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NATE Unite (And a note about STAC)

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The NATE Unite conference is coming up soon, so who is going? I am! That’s right, I plan to go this year so if you think you will be there and you want to talk, let me know. I will be there to walk the exhibit floor, map found here, to meet and greet anyone who is interested. The schedule, found here,, shows me that the 22nd and 23rd will be the days to walk the floor. It’s in New Orleans this year so that is a great place to have it. If you want to talk just fill in the form below and let me know if you will be there and I will add you to my newsletter list. See you at NATE Unite! 

For those of you that don’t know, NATE is the National Association of Tower Erectors and this show is something they do once a year to show off the vendors as well as get NATE business done. It is a the tower association in the USA for tower businesses. NATE also allowed carriers to join this year.

Training is important, so they thought of a way to provide industry standards. A spin-off group, the NWSA, National Wireless Safety Association is setting common training standards in the industry that, in theory, all NATE members will comply with. To get a jump on this they formed an alliance with the NCCCO, the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators. Let’s face it, Crane operators know rigging, tower climbers know rigging, it makes sense to partner and build on what has already been created.

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What about the Canadians?

I often hear from our friends to the north. The government there seems to recognize the tower industries safety issues and addressing them with more specifications. Do they have a group like NATE? Yes, S.T.A.C. has been formed! The Structure, Tower, and Antenna Council group has been formed. It is a group that will improve the standards of the Canuck climbers. These guys definitely have to deal with some tough weather conditions but they don’t complain about like I do. I think it’s great that they have an organization that is going to unite the climbers in that country. They also have to put everything in 2 languages, French and English, so that proposes more of a challenge for the group.

STAC is for Canadian wireless communication carriers, tower owners and operators, tower and rooftop equipment service suppliers, and wireless facilities and maintenance contractors. This group aims to provide a unified voice for the climbers in Canada as well as providing all the safety education and information needed in that industry.

I look forward to seeing NATE and STAC work together in the future. If these groups can form an international union, then maybe we could see these groups pop up worldwide in every country. I am sure there are more out there that I don’t know about but just think if they formed international training education for all the climbers. That would have the potential to share the absolute best ideas worldwide that would elevate the tower industry to a new level, worldwide. Just a dream I have. We can all learn from each other in methodology and ideas.

Fundraiser at NATE Unite!

Don’t miss this! The TFF will be auctioning off a Drone and Software package at NATE to raise money for the Tower Family Foundation. It’s a DJI Phantom 3 Professional drone. The TFF will hold a silent auction to raise money for the families of tower climbers. To get details on the auction and the drone, read this. The auction will take place at NATE Unite. Remember all the money goes into the foundation where all the workers there contribute their time and do not take a salary. While prevention is the best cure for tower climber accidents, it’s nice to know that the families have the support of the TFF in their time of need. They don’t blame, don’t judge, they just help. They need to raise money to help out the families of tower climber accidents. To learn more about the TFF read this. Remember that if you have a family member  who does tower work that you have a friend in the industry if things go bad. 

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Give to the Hubble Foundation because if you don’t help these families, who will? Who supports Hubble? The wireless workers and the tower climbers, that’s who! With no support from the carriers or NATE, so it’s up to you! What if it were you? Would you want help? Who would help you if you were hurt? Who would help your family, your spouse, your children if something happened to you? Do you see the people who are hurt?

Wade4Wireless BlogCast

TFF: Don’t blame, don’t judge, just help!

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There is the reality that tower climbers die on the job. Like it or not, this is part of the job. There are many reasons, stupidity, faulty equipment, and freak accidents. It happens. The Tower Family Foundation, (TFF), is there. They are the group started by NATE, read on to learn more.

These accidents leave a hole in the hearts of all those involved. The industry is affected by these happenings, it extends way beyond the family to all tower workers across the industry. It saddens the tower community. It breaks our hearts to hear about this!

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To be clear, the TFF will not judge, they just want to help the family. They just want to make sure that the family gets help as soon as possible. They are committed to supporting the families in this time of crisis. Also, I don’t have names of who they have helped for privacy reasons.

The Tower Family Foundation. Then there is the TFF, www.towerfamilyfoundation.org. The TFF was created by NATE, the National Association of Tower Erectors. The TFF has the full support of all of the members of NATE, they have raised close to dog-tags_clearbackgrond$1M for this cause and they have already given out over $60,000 to help families in need. They have a list of donors on their website, so make sure you go there and contribute what you can. To see who they have as donors go to http://towerfamilyfoundation.org/2015/10/tower-family-foundation-highlights-founding-donors-at-ctias-super-mobility-week-conference/ to see who is supporting them. Ben Little talked about the last fundraiser here.

I talked to Ben Little and Jim Tracy of the TFF. These 2 guys are so committed to raising money and to make sure that the families get taken care of within 7 days of an accident. Like I said, they don’t care what happened or whose fault it was, none of that matters, what’s done is done. They just want to make sure that the family gets the financial support they need within 7 days of an accident. They do all that they can to find out who the family is, usually with the help of the employer, and send them a check as soon as possible. They don’t ask questions, they don’t look for a thank you, they just want to help the family. No judgment.

These guys so all they can for the TFF with no pay, they don’t take a dime for any of the time they work on the TFF fundraisers or spending time with people like me, they don’t take a dime, they just commit to serving the greater cause of helping fallen climbers. It doesn’t matter if the climber or their company is a member of NATE, they work hard to provide support to the family within 7 days, no longer if at all possible. They want to make sure the families understand that there is someone there to provide a hand.

So when I talked to Ben he gets so emotional about this subject. He told me the story about how an accident happened near the holidays and they reached out to the employer to get information about the person so that they could have a check to the family before Christmas. They worked hard to ensure it was in their hands on Christmas Eve so that the family would not worry about finances on Christmas day. This got him all choked up just talking about it. He is seriously committed to make sure that the foundation serves one purpose, to support the families of the fallen without judgment.

They have a very organized fundraising system. So far they have raised close to $1M for the sole purpose of supporting climbers’ families. They are constantly looking for ways to raise money giving all that they can and raising money on fundraisers. They make sure that all the money goes to the families by donating their time to the foundation. That means that there is no overhead going into anyone’s pockets. They work hard and donate their time for this cause. They are always looking for ways to improve. They support the families financially and they are starting a scholarship program to make sure that the kids have all the opportunities they deserve!

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Give to the Hubble Foundation because if you don’t help these families, who will? Who supports Hubble? The wireless workers and the tower climbers, that’s who! With no support from the carriers or NATE, so it’s up to you! What if it were you? Would you want help? Who would help you if you were hurt? Who would help your family, your spouse, your children if something happened to you? Do you see the people who are hurt?