Kim Swanson: 0:03

Welcome to AASHTO Resource Q&A. We're taking time to discuss construction materials, testing and inspection with people in the know. From exploring testing problems and solutions to laboratory best practices and quality management, we're covering topics important to you.

Brian Johnson: 0:19

Welcome to AASHTO Resource Q&A. I'm Brian Johnson.

Kim Swanson: 0:23

And I'm Kim Swanson, and we are here today with one of the last few episodes of Season 5, and we're talking about everyone's favorite event, the AASHTO Resource Technical Exchange.

Brian Johnson: 0:34

That's right. Today we are joined by Bob Lutz and Tracy Barnhart, our usual go-to guests when talking about the technical exchange, since they are our most significant direction setters and planners for the event. So welcome to the podcast, Bob.

Bob Lutz: 0:58

Thanks, Brian and Kim. I feel like we just did this. Has it been a year?

Kim Swanson: 1:05

It has. It has.

Brian Johnson: 1:08

Indeed it has. It has felt like very little time has gone by and somehow we managed to get another season of the podcast out and circle back to the next TechX Tracy. Welcome. Circle back to the next TechX Tracy welcome.

Tracy Barnhart: 1:26

Well, thank you, Brian, and thank you for referring to me as Miss Significant. I'm not sure the last time anyone ever said that to me except my husband, so thank you.

Kim Swanson: 1:36

That might be an actual dig at your boss, who is on this call. I'm just saying.

Brian Johnson: 1:41

Well, you certainly have provided a significant contribution and continue to do so. Related to the technical exchange, we are going to talk about some of the things that are different. One of the things that is certainly different between the AASHTO Resource Technical Exchange and just about every event I've ever gone to is that there is a lot of preparation for attendees. Most events I go to you get some information, but there certainly aren't podcasts or special events where you get to learn about how to make the most of the event. For a relatively short event that only draws about 300 people Actually, does anybody want to take a stab at, or does anybody want to guess less violently that, how many attendees we typically have for the technical exchange?

Tracy Barnhart: 2:46

I will take a stab at that. I think we had about 250 in Boston last year. Is that correct, Bob? That's what I recollect anyway, and the numbers are trending so far this year pretty close to that. So hopefully we'll get around that number, maybe more.

Bob Lutz: 3:03

Yeah, I'm sure we know the exact number somewhere so we probably don't have to guess, but somewhere between 250 and 260.

Brian Johnson: 3:12

Yeah, and there's plenty of time for people to sign up. So this is just to get you excited and get you to sign up. You may have not gotten the approval yet from your management, but time's a wasting. It is time to book those flights, make those hotel reservations, figure out what you're going to do to get there. This year, the event's going to be held in Bellevue, Washington.

Kim Swanson: 3:36

Before we get too far into this episode, I did want to point out that the technical exchange is going to be March 17th through the 20th, so I think we forgot to mention the date of that. We have the city, but there is the date, so you have time. As of the recording and release of this podcast, you should still have time to make all your plans to attend.

Brian Johnson: 3:58

So this is the first time we've gone to the Pacific Northwest for the technical exchange. It is our second time on the West Coast. The first time we were in the San Diego area and that was a great experience and it's really nice to get in touch with attendees who are in that region of the country. So what usually happens and I'm gonna just jump into the answer to my own question is the type of attendees that we get are typically your laboratory managers, supervisors, technicians and peripheral services around laboratory operations like calibration and certification and training programs, lims, which are laboratory information management systems organizations and all sorts of equipment manufacturers and sellers. But we tend to have a little bit of a local feel to our technical exchanges when we actually show up. I would say, tracy, what would you say if you had to say a percentage breakdown of local versus national attendees?

Tracy Barnhart: 5:20

Oh, wow. I would probably say 25%, 30%, local. Definitely we pick up. We're already noticing we're picking up a lot of people in Idaho, which is pretty, very close by, so that's great for those folks. But we're seeing some people from California and even Texas. I noticed today there were some people from Texas heading on up there. So yeah, I think it helps those people to cut down on expenses when we're in the area and maybe they don't have to fly across the country and pay for that.

