They flew in from across the country — from the warm western climes and from the snowbound east — to Scottsdale, Ariz., Feb. 26-28, asQuality Service Contractorsrolled into town for its Power Meeting XLII at the Chaparral Suites Resort. Rife with seminars and other activities, the event was characterized by organizers as “the best in a long while.”

Charlie Wallace, QSC vice president and COO, said this was due to a general optimism about the economy and the business climate — allowing people to be more at ease than they’ve been for a while.

“It’s a great time for people to get away and renew old acquaintances and make new friends,” Wallace said, noting there were 125 companies in attendance, an increase over the previous event held Sept. 9-12, 2014, in Nashville, Tenn.

Highlights of the Scottsdale event included an extensive afternoon tour of the 30,000–sq.-ft. headquarters of George Brazil Plumbing. Attendees were treated to lunch as well as stories and anecdotes about the company’s history, since its beginnings in 1955 to today, from Pat Langlin (Brazil) who served as the group’s hostess. In the shop areas, newly remodeled service trucks were available for inspection as a part of a tour of the facility’s warehouse area by warehouse manager Michael Norvise.

The following day started with a continental breakfast co-sponsored by Plumbing & Mechanical and its sister publication Reeves Journal. Keynote speaker and New York Times’ best-selling author of “The Power of Consistency,” Weldon Long, told his prison-to-prosperity story in his address — “Breaking Through to the Other Side of Adversity: How to Prosper and Grow your Business in the Face of any Challenge” — noting a little bit of effort can “go a long way toward profitability.”

Following up on the program was, “The Five Keys to Creating a Dynamic Culture,” presented by Joelle Hadley, president of the Culture Coaches, a Phoenix-based management consulting firm, who suggested that treating employees in the same way you treat your primary customer can have benefits to the bottom line.

In addition to tabletop displays, other seminars included a financial management and budget class instructed by QSC business coaches Beth Dobkin and Les Hanks and an industry partner roundtable, a three-hour event in which participants rotated among tables of QSC members explaining their products and services.

Power Meeting XLIII is set for July 23-25, 2015, in Minneapolis. Following that the event moves to Daytona Beach, Fla., for Power Meeting XLIV March 17-19, 2016. Visit http://www.qsc-phcc.org for more information on the upcoming events and other QSC initiatives.