2011 UULLA Atlanta
Spring Training & Expo Report

The Underground Utility & Leak Locators Association Board of Directors wishes to extend its appreciation to all who attended the recent UULLA Training Conference in Kennesaw, Georgia. We want to extend an early invitation to next year's conference to those who attended and to those who could not attend. It was definitely one of our better conferences, not to be missed. The personal suites provided at a reduced rate by Homewood Suites in Kennesaw were luxurious as were the conference room arrangements.

Our “Classroom” morning sessions over the two days proceeded as follows: First, John Wainscott of Wainscott Leak Detection in Indianapolis presented an interesting session on the intricacies of pool leak detection. His experiences with pool leaks in Indy and in Florida pointed out the geographical nuances to locating pool leaks. Much interest was generated by his presentation. Next, Phillip Chafin of Thalo Creative demonstrated his knowledge and expertise in marketing for our businesses through website development and sustained monitoring and management. In each of his two day morning sessions, he provided workbooks, brochures and an audio video presentation illustrating what he can provide to UULLA members to grow their customer base. Later, Jim Vild of Ridge Tool Company, representing RIDGID, demonstrated tools and equipment of interest to the engineering firms, plumbers, and utility and leak locators of our group. His knowledge of his products and his interest in our processes was apparent as he presented his wares and outlined the use of each. Last but not least was Randy Agnetti of Clear View Equipment Company. Randy who has experience in the underground utility and leak locating business as the former owner of Pipe Pros in California, and now as Clear View was next to present. He reps tools and equipment for the underground industry in which he still works. His hands on knowledge and experience was evident as he exhibited his products to the group.

The weatherman cooperated the entire weekend event, and the American Coach chartered bus provided excellent transportation to the actual work sites for “field” training. Brad Hartrick of Aquarius Leak Detection in Marietta secured a pool with an obvious leak on Friday afternoon. Jay Middleton, of One Vision Utility Services, was able to get the group onto the Georgia Tech campus for utility and line locating venues. Both Randy, with Clearview, and Jim, with Ridge Tool, allowed UULLA members to get their hands on tools and equipment at the two sites. Ground penetrating radar, sewer and pool line cameras, utility line and camera sonde locators, and much more was available for demonstration in actual jobsite situations.

Enough said about classrooms and work, now on to food and fellowship. Free breakfast in the hotel lobby was available, as well as coffee, juice, sodas and pastries in the conference room both days. Friday, on the way to the pool, UULLA provided lunch at Barbeque Street Restaurant in Kennesaw. Friday evening, dinner and drinks, along with complimentary back rubs, was provided at Mary Mac's Tea Room in Atlanta. Saturday, on the way to Georgia Tech, lunch and drinks was at Manuel's Tavern also in Atlanta. Food and drink was plentiful, as well as fellowship and camaraderie. Anytime there was a pause in a scheduled session, energetic conversations would erupt in groups around the room, in the restaurants and at the field sites. It could be often heard: “This happened to me.” “ I need one of those.” “Try this, it works for me.” “ How do you do that?” “Don't buy that piece of equipment”. This is what UULLA is all about: Networking, Sharing, Helping Mentoring, Learning. We are a small family type group of various related underground utility and leak businesses. Don't miss the many opportunities to give and receive that are available to you in UULLA. Check out the photo gallery on the UULLA website (UULLA.org) which will shortly be posted. Again, many thanks from the UULLA Board.

See you in Some Town, USA. at next year's conference, soon to be announced.

UULLA Board of Directors
c/o C&C Leak Detection Inc
69401 16th Section Road, Pearl River LA 70452
uullaboard@gmail.com 985-863-0076

2010 UULLA Indianapolis
Spring Training and Expo Report

The Board of Directors of the UULLA would like to say thanks to all the members who traveled up to Indianapolis, Indiana to attend the 2010 Spring Training and Expo. To the rest of you we want to say we really want to see you next year for a great weekend of learning, training and fun. After discussing all that we did it was stated over and over that the most valuable learning and practical knowledge came from the personal one on one interactions of all the members as we talked about our real life experiences and discussed our war stories, failures and successes in the field. This type of exchange is invaluable to help us all be more successful in the future.

After all was said and done we ended up with about 30 participants from all over the United States. We had a varied mix that ranged from California to Vermont, and of course the Midwest. It was very special to see a lot of new attendees such as Mark Poske from Michigan, Richard Mulvaney from Vermont , Marty Nichols, Jim Bryant from Blood Hound and Bill Achenbach, Brent Smith, Doug Dillon, Travis Dunn from Thermo–Scan Indianapolis. John Wainscott from Speedway Indianapolis put together a wonderful training program at the Brickyard 500 track and a very unusual leak at a combination concrete and vinyl pool at a very upscale neighborhood outside of town. This was very interesting for those of us who have never dealt with a pool that shuts down for the winter. It was a unique opportunity to see how they have to deal with problems that don 't affect places like Southern California or Louisiana.

