Path Forward

I flew to Chicago last Wednesday for our T3 Divison's yearly business meeting.  We coordinated flights so that several of us (4 total) could share a rental car.  It was pretty late by the time we got in the neighborhood of our office and hotel and stomachs were growling, so we stopped off at this little cowboy bar...no, wait, that's a Lyle Lovett song.  We stopped at Braxton's and had some excellent fresh seafood, then headed to the hotel.  To my surprise one of my high school cross country buddies was waiting for me at the hotel.  I had contacted him the week previous & wasn't sure if we were going to be able to play catch up since my schedule was tight, but it worked out nicely.

The hotel & office were right next to each other, so we didn't waste any time getting started.  Day 1 was full of presentations and we were given excellent information on many subjects.  Ram Ramanan, the T3 Regional Director opened up the meeting, then John Iwanski, the North Region Director gave a nice presentation on T3's Path Forward.  Rich Pandullo then gave a presentation on SEM (Sustainable Environmental Management). This is an up-and-coming topic that is getting hotter in the corporate world and an area in which Trinity can have a niche.

Several of the T3 core consultants then gave individual presentations on product/service line highlights:

• T3 Custom Solutions
• DIA - Data Integration & Averaging Application (middleware T3 developed that helps EMIS systems talk to PDH (Plant Data Historians)
• Essential Suite (one of the EMIS providers we partner with)
• GHG (Green House Gas) Reporting Using Technology

We had a great discussion on how to engage EC (Environmental Consulting) and BD (Business Development) to grow T3.  As new ECs, you will need to keep in mind when working with existing clients how T3's  product/service line can be pitched/sold to the client to assist the client meet their objectives and grow Trinity's work.  Almost all of T3's work comes from exisiting clients, so it is very important that EC and BD consultants understand what T3 does and be able to sell our services.

Next up was a presentation on Needs Assessments.  This is the preliminary step that analyzes the client's needs and helps them choose which EMIS (Envrionmental Management Information System) they want to implement based on a ranking system of their most important needs. 

The last presentation was on managing large projects - basically project management tips.  Whew!  That was the end of the first day!  We had about an hour and a half before dinner.  Ram had graciously invited us all to his home for dinner.  Our evening was full of tradtional Indian food which was delicious, pool, ping pong and Bollywood movies.  A good time was had by all.

Day 2 of the meeting was training on opsEnvironmental, another of our EMIS partners.  After a full day of that we headed back home (that's Kansas City for me in case I haven't mentioned before which office I'm in).  All in all it was a great business meeting, very informative and productive, and a great chance to interface with other consultants.  I think a lot of people now have a better understanding of what T3 does, our product line, and our capabilities.  A full page of 'To Do' items came out of the meeting which will help us as a group keep our momentum on the Path Forward.