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Industry News
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Video Gallery
 Check out the videos featured in the Pool & Spa News Video Gallery. The videos showcase the latest products and equipment, as well as in-the-field demonstrations.
Latest video: See how to retrofit a spa drain to become compliant with the VGB Safety Act.
• Watch Videos...
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Service Tip
Working with Adhesives
For new techs or anyone who supervises new techs, pneumonic devices can help make the job a little easier, especially when it comes to replumbing. Whether changing out a filter or installing an SVRS, you’ll need to correctly apply adhesives. To remember which adhesive goes with each insert, just remember two letters: T and S. Teflon goes with threaded inserts and silicone goes on smooth. It’s an easy way to make sure your fittings stay tight and leak-free.
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Top 50 Buzz
 What new initiative are you working on?
When we sell a project, we have a technician take GPS measurements of the yard, so we create a pretty accurate layout of the entire lot. We also take a complete set of pictures so we know what access looks like, and how the backyard looks from each point of view. That’s cut our travel to the site significantly.
How does it work?
We use a piece of surveying equipment that takes its information from satellites. When we talk about GPS in cars, we only know where you are within about 15- or 16 feet. But if we use two reference stations in the yard, we can measure quite accurately.
So we can go around the yard with what looks like a magic wand — it’s a receiver on top of a pole. You set it on a spot, click a button, set it on a spot, click a button, and it makes a map of those points and recreates your drawing. The equipment is expensive — about $50,000 — so it’s not something you do idly. But it prevents us from making routine mistakes, so we need fewer people in the field to keep construction moving along.
— Cecil Fraser, president, Swan Pools, Lake Forest, Calif.
PSN Top 50 Builder (No. 9)
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Retail Snapshot
 Unfortunately, it has been nothing but rainy and cold for the last month, and there’s not a lot you can do to counter that. It’s hard to react quickly enough to the bad weather with an ad or direct-mail piece since by the time your [message] gets out, the weather may have changed.
Sending email blasts to our customers, though, has allowed us to be more timely. We purchased a program that does the work for us. It costs next to nothing to distribute the email, so you can do it more often. We’ll use these emails to talk about an upcoming event, the week’s specials, a sale — with the economy, it’s all about the discounts — or an issue that we’re noticing.
We don’t just buy an email list… ours is made up of customers who sign up. We email them coupons as their reward for giving us their address. The trick is to not wind up on people’s spam lists, so we take the time to follow up on the ones that bounce back and find out why it happened.
— Chris Callanan, owner, North Shore Pool & Spa, Wakefield, Mass.
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Trade Show News
Attendee Online Registration is Now Open
Register now to attend the 2009 International Pool | Spa | Patio Expo — and be at the forefront of backyard living. Join builders, retailers and service professionals at the event that brings all segments of the industry together for face-to-face interaction, product review, education and networking.
Early registration has its rewards! By registering online before Oct. 6, you will:
• Receive discounted fees on Expo Only admission
• Receive discounted fees on conference packages
• Avoid standing in long lines on-site
• Receive your admission badge in the mail
• Guarantee your choice of educational seminars
Whatever your role in the pool, spa and backyard industry, you’ll learn something new and useful to improve the efficiency and productivity of your store or business.
Receive discounted registration rates — register online now!
 Exhibits: Nov. 16-18, 2009
Conference: Nov. 13-18, 2009
Mandalay Bay Convention Center
Las Vegas, Nevada USA
972.536.6350
www.PoolSpaPatio.com | info@PoolSpaPatio.com
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