Some of the topics we discussed were leasing programs for new equipment, a very powerful Power Point presentation on pool leaks and several types of new video inspection cameras for lines as small as inch-and-a-half all the way up to 12-inch in diameter, and traceable rodders. We did a Ground Penetrating Radar project and scanning for post tension cables and rebar lines in concrete. We gained a lot by watching and listening to the crew from Thermo–Scan discuss UltraProbe techniques with Don from California; listening to John Wainscott discuss pool leaks with Daniel Greiner and Tony Guervara from Sarasota, and not to mention Reg Dominy’s (GA) discussion on pricing incentives with Alonzo Scott from Upland, California was absolutely priceless. As we were performing our training at the Brickyard they were practicing trial runs for NASCAR and the Petty Race Experience was going on, where you pay a fee to learn how to drive race cars with a professional driver. We enjoyed several great meals including dinner at McCormick’s and Scmicks where we were all treated to the local fresh fish and steaks in a very beautifully decorated glass and wood paneled dining room. We also went to lunch on Friday and Saturday at two unique lunch spots that have been around for many years. Check out the photo gallery from the entire weekend here!

So see you all next year!

Sincerely,
The UULLA Board of Directors

New Orleans Spring Training & expo
April 17-18, 2009

Great music, delicious food, exceptional training and just a whole lot of fun was the premise of this year's spring training and expo.

With over 30 attendees, great speakers and two days of in the field training we were cruising around the best spots in New Orleans.

We started out with a very informative speaker Nathan Bennett from Summit Financial, discussing exit strategies for your businesses, and gave away some very informative books to take home and learn more from. We then went to Tulane Medical Center and performed a wide array of procedures like utility locating, ground penetrating radar, video Inspection and we were even able to go into the their magnificent mechanical room and listen to the engines and motors to determine the stability of the bearings to detect wear and tear.

On Saturday we went to a huge community pool with huge problems and with all the help and ideas we certainly helped the center realize a course of action to decrease their water loss. If that wasn't enough after lunch our own Board Member Reg Dominy gave a great presentation on all types of marketing to improve your business sales and profits.

Did I mention the food? We were blessed with three fabulous restaurants, Tony Angelo's which sits right on the edge of Lake Pontchartrain with some of the best combination of seafood and Italian cuisine I have ever tasted. We also visited two great lunch places, one was Mandeni's and the other was R&O in Metarrie right on the lake. These two local establishments served some of the best Cajun Gumbo and crawdads you will ever consume, and we did consume a lot.

There is nothing better than having a unique group like ours taking the night off and strolling down Bourbon Street in the middle of the Jazz festival, watching the world go by, having a special night out. As we walked up and down Bourbon Street we would see little pockets of attendees in and amongst the hundreds of revelers enjoying the wonderful night life.

It is always nice to see new faces and I would like to say thanks to the new faces that came to the Expo. Daniel Greiner and Paul Trill from ECO Excavating Sarasota Florida, Brad Hartwick Aquarius Leak Detection Marietta Georgia, Randall Chard Pipe Pros Inc. Concord California and Donald Daniels Georgia Leak Detection Atlanta Georgia.

Please enjoy the photo gallery here. We are looking for a venue to hold the 2010 Spring Training and Expo if you have any ideas on speakers, training or location please call me at 925-305-4921 or E-mail me at ragnetti@cfl.rr.com. Randy Agnetti

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The 2008 UULLA Spring Training and Expo on April 25th and 26th was a great success! We had over 40 participants in Old Town San Diego and of course the Southern California weather was spectacular!

John Voigt from Accutech Services did a great job of coordinating the events and Eric Hingley from Subsurface Alert was able to arrange the use of the Fire Station on Coronado Island where he works for Friday’s in field training. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Fire Fighters of the Coronado Fire Department for their hospitality and the use of their facilities for some of our training demonstrations.

We had reps from Spartan Tool, Utility Insight, Ionic Locating, Geophysical Survey System and Metroplex performing all types of training, which included Ground Penetrating Radar, Ground Fault Locating, Locating non metallic Fire Lines, Video Inspecting sewer laterals and locating non metallic domestic water lines.