Kim Swanson: 5:57

Yeah, and I will say we do get some international attendees as well, brian, so don't forget that. You were just saying local and national, so I don't want to forget about the people that travel internationally to come to this event.

Brian Johnson: 6:10

No offense to our Canadian friends, but I mean, you're practically right there.

Tracy Barnhart: 6:15

That's right.

Brian Johnson: 6:16

When you're in Washington state. That's very close. But yeah, technically that is international and we have actually some excellent and active participants from Canada that go to the technical exchange every year, including some speakers. So, yeah, we definitely do not want to bring any disrespect to our Canadian friends that come to TechX and support that event. Let's talk about the layout of this one we're doing things a little bit differently and support that event. Let's talk about the layout of this one. We're doing things a little bit differently. Bob, why don't you tell us about how this technical exchange is going to be structured, as opposed to what we've done in the past?

Bob Lutz: 6:54

Yeah. So we're going to do something different this year first time and, fingers crossed, I think it's going to go well. The major change that we made this year are making is that we have, like always, we have three concurrent sessions and three concurrent tracks, but this year they are defined a little bit better and differently. So track one, the first track, is content geared toward technicians and inspectors. Track two is geared towards lab managers and quality managers. Track three is geared towards managers, directors and leaders. Now, having said that, anybody can go to any session that they want, but we're hoping that this is going to provide a little bit better balance. No matter who you are, you're going to have a number of sessions that fit your current role. One of the bits of feedback we've received in the past is that, well, you seem a little heavy in this area and a little light in this area. So we went into this planning with okay, let's define the audience a little bit better and let's try and make sure we have enough sessions and good balance for everybody.

Brian Johnson: 8:12

Now, that type of structure seems like it would create some challenges as well, because there are some topics that kind of overlap among those different positions, lap among those different positions. Tracy, can you tell us about what somebody can expect?

Tracy Barnhart: 8:41

Do a little bit deeper, dive into the technician path. Sure, I'm taking a look at the agenda that we have at this moment For the technician track. We have laboratory tips and tricks, so things that we can share from our perspective and as well as attendees sharing with each other ways to make their lives easier in the laboratory setting. We have laboratory sampling practices setting. We have laboratory sampling practices I'm going to bring in a subject matter expert on that to go through how to properly obtain samples for testing in the laboratory. We have some common findings sessions where we're going to get into common findings that we note on AASHTO resource and sometimes CCRL assessment reports and why those things are common kind of digging a little bit deeper into those things. Not only these are the things that we see pretty regularly, but what is it about these things that? Why do they end up being findings? On reports, is the standard not clear? Is there a training issue that's not being communicated to the technical staff? So we have a lot of things like that planned for the technician track.

Kim Swanson: 9:55

I'm going to say as well, when we're talking about all these sessions, they're not just the same thing, right, we have a couple different. We have sessions labeled as a couple different things, and so we have a presentation, which may be what you are thinking mostly when you think of a session, but that's mostly lecture with some Q&A time at the end. But then we also have panel discussions and round tables and workshops. So there's variety, not only in the topics and who it's targeted for, but also in the types of sessions that we are offering this year.

Tracy Barnhart: 10:29

Yeah, that's absolutely true, kim. We've received a lot of feedback over the years since we've been doing this. In 2017 was our first year. People wanted more panels. The first time we did a panel or two, people loved that. The attendees were like give me more of that. So we've infused more and more panels over the course of the years and continue to get great feedback on that, and people also love the networking during the sessions. You're not, as Kim mentioned, you're not just sitting there listening to somebody talk the entire time. You're going to be actively participating. If you'd like to, you don't have to. You're welcome to actively participate in most, if not all, of these sessions, and we welcome that at the technical exchange.

Kim Swanson: 11:15

I think that's what really sets this event apart is the interaction and it is an exchange which I'm surprised Bob has not mentioned yet, but it is an exchange of information and we do want the attendee participation and I think from the feedback that we've gotten from years past is that sometimes people think that like just the interaction with other attendees is just like was valuable enough. Like just the interaction with other attendees was valuable enough In addition to the content that we have. That was just kind of a bonus. But they really got enough value out of it. Just meeting and interacting and networking and kind of just like sessions were a bonus.

