NECA 2023 - Philadelphia, PA
September 8 - October 3, 2023
In between weeks 6 and 7 of the road show, I attended the National Electrical Contractors Association convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I joined my boss, coworkers, and fellow Discovery program participants in managing the ABB booth and sponsored events.
Key Takeaway: One of our marketing leaders discussed some of his key takeaways from the keynote speakers, and he mentioned a quote from former Villanova basketball coach, Jay Wright. The quote being, “Surround yourself with those on the same mission as you”. I really liked this quote because while I do think it’s important to live a diverse lifestyle and interact with different kinds of people, it is important to be around those with a similar level of drive and work ethic. Being around those with similar lifestyle goals as myself motivates me to be better and creates a positive association in other people’s minds of all of us. This is especially important at my age and level in my career, as I want to be motivated in healthy competition to work harder alongside my friends and peers, and want to make a good impression on those that meet any of us.
Favorite Food: My favorite food of the week was a stop that’s always necessary to make while in Philadelphia, getting a Philly cheesesteak at Ishkabibbles. My cousin recommended it, and we just felt we had to go because we loved the name. We also got lunch at the Reading Terminal Market, which is a really cool food hall just near the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
Highlights: This trip was really enjoyable for me as I was joined by a few of my friends from the rotational program in my birth city. For the opening celebration of the conference, we actually got to go on the field at Lincoln Financial Stadium (go birds) and tour the locker rooms before watching an awesome drone show sponsored by ABB. The trade show itself was exciting as ABB won best booth and were a hit with our custom-printed t-shirts, and I even got to see my Uncle Rich at the show! We then watched a stressful but exciting Eagles game at a bar in downtown (go birds again), which was a fun experience for me as a fan. Overall, this past weekend was a blast and I’m so glad I got to experience it all with some of my closest friends.
