The Construction Dorkcast

On this episode of the Construction Dorks, we continue what we're calling the FreeTO project. Real conversations with current and future CTOs to pull back the curtain on what it really takes to be a construction CTO: the wins, the losses, the lessons learned, and the stories nobody tells you going in. For this one, though, it was just the Dorks. We needed to get our rants out before we make room for the guests. So this is one of those..

In this episode of the Construction Dorks, we kick off a multi part series on CTO's. What is actually involved in that job? How do you get there and what is important to learn along the way. In this first episode, we just wanted to queue up the idea and talk a little bit about what being a CTO means to each of us, and why we think it's an important topic. For today's construction companies. It was a good conversation, so thanks for tuning in.

AI, Everybody's Talking about it. With that in mind, we welcome Hugh Seaton from TheLink.AI to discuss the SMACNA AI Leadership program, what he's seeing in the AI market tea leaves, and how we all might be getting more stupider. We had a great time deep seeking a deep dive on a topic that isn't going away anytime soon. Enjoy!

This is episode 94 of the Dorks and we're calling it Preppers. Trent, Jeff, and I sat down with AI Jon until he glitched out and discussed some of the hot topics we're hearing through the industry here in Q1 of 2025. Will we need a go bag this year? What might be coming to the industry in terms of tech or turmoil? Who knows but we threw plenty of WAGS out there. I hope you enjoy!

MEP Innovation 2025 Recap - Contech Crew Crossover

In this episode of Construction Dorks, we sit down with Aaron Krovance to talk about the work he did within general contracting and some of the differences between trades in general. It was a fun discussion, so please enjoy.

The Construction Dorks. For this end of the year wrap up slash beginning of the year kick off, the dorks sit down and discuss what we saw as the big wins, the big misses, and the tech and innovation we felt impacted 2024 and what will we feel will be big news in 2025. As with all predictions, we will probably be completely wrong. Hope you enjoy!

On this episode of The Dorks, we sit down with Devon Madden, a co-owner at Madden Sheet Metal, to talk about the future of Education in the HVAC industry and the larger construction industry. Devon has her PhD in English and is an experienced teacher who firmly believes that education can't stop at the classroom door. It was an amazingly fun and curious conversation, so definitely grab a drink, sit back, and enjoy.

On this episode of the dorks we talk about Challenges of dealing with under construction tech and the chaos that causes. We are joined by Jeff Elwell of E.M. Duggan who is taking the time to look at that less then complete tech to see if he can figure out a fix for the solutions, we want most to use. It was a fund discussion, and a bit of a rant, so please sit back grab drink and let's talk tech.

On this episode of The Construction Dorks, we pick up the to-be-continued from the content crew. We were on there doing the news and having such a fun time that we thought we would continue it over here. We don't do this often, but when we do, it's a lot of fun..

In this episode, the Dorks welcome in Jen Clark from General Sheet Metal out of Portland, Oregon. We had fun in this episode listening to Jen's journey after college. Her path took her all over the map in more ways than one. She found home at GSM and then discovered a passion for process and technology. This was a great conversation with a Contech who has blazed her own path to a position where she gets to spend each day digging deep into the company's tech stack to see where she can make her coworker's lives better. Enjoy!

Welcome to a special episode as we kick off a brand-new segment called 'From the Field with Mike Z.' Mike's always been connected to the field and passionate about finding technology that doesn't just sound cool but actually solves real problems on job sites. Today, we're talking with Josh Lambert of Morrison Construction about how important it is for people and companies to embrace and leverage change all the time—not just when it's convenient. It was a great conversation and a solid start to our 'From the Field' series." And as always, thanks for tuning in. We hope you enjoy the episode!

In this episode of the construction dorks, we talked to the next generation of construction technologists, or at least they were a couple of years ago. Today we are talking Walker Lockhart and James Simpson, two of the brightest minds in construction tech and give them a chance to catch us up on their journey from construction to the software and even manufacturing space. It was a great conversation so Pull up a seat, grab a drink, and let's talk tech.