Tracy Barnhart: 11:51

And I wanted to mention also that we get many repeat attendees at this event and it surprised us at first like, oh wow, they keep coming back and that's great. And when Bob and I are typically the ones preparing the agenda, we keep that in mind that we're going to have a lot of new people attending the technical exchange, but we're also going to have repeat attendees, so we're very careful about keeping the content fresh and at least again I'm looking at the draft agenda at least half of these sessions are brand new to the technical exchange this year, in 2025. Every year, based on feedback we've received from attendees. It's not like we're just pulling out the PowerPoint that we used in 2017 and here we're going to use this again in 2025. That is not how we operate. We often we just start from scratch, even on those topics that we repeat each year, to keep the content fresh.

Kim Swanson: 12:53

Yes, and especially since we're targeting in with the tracks, like so. Perhaps there was a topic that was more general last year because it wanted to cover everybody, but now, because it's assigned the technician track, it's going to talk a little bit more about how the technicians and inspectors can use this information or use that stuff. So I think everything has been revamped for a little bit of a deeper understanding of the subject, even if it is a repeat, like you said.

Bob Lutz: 13:25

Right, and even if it's a topic that we've covered before, you're probably going to hear a different and a fresh perspective just because of the people who were involved. It's not going to be the same exact people that got it last year or the year before and we also have a really interesting and different event or session pre-conference session on Monday afternoon that Tracy's doing. If you want to talk about that a little bit, Tracy.

Tracy Barnhart: 13:51

Sure, that session's an internal audit certificate course. We have always been covering internal audits in some way at the technical exchange and we asked for some feedback from attendees if they wanted a little bit more on that topic in a future event, referring to a certificate, where you're working in small groups and large groups. So I've been working on putting this session together. I'm actually going to do a run through with staff tomorrow. I'm excited about it, but this is a three-hour course that's going to take place on Monday afternoon with a lot of activities. I think I have 15 activities planned during that particular session, activities planned during that particular session and I hope that, if you're listening, this is something that you would want to come to and learn more about internal audits.

Tracy Barnhart: 14:52

If you're already doing internal audits, you will probably pick up a lot of tips and tricks that you can implement going forward in your internal audit process in your own facility. But we'll be writing nonconformities, we'll be going through audit scenarios. There's an audit skit to add some humor to it. We'll be identifying non-conformities, all kinds of things. So I'm really excited about it. Something brand new for the 2025 Technical Exchange.

Brian Johnson: 15:14

I'm excited about that too, because if there's one thing people need training on, it's internal audits, because I can tell, tell you, even among all the accredited laboratories, they really struggle to carry out effective internal audits, even when they're trying. And, yes, that does imply that some are not trying, it's true, sorry. Well, yeah, it's more than just checking.

Tracy Barnhart: 15:40

Well, yeah, it's more than just checking the box, right?

Brian Johnson: 15:42

Yeah, it's more than checking the box, Far far more than that.

Kim Swanson: 15:46

And that three-hour session is broken up into two parts, so don't think that you're just going to be sitting there doing activities for three hours straight. There are built-in breaks, so no worries about that.

Bob Lutz: 15:57

Yep you get bathroom breaks. Don't worry, In case you're listening and not watching this podcast. That last came from Brian Johnson.

Brian Johnson: 16:07

Yep, that was me.

Bob Lutz: 16:08

That was me.

Brian Johnson: 16:10

Thank you. Send all your hate mail to podcast at ashtoresourceorg. We would love to hear from you. Yep, love to hear from you. Please do resourceorg. We would love to hear from you. Yeah, love to hear from you, please do so. Tracy, I had you go down the one path with the technician. I think we should go down. Just a summary of the other two as well. Sure, let's take the middle one, the manager-supervisor track. What kind of sessions can people expect to see there?

