In the midst of the crowning of 2011 Tint-Off champion Chris Brooks attendees packed sessions at the International Window Film Tint-Off and Conference looking for new information.

Window film attendees spent time with Lyle Hill of Keytech North America learning about the latest in glass and window technology.

“One thing the Department of Homeland Security is considering is blast mitigation for federal buildings and airports,” says Hill. “They want to know the good and the bad about it. Glass replacements and newer systems can take too long. What becomes the answer? Blast mitigation film.”

In addition, sessions on Internet marketing and social media were popular and provided attendees with hands-on information that they could take home and apply to their businesses immediately.

“The Internet marketing session really was an eye-opener and the social networking session showed the enormity of the social world and how to get my business out there.” says Nicole Agai, owner of Solar Control Glass Tinting in Garden City, Kan.

These sessions included advice on Linked In, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Google and other search engines.

“Advertising on Facebook has become more and more important over the last few years, says Sara Santiago, president of Roll, a social/mobile marketing, mobile web and mobile application development company. “It has actually become quite lucrative.”

“Doing business on the Internet is just like having a retail storefront. Its all about location, location, location,” says Cody Flanagan, president of iRazor Strategies. “If you are not on page one of a Google search you are missing 85 percent of potential sales.”

The highlight for many was sitting in on the keynote session which featured the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team captain, Mike Eruzione. The hockey star encouraged everyone to apply their personal values to their business and encouraged the idea of teamwork producing success.

“There are a lot of important values in life. The most important is respect. If you don’t respect your competition and the people you work with you will not be successful,” says Eruzione. “You have to check your ego at the door. How good would our best player be without the team?”

Following the keynote, attendees participated in a panel discussion and a session on working with energy service companies (ESCO’s).

“Why work with ESCO’s? Because they have hundreds of people,” says Kirk Heston, founder of Heston Wind and Renewable Energy LLC. “Can you imagine the branding? You can’t believe how much traction you get. Every customer that I ever brought in on an ESCO project had something done on a personal level, either their cars or their houses.”

The show closed out Saturday with the final day of the International Window Film Exhibition/Extravaganza™. Look for the November/December issue of Window Film magazine for more on the event.