Wanted: The Irish Pub
It was in 1997 when I visited Ireland for the first time. I was 30 years old then, and had lived in metropolitan cities (Chicago, Providence) for most of my adult life.
Even then, I was fairly well traveled for my age: three continents, 40+ states. And, like many 30-year-olds, I was well acquainted with local nightlife, its various charms and debaucheries, and especially, its demographics.
Through years of travel for business or pleasure, I had come to the realization that most bars (or pubs or haunts or dives or whatever colloquialism you prefer) aimed at a certain clientele. That customer base varied by the place, but in general, there were the bars and clubs for the younger crowd, the pubs for the middle aged, and the lounges for the older set.
Every so often, of course, we “young ones” might venture into the territory of our elders, be it out of curiosity or convenience. Likewise, the “parents” might wander into the joints that were typically the provenance of the college crowd – on football game days or alumni weekends, for instance. But for the most part, each generation generally stuck to its own designated spots.
Dublin opened my eyes.
The local pubs, I found, were a vibrant cross-section of the local life. There, I found 19-year-olds sidled up at the bar next to old-timers. And it wasn’t just a St. Patrick’s Day phenomenon. It was a year-round lifestyle.
I was reminded of this during a recent podcast I did with Mike Konrad. If you don’t know him, Mike has been hosting his Reliability Matters pod for the past few years, and we have syndicated it on our pod channel at pcbchat.com. Mike is an assembly engineer, and his guests blend nicely with those whom we typically highlight on PCB Chat.
Anyway, on this occasion, I happened to be the guest on Mike’s podcast, which I always find surreal after 30 years of being on the other side of the, ahem, mic (get it?).
Mike brought up the topic of the graying of the industry. (As an aside, the aging engineer is a refrain I’ve been hearing for more than 30 years; I think it’s our industry’s substitute for talking about the weather.) But while it’s something of a cliché, there is an underlying issue of how to ensure the lessons of the past are shared in such a way that the next generation doesn’t make the same mistakes.
Mike zeroed in on the younger engineers entering the industry, concerned about their lack of experience, and the dead ends they may wander down as result. My response was that just because something didn’t work 30 years ago doesn’t necessarily mean it won’t work today. Materials and equipment improve, and with it so does capability.
But on the pod we left hanging a much more interesting conundrum: that younger engineers aren’t mixing with their peers and older colleagues to the degree we did back in the proverbial day. It’s a bidirectional issue.
Companies run lean, employees are overscheduled, and the benches are slim. The opportunities for getting together and developing professional relationships outside the workplace are there, but it takes a mountain of effort to get managers to crowbar open the corporate wallets. Most folks – young and old – give up trying.
Yet every time I read our columnist John Burkhert recounting the hand slaps from older, wiser colleagues, or hear Rick Hartley in a seminar chuckling over the mistakes he made due to a lethal combination of brashness and inexperience, I am reminded of the importance of mentors – whether or not they accept the challenge willingly.
After talking with Mike, it hit me that what we need is an industry equivalent of the Irish pub. We need to encourage young and old to mix. This means we need to create the platforms for them to do so, then turn them loose.
I see my sons, ages 19 and 21, doing this already through various online means tied to their interests in – what else? – gaming. But old (read: me) can learn from new. As often as not, their discussions are taking place both in the MMORPGs and in online bulletin board servers like Discord.
Curious? Interested? Send a note to membership@pcea.net to receive an invite for the PCEA Discord.
And see us at PCB East and PCB Detroit or one of our chapter meetings over the next few months.
The Guinness is optional.
P.S. EMS companies and suppliers, be sure to register for the Service Excellence Awards. It's the only industry recognition program where entrants are evaluated by their own customers. The deadline is March 31.
is president of PCEA (pcea.net); mike@pcea.net.
