In the October issue of Contracting Business.com we cover a lot of ground (as we do in every issue of the magazine). From commercial controls to residential geothermal systems (page 10-11), the Design/Build Awards (page 22), and our rundown of who we feel are the 22 most influential people in the residential HVAC industry (page 40), Contracting Business.com provides you a great deal of information to help you better run your business, to inspire you (hopefully), and to make you think. That’s the job of any magazine or online publication.
But in today’s universe, “interaction” is equally important. Social media and, in our case, HVAC-Talk.com certainly helps with that. But direct conversations over content are very important. It’s how we, as editors, learn and grow as well. Then we can provide you even better content.
With that in mind, let’s take a little trip through history to the year 1546 in London, England. There, a playwright named John Heywood compiled a tome of proverbs that included the one liner, “A penny for you thoughts.” Interestingly enough, Heywood never claimed to coin this phrase (pun intended), though he is still credited with that because he was the first to publish it.
A penny for your thoughts — something I always thought Ben Franklin said right after he quipped about a penny saved is a penny earned. Who knew, right?
I travelled down this little historical highway because that phrase actually carries more meaning than just asking for someone’s thoughts. According to the wiseGEEK website “a penny for your thoughts” figuratively places a monetary value on what people’s opinions are. I quote: “The person who says ‘a penny for your thoughts,’ wants to know what the listener is thinking about and is showing interest through a symbolic offer of payment.” Some might say, because this idiom originated in the 1500s (or before), the value of a penny was a lot more than it is today.
In other words, thoughts have value. Whether that value is based on money or time, what people think is important, which is why I’m asking for your thoughts.
When you read our articles in print or online at www.contractingbusiness.com, we really would love to hear what you think about them. Whether you agree or disagree with what I’m saying in my First Word column, or you have some additional ideas to add to Jim Brown’s article on technician recruiting (page 44), what you, the reader, think is important.
To share your thoughts and opinions here, you need to register.
This is a really simple process and only takes a minute or two to complete. We aren’t asking a bunch of intrusive questions — we’re simply asking for your name, e-mail address, job title, company name, zip code, what type of firm you work in, and for you to choose a category that best describes your job position.
For that, you not only have an opportunity to leave us comments (which is what WE desire), but also gives you better control over your subscription to our various newsletters, and even to the magazine itself. It also gives you access to other stories not available on the public site. Register once — and you’re done. It’s easy as that.
Once you submit your registration, you’ll receive an e-mail confirming it and you’re off to the races.
As you read an article, scroll down to the bottom of the page and you’ll notice a gray box with the headline, “Discuss this article.” This is where you can share your thoughts with us and with the rest of the online community.
So what are the benefits to you? First, you now have an outlet to comment on the articles we are posting and publishing. It’s where you can add to a story, argue with the premise of it, or provide other ideas that may be the seeds of other articles. You’ll also get to see the thoughts of others in the HVAC industry and react to those as well.
Yes, you can still share stories using our social media buttons and can still bookmark them with all the ease that you’re used to. And please don’t forget the conversations you can have on HVAC-talk.com.
With that, I just have one more thing to say: “A penny for your thoughts?”