On Friday night we all went to the San Diego Yacht Club and enjoyed an evening of dinner and socializing. It was a captivating sight with the beautiful sunset over the San Diego harbor and the skies turning that crimson reddish pink to close out our event. We look forward to seeing everyone at next year's event!

Sincerely,
Randy Agnetti and the entire Board of Directors of UULLA

Click Here for a gallery of images from the 2008 event!

UULLA 2007 Spring Expo and Seminar

Congratulations to Mike and Rosan Grecu, our hosts for the 2007 UULLA Spring Expo and Seminar!

On April 27 and 28, over 35 business owners, technicians and vendors descended on the small community of Columbia, South Carolina for a two day gathering of education, food, fun and networking. Mike Grecu, Rosan Grecu, and Tom Tefft did a great job of coordinating a superb meeting place, projects to work on and culinary experiences for us all to enjoy. Throughout the seminar, we were blessed with great weather and a variety of unique projects in the field to test our skills.

We had a diverse group of excellent speakers including:

• Frank Cannon from Federated Insurance who discussed Succession Planning.
• Mike Parilac from Underground Focus, one of the most respected magazines in our field, who talked about the future of the utility industry.
• Keith Beaudry from the American Red Cross who provided a good refresher on safety.

Our vendors also provided valuable information. Special thanks go to James Sneed from Pulsar, Jurgen Franz from WAS Eco, and Howard Heldreth from Spartan Tool. It was great to see members from all over the United States as well as Jurgen Franz who flew in from Germany. We all enjoyed great interaction in both our discussions and in our field work. What is always present, no matter where we hold these seminars, is the absolute passion all the participants have for their profession.

For those of you who missed this year's seminar, on Friday night we all went to a wonderful restaurant called Hennessey's and were treated to some of the finest southern cooking you could imagine. The food and service were spectacular and the restaurant was beautiful inside with the old antique wood walls and columns almost a hundred years old. One of the highlights of the program was Saturday's round table discussion among all of the attendees. Bob Baamonde put together a game of pennies that rewarded the best participant of the round table discussion to a great prize. The winner was Chris Walker from The Leak Doctor located in Orlando, Florida.

Although the Expo is only two days long, you get a sense of the camaraderie among all of the participants. There were numerous opportunities to get to know each other better so that by the time the seminar ended on Saturday, you felt like you had made great friends who you could call anytime when you need help in any area of expertise in our field.

We want to thank all the participants of this year's Seminar and Expo and would like to get feedback from everyone throughout the year to improve the organization.

Randy Agnetti
Board Member UULLA

SEE YOU NEXT YEAR, SURPRISE COMING!!!

Click Here for a gallery of images from the 2007 event!

UULLA 2006 Annual Conference

The UULLA conducted it's 2006 Annual Conference meeting in Concord, CA. Click here to see a slide show of the 2006 Spring Training & Expo in a new Browser window!

UULLA 2005 Annual Conference

The UULLA conducted it's 2005 Annual Conference meeting in Tampa, Florida. Click here to see a slide show of the 2005 Conference in a new Browser window.

UULLA 2004 Annual Conference

The UULLA conducted it's annual meeting in Dallas, Texas on April 23st and 24th. Click here to see a slide show of the 2004 Spring Conference in a new Browser window.

UULLA 2003 Annual Conference

The UULLA conducted it's annual meeting in Atlanta, Georgia on March 21st and 22nd.

Testimonials for the 2003 Annual Conference;

G. Cross of Cross Plumbing Co & Leak Detection Service writes;

"Just wanted to let you guys know what a great time I had at the convention in Atlanta. This was my first convention and I immediately felt right at home. The members were all willing to share their knowledge and experience and I was able to absorb some of the abundant information shared about equipment, techniques, tricks of the trade and even marketing and sales tips.

I was able to learn 'hands on' about equipment and other areas of leak detecting that I didn't know existed until the field trip that we made on Saturday. The sales presentations from the equipment vendors were informative and I've added a couple of items to my wish list.

I'm still bragging about the meals we had, especially the southern cooking at Merry Macs Tea Room. It was great."

Marc West of West Enterprises of S.C., Inc. writes;

"The annual UULLA conference held March 20-22nd in Marietta, GA was a wealth of talent representing every facet of underground utility locating and leak detection. Collectively there was an immeasurable amount of experience and talent, all brought together in a hands-on, practical application. We spent three dynamic days sharing ideas and practicing cross-training techniques in problem solving with emphasis on field application.

We heard from users of a variety of equipment and the pros and cons of each. We all left the conference looking forward to the next. I have never attended a more uplifting and motivational seminar. It was absolutely invaluable for both existing and prospective members. A MUST ATTEND for future conferences.

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