In this Unplugged episode, we go guestless and strip down to cover the key topics and takeaways from the AGC Tech Conference. With no outside voices to tether us, we take a dive deep into the IT side of construction technology and discuss how GCs are managing and implementing Solutions on their job sites"

In this episode of The Dorks, we sit down with Hamzah Shanbari, the Dork Of The Year and recent author of Paperless Builders. We talk about his work at Haskell with technology and how contractors should prepare before implementing any tech. It was a wonderful conversation, and Hamzah definitely made it clear why he is the Dork of the Year. Papperless Buiders: https://hamzah-shanbari.presale.manuscripts.com/registration/select Spotify Link: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7BL0xqKDY3IgnS8s9BlMto?si=SmWlxy75SWqgm91D9AnA7Q

In this episode of The Construction Dorks, we sit down with Kelly Lubeley to examine some of the similarities and differences between Electrical and other trades. While we definitely got into the weeds on the differences, we also talked about how, at a process level, we may have more in common than you might think.

In this episode of the Construction Dorks, we sit down with the innovators of the year from NECA SMACNA and MCAA to talk about the importance of innovation, some of the misconceptions about how innovation works, and the critical importance of teams when looking at innovation within a company. The guest shared some interesting perspectives that we're sure you'll enjoy, so please sit back and enjoy the episode.

In this episode, the dorks talk with Liz Campbell about The work she and others are doing to encourage students at a high school level to consider a career in the trades. I would encourage everybody to listen in and maybe even take some notes. We need more young people in the trades, and That means being able to really discuss the value of being in the trades and the enjoyment so many of us find in a life of building things. Liz shared some fun tips and it was a great conversation so please tune in and enjoy.

In this Bonus Episode of the Dorks, Trent and Travis sit down with our good friend Burcin Kaplanoglu with Oracle Industry Labs. We had the honor and the privilege of getting a guided tour of this amazing facility located in Chicago before sitting down and digging into the why and how the Lab came to life. Burcin once again proves his Dorks cred with his story and with the energy and excitement the team Oracle has running the lab. Let's hope you enjoy this conversation so much you make plans to come check out this one of a kind facility.

In this episode of the Dorks, we're talking about one of our favorite subjects, and that is skid fabrication. We're talking with two of the best people, CJ Best and Pete Majeski, both of them bringing unique perspectives on how to really establish skids within your business and scale them moving forward. It was a great conversation. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the episode.

In this episode, the dorks talk about AI, how we're using it, when we're using it, how the industry is adapting to it, and whether it is really artificial intelligence or just a large language model dressed up to look that way. It was an exciting conversation, and this time, it was just the dorks, so sit back, grab, and enjoy our AI episode. We even made Mini GPT for past episodes as a experiment https://chat.openai.com/g/g-M0vu6ysPq-construction-dorks-guide

Today, the dorks sit down with Linda Jennings of SMACNA and Dan Bulley of the MCAA to about associations life, How the associations have changed over the years, and take a look at some of the other things the Associations do when they are not put on really cool conferences.

In this episode the Construction Dorks we sits down with Hanna Thomazin of US Engineering to talk about her first main stage appearance at MEP Innovation, her work in data analytics, and how US Engineering is building an exceptional and inclusive company culture. It was great conversation sit back and enjoy the episode.

On this episode of the Construction Dorkcast we welcome back our good friend, Mike Zivanovic of Faro. Anyone that knows Mike knows of his passion for the industry, specifically for the folks in the field. This conversation was heavy with that theme and fired us all up once again as we prepare for the 2024 MEP Innovations Conference.