Tracy Barnhart: 16:35

Sure On that one. We're going to dive into the accreditation program requirements. That'll be a good session for that. Best practices for lab managers effective corrective actions we're going to get into best QMS practices from ISO this is a new session for 2025, where we're going to go through some things that are in ISO standards 9001, 17.025, that are not in AASHTO R18, that managers and supervisors may want to consider implementing in their organization. So that's going to be a panel and quality manager best practices is on there too, and we'll have Benjamin Trujillo returning as a guest speaker for that particular session, and he always is very well received at the Technical Exchange and we're very glad to have him back again in 2025.

Kim Swanson: 17:33

He was also a guest on the podcast. So if you were like that episode then you can meet him in person at the Technical Exchange.

Tracy Barnhart: 17:42

That's right, and then, on the director's track, I'm taking a look at that. We have Michelle Wolf of the United States Geological Survey. She's going to do a session on risk management. We have a leadership panel this is new for 2025, recruiting, challenges and solutions solutions. So that's something a lot of people are struggling with, so come on and join us for that discussion. Another thing that's new for 2025 is effective communication techniques. We're actually going to have the communication manager communications manager from AASHTO in Washington DC give a presentation on communication techniques. I'm going to get into a strategic planning panel and the cost of poor quality. Another returning guest speaker, dennis DeVos, is going to give a session on the cost of poor quality.

Kim Swanson: 18:36

And I just wanted to note that the communication session is going to be done by Maggie, who is the director of communications and marketing at AASHTO. I didn't want you to demote her on that. She's the director, yes.

Tracy Barnhart: 18:51

Thank you for that. And then, bob, there's a couple, there's a session mental health awareness. Maybe you wanted to give a plug for that one.

Bob Lutz: 19:01

Yeah, so on Thursday we don't have the tracks anymore. We have two sessions in the morning, one on mental health awareness, and this has been done at a couple other AASHTO meetings and I'm just going to say it's been very, very powerful and you need to be there, so I hope we'll have good attendance. We're also going to have a time management panel. I think that's need to be there, so I hope we'll have good attendance. We're also going to have a time management panel. I think that's going to be a great topic.

Bob Lutz: 19:25

Everybody struggles with not having enough time and trying to get everything done in the time that you do have. So we're going to have a panel session there and Maggie Kasparsky, aashto's Director of Communications and Marketing, will also be on that panel First time for her being at TechX. So thanks, maggie, she's going to be great. You're going to love Maggie. Then we'll have one other session about common ASTM quality management non-conformities and then we'll have our closing session, where we have a general Q&A, give out some prizes, take your questions, take your suggestions and wrap it up.

Brian Johnson: 20:09

Now, one thing I was noticing as we were going through the summaries of the different tracks is there appear to be a lot of sessions that might even convey to other industries, of sessions that might even convey to other industries. Tracy, do you think there's any opportunities for people in that? And I'm especially thinking in that Seattle area that there probably are people from other companies that might be interested in hearing what goes on in another industry related to quality.

Tracy Barnhart: 20:39

Yeah, that's absolutely right. I had mentioned Michelle Wolf. She works for the federal government with the United States Geological Survey. She's not working in a testing laboratory, construction materials testing laboratory. She brings a fresh perspective to risk management, risk analysis. But that concept applies to all industries. So absolutely, that goes beyond the CMT industry. Same with Dennis DeVos. His background is in the automotive industry but he gave a presentation last year and related it to what he's experienced in the automotive industry. But again, that crosses over into our industry. A lot of those principles and practices. So absolutely, yeah, anyone. Lot of those principles and practices. So absolutely, yeah, anyone outside of this industry is most welcome to attend and they can come. You can even just come for a day to the technical exchange. There's a daily rate to attend instead of, you know, committing to the entire four days.

Bob Lutz: 21:36

Yeah, that's a good point, Tracy. We're also going to have Karen Dove from ANU, which is a local organization in the Seattle area, also talking about recruiting. So she'll be on that panel and she has nothing to do with our industry, but I know that she's going to provide a lot of great information that can apply to any industry. So I feel like we have a really well-rounded, diverse group of people that will be talking and presenting. So, brian, I think everybody from Microsoft and Costco and Boeing should show up to the technical exchange.

