policy that all pools are supposed to have.
Raises For Everyone!
You all work way too hard. You deserve a raise. Go ahead and inform your boss that you are worth more money and they will be giving you a raise. Self employed people consider actually paying yourself something for a change. And no BS fifty cent raises either - real raises of multiple dollars...don't make me go all Eddie Griswold on you.
New Water Sample Protocol
Effective immediately, any time a pool owner presents with a water quality problem, but instead of numerical water chemistry values, they tell you that "everything is fine", they must drink a glass of the filthy pool water. Everything is not fine, or you would not have a problem with your water quality, but you do...and to teach you the importance of testing and recording the actual number values for your water chemistry, you must drink a whole glass of your dirty pool water. Yeah, you might get sick. I mean you wouldn't if you had chlorine in your water but since you can't tell me your water chemistry values, who knows? Could be anything going on in there. Drink up!
No More Leak Detection
Leak detection is hard and thankless work. It is challenging to find leaks and no pool owners like paying for leak detection and repair services. Even once you find the leak you still need to dig holes and tunnel underneath concrete decks in order to physically locate the leak...and that is when the fun part begins of trying to glue two pieces of immovable pipe together using slip connection pipe, all while upside down and twisted around backwards in a hole under the pool deck. For this reason there will be no more leak detection services offered in the pool industry. From now on any time a customer tells you that they think they have a leak in their pool, you simply reply "yeah, probably".
Everybody Gets One
You know how any time a piece of pool equipment breaks you end up getting blamed since you were the last one to touch it, and it had been working fine until you changed the settings? Well, as the newly crowned Pool Industry Leader I am allowing everyone to choose one special customer to go ahead and break their stuff. Everyone gets one freebie so be sure to make it count. Maybe wipe out that ancient pump that takes you forever to prime, or "accidentally" break a decrepit valve that you cut your hand on every time you turn the handle...We will all cover for you if the cops come snooping around asking questions.
All jokes aside, it is an honor to be chosen for the 2018 Industry Leadership award and I appreciate all of the people who took time out of their busy lives to participate, nominate, and vote in this contest. I am looking forward to meeting many of you in Las Vegas this year at the annual Pool, Spa & Patio show. I will do my best to get around and see everyone at the show, but please feel free to reach out to me to schedule a meeting if you have something in particular in mind that you would like to discuss in person. If possible please come by booth 3137 at 1:00pm on Thursday November 1st to meet the award winners, myself included, and to see the awards ceremony. See you soon!
More funny articles from Steve:
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Customer profiles you will encounter while working in the pool industry
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Famous people who could have been great pool builders
Celebrities who would be terrible at maintaining their own pools
Common mistakes that pool owners tend to make
Swimming pool myth VS. facts
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Have a question - ask Steve
Swimming Pool Steve is an award winning, second generation swimming pool and spa specialist from Ontario Canada. With over 10,000,000 views on the Swimming Pool Steve YouTube Channel, winner of the 2018 Pool & Spa Industry Leadership award and author of hundreds of pool and spa articles both online and in print Steve is committed to helping pool and spa owners as well as pool and spa industry workers learn more about the technical side of building, renovating, repairing and maintaining all types of swimming pools and spas. Follow Swimming Pool Steve on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
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