In this episode of Dorks, we're talking homebrew, and we don't mean beer. We mean brewing up solutions to the problems that all of us face, and we've invited two brew masters, Kevin Allen of Comfort Systems and Jeff Elwell of E.M.Duggan to talk about the solutions they're brewed up in their business and the ones that they have found to be most effective. It was an excellent conversation, so grab a cold one and let's talk home brew

Today, the dorks talk with Amanda Comunale about some of the realities and challenges facing both manufacturers and contractors in the age of digital construction and how work and experience across the industry are helping her build strategy in her new position with ASC-Engineered Products. This is her second time appearing on the show, and it's always a good discussion. So, sit back and enjoy this episode as we talk about the challenges of manufacturing reality

In this episode, the Dorks talked to Pete Majewski with Autodesk, about AU 2023 going back to Vegas. His first AU experience, understanding the contractor dilemma of prefabrication and much more…

In this episode the Dorks talked to Angie Simon head of Heavy Metal Summer Experience (https://hmse.org/) about the birth of the program and how the summer camp is changing lives and helping the industry find and inspire the next generation of trades people and builders.

In this episode of The Dorks, we give a mid-season conference recap, catching our breath and talking a little bit about the major themes and emerging trends we're seeing as we spread out to cover the various conferences and events of fall. While some themes were obvious, like data and artificial intelligence, we also saw some new themes emerging around employee mental health and overall work quality. It was a great discussion, so grab a drink and join us for this mid-season conference recap.

The Dorks talk with Chris Hronek about the Stratus Innovate convention and all happenings and announcements as well as diving into some of the key take aways from the event.

On this episode of the dorks, we talked to Logan Smith CTO of Argyle an augmented reality solution for construction that focuses on solving real job site problems and leveraging the model as context for the job site.

In this episode, the dorks talk to CJ Best, Director of Manufacturing at McKinstry, about all things Industrialized Construction. CJ takes us through his own journey with McKinstry in applying manufacturing and lean principles to their shops and process. He also speaks with us about the struggles of initiating and managing change. CJ is a Dork favorite so we highly recommend you listen in!

In this episode the dorks interview Zach Piercy of Poynter Sheet Metal the current SMACNA innovator of the year for about how Tech and innovation are solving problems for the Sheet metal trade and how better using existing solutions often trumps looking for new ones.

In this week's episode, the dorks talk with Todd Grossweiler, NECA's Innovator of the Year for 2023 is about innovation on the electrical side, and How Alison Smith is taking innovation into their own hands when it comes to app development and cultivating innovation. It's a great talk, so relax sit back and enjoy.   

On this episode, the dorks are doing a bonus episode to talk with some of the presenters for Stratus Innovation 2023. This is the second time this event has taken place, and it brings together some of the best MEP fabricators in the United States to teach and learn from each other in one of the most uniquely practical conventions of the year. Like the convention, there's plenty to learn from our guests, so relax and tune in to this bonus episode.

In this bonus episode DorkCast Cohost Jeff Sample sits with Charlie Dunn, Nathan Wood, Kristina Henkai, Tony Altemus, Jesus (Jesse) Hernandez, Armando Tunales, & Kelli Lubeley at the 2023 SoBuilt Play Summit. Check out their conversation as they recap their experience at the Summit.

In this episode, we speak with Doug Smith of DSI, the 2023 MCAA Innovator Of The Year, about the practical side of innovation and how DSI has established itself as a consistent leader in the innovation and implementation of construction technology. We also delve into the importance of having an internal technology success group and discuss what constitutes effective technology support.

Welcome to Dorkcast Episode 64, Dorkfit. In this episode, we invite in Denise Devine from SteelToe Consulting and we talk about fitness. No, not fitness whole pizza in my mouth, but the different activities we enjoy to stay active and how it's not just about physical health but how this helps us mentally and emotionally. It did seem fitting with May being Mental Health Awareness Month. As mentioned in the episode, feel free to contact us if you need a little support in your fitness journey. Enjoy!

Today, the Dorks are talking to Kristina Henkai about burnout and the construction industry and how encouraging play and understandings of others and belonging can help to decrease the general level of burnout, increase happiness, and make our job sites a better place.