Brian Johnson: 22:15

It wouldn't hurt. It really wouldn't, because there are some lessons to be learned from every industry, and I know construction materials might not sound like the most that have been imparted by our. You know people in our industries and they're kind of interested in it and they say, wow, you know, I wouldn't have thought about it that way. You know, it stretches their brains a little bit. It gives them some different perspective. It might help them solve problems that they have that they're dealing with, because they always think about it the way that they've thought about it. We've even had people from aerospace backgrounds come in and say, why are you guys so focused on calibration of this insignificant thing? And I think, wow, well, maybe we're going a little bit too far. If the people in the aerospace industry think that it's where it's a little bit overkill, perhaps they are correct. So it's good for us to hear that stuff too.

Kim Swanson: 23:28

I also want to point out that if you are curious and you want to see the draft agenda that Tracy was talking about, you can go to ashtoresourceorg slash events and there's a link there to the registration site and the meeting site and I will put that in the show notes as well. But you get more than just all this great content that we are going over. We get more than the sessions. Yes, there are over 31 different sessions this year, including the pre-event workshops that Tracy is doing. I am doing one that's virtual on March 11th, about how to prepare for the technical exchange as an attendee. If this is your first time or if you're an introvert and a little nervous about going to a big event, this will definitely help. It'll be recorded for those who can't do it.

Tracy Barnhart: 24:17

But what else is included? I'll tell you, the thing that people I think love the most about this event are the networking opportunities, and we hear that over and over and over again on the feedback that people love talking to their peers about these topics and learning from each other, sharing best practices. That's what it's all about. That's why we called it a technical exchange. From the get-go, and every year you'll just see more and more of that networking.

Tracy Barnhart: 24:45

You can network within the sessions because, again, you're not just sitting there listening to a person talk the whole time. You're actually working with other people in groups at many of the sessions and there are tons of breaks in the mornings and afternoons. We purposely scheduled 30 minute breaks, so there is enough time to do some networking with people. Of course, you can sit with people at lunchtime and chat with them At that time. You can network with our sponsors that are exhibiting there at the technical exchange. We also have an off-site event. The planning is in the works for that and a lot of networking takes place there in a more casual setting. So I would say that that is one of the biggest draws of this event.

Kim Swanson: 25:31

And we can't forget about the icebreaker on Monday night that's right. Did you mention that I did not. So see okay, as I started to say it.

Tracy Barnhart: 25:39

I'm like, oh wait, you might have mentioned it, as I kind of half zoned out, since I already know what's included. And that's right. After that three-hour internal audit certificate course with Tracy, then you can go to the icebreaker reception and you know, let loose a little bit and break that ice. Yeah, that's right, break that ice. Somebody mentioned food. Break that ice. Yeah, that's right.

Bob Lutz: 26:01

Break that ice. Somebody mentioned food, so I'm going to jump in and mention food, because your registry covers all of those things that Tracy and Kim mentioned, but it also includes food. Let's see Breakfast on Tuesday, wednesday, thursday, Lunch on Tuesday and Wednesday, the breaks. We always have food at the afternoon breaks. We always have food at the afternoon breaks. We'll have food at the icebreaker reception. So all of that the offsite event on Wednesday night everything is included in your registration fee.

Kim Swanson: 26:35

And the event ends on noon on Thursday, so you actually do have time to travel back and get back home Thursday night. It's not a full day, so I do think some people do enjoy that of that. They're not having to then add another travel day after it, and that is why we also start the event on Monday, technically like Monday night, so people don't have to travel over the weekend All right.

Brian Johnson: 26:58

So we talked a little bit about the uh time of year that this is in and where it's going to be, and, uh, I'm going to talk about, uh, something kind of mundane related to that travel, but I want let's talk about, let's talk about packing. How do you pack for this trip? You need to have plenty of different situations covered, correct? Because we've got the sessions where you're sitting and you're in a more professional setting. You've got the evening events. How do you prepare yourself for such a trip?

