Last week I attended and participated in two very interesting and important events that gave me a flavor of what's to come relative to installation, education and information.

The first was an INSTALL symposium in New York City. The purpose was to attract architects, designers, facilities managers and others influential in specifying flooring and installation to an event that provides them training programs with CEU credits along with a mini-trade show and installation demonstrations. The next symposium is Dec. 4 in Cleveland.

What's so unique about these INSTALL events is they have a distinct value for all who attend. Attendees get education and credit that goes toward retaining their certification. They actually learn something, they get to see installation of products they specify in action, and they get to see flooring products from suppliers they use and some they may not have known about.

These symposiums were the brain child of John McGrath, INSTALL's director, and there are at least five more planned for 2009, so far in New Jersey, Massachusetts and Michigan.

More unique is manufacturers who sign a resolution with INSTALL to endorse certified and trained installers- what mill wouldn't want its products installed the way it says it should be?- can exhibit at these symposiums for free.

The New York event had nearly 200 attendees. I saw the East Coast vice president of sales for one of the major mills, and he was overwhelmed by the program and the fact he got at least six solid leads from architects he had never worked with before.

The second event was the annual fall meeting of Starnet. Its members are the cream-of-the-crop and the biggest of the big in commercial flooring contractors. If there is a big league in the industry Starnet is it.

This meeting also centered on education and information with a variety of topics, two of which I gave back-to-back - "Challenging Installation Problems" and "How They Were Solved."

Even though the commercial business is still fairly strong, it is showing signs of weakness, and there isn't as much work in the pipeline. However, that being said many contractors are having an excellent year. One we just worked with is booked until 2010.

Not all is bleak but this is not the point of this column. Even with all the bad news and the fact the economy is slowing you have to invest in your business, and one of the least expensive ways is education and training from wherever you can get it. Now is the time to be making yourself, your employees and your business better and, in fact, making it the best it can be.

Don't be oblivious to the obvious. Ask yourself again, as Peter F. Drucker stated in "Tasks, Responsibilities and Practices," "What business am I in and who are my customers?"

After you've got the answer you have to determine how best to address the business and the customer. In the case of the INSTALL symposium, for example, this is easy as every manufacturer should sign the resolution and start benefitting from exposure to new business sources- and it's free.

Someone else is spending the money to help your business. You have to be nuts not to take advantage of this. As for education and training, get it wherever you can for whatever your business needs.

The economy will adjust after the shock of our greed settles, but there will be business. Solutions will come from the same place the problems did- the consumer and the marketplace; be ready by being better than you are now.