Blue Collar Board homeBlue Collar Board
The Room

How the room runs

You bring the decision you're stuck on. You leave with what you're doing and by when. Next month, the table asks if you did.

Same order every time, so nobody wastes the afternoon.

Spec sheetThe Room
How often
Once a month, in person.
How long
Half a day.
Where
The Midlands of South Carolina. Date, time, and address come after your intro call.
Who
Up to twelve owners from different trades. Nobody across from a competitor.
Runs it
The Foreman. An owner who's run crews most of his life runs the table. You meet him on the intro call.

Here's the order, and why it runs that way.

The meeting, in order

Half a daySame five steps, every month. It opens on your worst and closes on your best.
  1. Sit down

  2. Wins & Losses

    Everybody, around the table. Your worst and best from the last 30 days, and whether you hit last month's date.

    Why it's first: the table needs to know where you really are before it works on anything.

  3. Toolbox Talk

    One local pro, one topic you can use Monday: banking, tax, legal, insurance, safety. Nobody pays to speak, and nobody pitches. It's general know-how. For your situation, use your own pros. The guest leaves before Down to the Studs.

    Why it's here: you eat, you pick up something useful, and the table settles in before the heavy lifting.
  4. This is the work

    Down to the Studs

    One or two members bring a Work Order, the decision they're stuck on. The table takes it apart until the real problem shows. Then it lays out options from what's worked in their own shops. The owner decides, and says by when. Nobody decides for you.

    Not your turn this month? You're working somebody else's. Yours waits its turn for a coming meeting.

    Why only one or two: one problem worked all the way down beats twelve worked halfway.

  5. Storm Assessment

    A quick lap, and everybody gets a turn. What's coming, what's here, what's gone, and what you'll do about each.

    Why: everybody gets heard every month, not just the one or two Work Orders.

  6. The Closeout

    Last word before you leave: your next move and the date, out loud. That's what the table asks about next month. Then one last lap: the best thing you're taking home.

    Why it ends here: you walk out with a date, and nobody walks out carrying it alone.
  7. Walk out with a date

The meeting ends. The work doesn't.

Between meetings

Your work buddy

One call between meetings with another member, on the calendar, about the business. Buddies rotate, so everybody gets to know everybody and nobody's stuck with somebody.

The room's people

Need a pro? Ask the table. You get a warm handoff from the member who uses them. Have one you trust? Keep them. Nobody gets paid for an introduction.

It only works if everybody plays by the same rules.

What the table is and isn't

  • It's owners who sign the front of a paycheck, working one real decision at a time.
  • It isn't a networking lunch, a seminar, or a sales pitch. This ain't that.
  • It's experience from people who've been there.
  • It isn't legal, tax, financial, or any other professional advice.
  • It's a business table.
  • It isn't counseling.
  • The owner decides. Nobody decides for you.

What you bring

Your Work Order, ready. Or come ready to work somebody else's. If it's your turn, bring the numbers the decision turns on.

House rules

  1. What's said at the table stays at the table. Everybody agrees to it before they sit down, guests too.
  2. The Foreman records so nobody's commitments get lost. Say "off the record" and it stops. Members don't record.
  3. Nobody sells in the room. Not members, not guests, not us.
  4. The table isn't your CPA, lawyer, or banker. Money, tax, and legal calls go past yours before you sign.
  5. This ain't that. Not a networking lunch. Not a seminar. No politics, religion, or selling. Politics stay at the bar. Religion stays at church.
  6. Can't make it? Tell The Foreman and your work buddy before the meeting. Miss two in a row, and the seat opens.
  7. Proud of the work, humble about the man.

Want to see it before you pay for it?

What it costs you

Time
Half a dayOnce a month, plus the drive. One buddy call between meetings.
Money
$500 / monthA seat is your membership: $500 a month, month to month. No long-term contract. Cancel before your next billing date and you won't be charged again.
First one's on us
$0Apply. Take a 30-minute phone call. Then sit in on one meeting before you pay anything. No card needed.
Running one truck? Start The Line.
Apply for a seatText us