Tracy Barnhart: 27:39

Right? Well, I would like to begin by saying I am in awe of Sonia Puderbaugh, who is the Laboratory Assessment Program Director here. She packs everything in her backpack. That is all she takes for a week-long event. I don't think I could ever do that. But yes, brian, I like options. Yes, I do. The four people three other people on the call here know that I have a little bit of an obsession with shoes, so I want to make sure that I'm packing many shoe options.

Tracy Barnhart: 28:32

But yes, the meeting rooms can tend to get a little bit chilly, so we do recommend that people bring something with long sleeves. It's probably going to be chilly outside as well, but all of you have probably been in meeting rooms, but then it could also get really hot in the rooms. It's hard to tell. It's always a balancing act with that, but the event in general is casual. There is no specific dress code. Be comfortable. If you want to dress business casual, that's great. If you are more comfortable in jeans and a T-shirt, that's awesome. We don't care, we just want to see you there. I just rhymed, which is really great, right.

Bob Lutz: 29:08

Yeah, but just be comfortable. Yeah, I would say most people are dressing, at least business casual.

Brian Johnson: 29:15

Right, yeah, I would agree with that and and and that's I. I know I asked the right person that question because you covered. You covered it all. Uh, because, because really my experience going to these conferences is you think it's going to be too cold, you drive, you bring a bunch of warm clothes, it's too hot, right, and sometimes you think it's going to be too hot, it's freezing, and you just can't, and sometimes it goes back and forth. So, just if you're not used to going to be too hot, it's freezing and sometimes it goes back and forth. So, just if you're not used to going to conferences, this is just the way it is and you have to be prepared for it.

Tracy Barnhart: 29:47

And, being in the Pacific Northwest, you may have heard that it sometimes rains in the Pacific Northwest, so there is probably pretty high likelihood that it's going to rain at some point during TechX week. Yes, we're going to be inside almost the entire time, but the off-site event is at a different location and I believe it's walkable from our hotel. So if you want to walk to the off-site event, you might want to bring a rain jacket or an umbrella or something like that just to cover your bases in the event of precipitation.

Brian Johnson: 30:19

Just to cover your bases in the event of precipitation. Yeah, and in the sessions, you know, typically you can just bring something to write with or your laptop or something. You know because typically like, if there's an activity, you're going to be provided with a worksheet or something, but have something to write with. You know, people usually have their mobile phones on them.

Tracy Barnhart: 30:38

Sometimes there are surveys that happen, so just be prepared for those kinds of activities as well absolutely, or visit one of our exhibitors and grab a free pen from them, because many of our exhibitors bring those types of things with them that's a good point.

Brian Johnson: 30:57

Let's talk about that for a second. We do have sponsors and I think we're still we're still, uh, accepting sponsors for this event. What we'd like to do is fill up our sponsors room, and usually a lot of activity is going on with the sponsors at our meeting. Bob, do you want to talk about that?

Bob Lutz: 31:17

Every year we have sponsors, vendors, exhibitors, and I think last year we had 22 or 23, and we'd like to hit that same number this year. We provide a lot of opportunities for the sponsors to meet the attendees, so we were very intentional about where we put the sponsors and the vendors. Where we schedule breaks, we try and get them as much traffic as possible. Last year in Boston was definitely our best year in terms of numbers, but I can remember seeing so many conversations going on during the breaks, a lot of really good conversations, a lot of good input, a lot of good exchanges.

Bob Lutz: 32:02

And the sponsors and the vendors they are a critical part to this because not only do they help us with the cost of the meeting but, more importantly, they are vital pieces to this industry, whether they're equipment manufacturers, standards producers, calibration agency, lims Gosh. Who am I? What type of vendor am I missing? I mean everybody really who is involved in this industry in one way or another generally is there. Great for them, but it's also great for the attendees as well. And, brian, I heard that perhaps there might be, since we're on a podcast right now, I heard there might be an actual recording of a podcast in Bellevue in March.