The Data race is on! This week's episode we talked to Darren Young about Data. How to get started and structure the data that exists in you company to beacon leveraging it in decision making. We also talk about the dues and do nots of good data stewardship. 0 LIKES 

Finally! It's been a minute, as the kids say. Here's DorkCast Episode 60, The DOTY, now with Robots. In this episode the three least popular Dorks sit down with the reigning Dork of the Year, Alice Leung of Brick and Mortar Ventures and Derrick Morse of Rugged Robotics. If you've been jonesing for a dose of nerd, these two did not disappoint. We hope you enjoy and we promise we're going to try to drop more sodes on the reg… as the kids say… I think.

Finally! It's been a minute, as the kids say. Here's DorkCast Episode 61, The DOTY, now with Robots. In this episode the three least popular Dorks sit down with the reigning Dork of the Year, Alice Leung of Brick and Mortar Ventures and Derrick Morse of Rugged Robotics. If you've been jonesing for a dose of nerd, these two did not disappoint. We hope you enjoy and we promise we're going to try to drop more sodes on the reg… as the kids say… I think.

Woohooo it's episode 60 of the Construction Dorkcast….we think. Continuing on our MEP Innovations wrap up theme, we welcome in two of our great friends Tauhira Ali and Sean McGuire to share their thoughts and insights from our favorite conference. We were down two Dorks but Trent and Jon did an okayish job of picking up the slack. We hope you enjoy.

Woohooo it's episode 60 of the Construction Dorkcast….we think. Continuing on our MEP Innovations wrap up theme, we welcome in two of our great friends Tauhira Ali and Sean McGuire to share their thoughts and insights from our favorite conference. We were down two Dorks but Trent and Jon did an okayish job of picking up the slack. We hope you enjoy. 

Here we are at episode 59 of the Construction DorkCast. In this episode we targeted data and data strategy, so we reached out to a past guest Amanda Harbison of ELECTI and new guest Chris Ovens of Aedo.AI. Fair warning on this one – Nerd alert! Our guests get very geeky and nerdy in the best ways possible and talk to us about how to ask the right questions, where to get started, and how ConTechs should think about building out tech stacks with long term data strategery in mind. Enjoy!

Here we are at episode 59 of the Construction DorkCast. In this episode we targeted data and data strategy, so we reached out to a past guest Amanda Harbison of ELECTRI and new guest Chris Ovens of Aedo.AI. Fair warning on this one – Nerd alert! Our guests get very geeky and nerdy in the best ways possible and talk to us about how to ask the right questions, where to get started, and how ConTechs should think about building out tech stacks with long term data strategery in mind. Enjoy! 

So, in this episode the dorks have just attended MEP Innovation. We had fun there all week and it ended with anti-keynote. That is, it ended with a giant workshop versus a single guy getting up there and talking at you, and it was wonderful. They walked us through different exercises, different arrangements that helped us understand lean principles. Small batch, how waste affects the job site and sort of did it in an entertaining and engaging way. So, when we talk about the anti-keynote we're talking about that experience and how much we enjoyed having it.

So, in this episode the dorks have just attended MEP Innovation. We had fun there all week and it ended with anti-keynote. That is, it ended with a giant workshop versus a single guy getting up there and talking at you, and it was wonderful. They walked us through different exercises, different arrangements that helped us understand lean principles. Small batch, how waste affects the job site and sort of did it in an entertaining and engaging way. So, when we talk about the anti-keynote we're talking about that experience and how much we enjoyed having it. 

It's the end of the year and that means a DorkCast year end wrap-up. For episode 57 we went live and invited in our friends. We all shared our tech and event year in review as well as what we're looking forward to in 2023. Thank all of you for listening, thank you for sharing, thank you for your support, thank you for a great year, thank you to those who joined us live. We are all looking forward to personally seeing all of you in the coming year. We hope you all enjoy the Holiday Season and that the New Year greets you well.

It's the end of the year and that means a DorkCast year end wrap-up. For episode 57 we went live and invited in our friends. We all shared our tech and event year in review as well as what we're looking forward to in 2023. Thank all of you for listening, thank you for sharing, thank you for your support, thank you for a great year, thank you to those who joined us live. We are all looking forward to personally seeing all of you in the coming year. We hope you all enjoy the Holiday Season and that the New Year greets you well.