Brian Johnson: 32:56

There might be. Yeah, I have done this before at another meeting, but it was a NetPep meeting. But I think what we should do is conduct a few interviews during the week with attendees and then Kim can package it to kick off the next season of the podcast and we can have a little series about what's been going on with different activities. So it wouldn't necessarily be about the event. It would be more about what's going on. What kind of conversations are going on?

Kim Swanson: 33:29

And I would encourage anyone who's listening to this podcast to come up to Brian and say I heard your podcast and I love it, because I want to have a little friendly wager with him of how many times that's going to happen at the technical exchange. So I encourage you to do that, brian did not know. We were going to have that friendly little bet, but we are are.

Bob Lutz: 33:49

Are we doing an over under bet? Is that what we're? Yes, I haven't.

Kim Swanson: 33:52

Yes, we haven't set the parameters yet, but I'm just saying I don't know what the number is, but I'm leaning over. I'm more optimistic, I think, than brian is yeah, the number is 10 and well 9.5. You can't have that over under at an even number. You can't tie, so it has to be half half Nine point something.

Brian Johnson: 34:12

I think he might be less optimistic than I am with that, because I think we can beat that oh yeah, I think just out of spite. Somebody will beat that.

Bob Lutz: 34:23

The number can and will change right up to the mark.

Kim Swanson: 34:29

But, yes, go and bug Brian about the podcast, because I know he would love that, and bob too, because he's our boss. So tell uh, tell him how much you love listening to the podcast I love the podcast.

Kim Swanson: 34:43

I feel like we covered all of the bases for the gist of what the agenda is going to be like. All the fun, extra stuff, the why we've done it we haven't really talked on. I know we've talked about it in previous episodes and previous years, but I think, bob, why don't you go into a short little? Why do we even host a technical exchange? That is a lot of work for our staff, so why do we put this much effort into a four-day event?

Bob Lutz: 35:13

We do it because there's so much great information out there and this is a way to connect all the people on the great information so that everybody can learn together and improve together. In a nutshell, and we want to be part of that conversation, we want to be the conduit, we want to be that mechanism that brings all that together, and we have found that it has worked really well. So we will keep on doing it, keep on trying and keep on making it better, on making it better.

Bob Lutz: 35:53

Nobody mentioned feedback. There will be a number of opportunities to provide feedback, including in person and just letting us know. We really want to hear feedback, all of it, what you like, what you don't like, suggestions for the future If you'd like to be involved as a speaker or a panelist. All that we want to hear, and we'd love to have those conversations on site in Bellevue.

Tracy Barnhart: 36:14

I wanted to touch on something Kim mentioned the fun factor. I think people really do have a great time at the technical exchange. I know we do. People from Ashtray Resource that are attending it's a tremendous amount of work. Yes, you're absolutely right, Kim, but once we're there and everything's in place, we really enjoy being there and talking to our customers and answering questions and I think they really enjoy meeting us for the first time. They may have been a customer for 25, 30 years but have never met us in person, so they love the opportunity to get to talk to us. But you've been hearing the banter throughout this podcast and you'll find that at TechX, especially for the AASHTO resource-led sessions, they're light. The topics can be heavy, but we infuse some fun and we try not to keep everything super serious. There are a lot of things to learn, but you can learn and have fun at the same time, so I did want to put a plug in for that.

Kim Swanson: 37:12

You can find more information about the technical exchange at ashtoresourceorg. Slash events.

Brian Johnson: 37:18

All right Sounds good, so I hope this episode encourages you to come and join us in Bellevue, washington, on March 16th, 17th, 17th that's when I'm flying out with my giant luggage, with all my stuff.

Tracy Barnhart: 37:32

With all your shoes?

Brian Johnson: 37:33

Yes, with all my shoes and come help us join or come join us there to be part of the quality management system revolution in the construction materials industry, and the revolution will be podcasted.

Kim Swanson: 37:51

Thanks for listening to AASHTO Resource Q&A. If you'd like to be a guest or just submit a question, send us an email at podcast at AASHTOresourceorg, or call Brian at 240-436-4820. For other news and related content, check out AASHTO Resources social media accounts or go to aashtoresourceorg.