IAEC Forum 2025

Set in New Orleans’ French Quarter, this year’s event was one to remember.

by Kaija Wilkinson

The International Association of Elevator Contractors (IAEC) served up an IAEC Forum 2025 as rich in education, networking and fun as the amazing cuisine and atmosphere of the host hotel – the historic Hotel Monteleone in the heart of New Orleans’ French Quarter — on May 19-23. From a spirited second-line parade through the Quarter to local specialties like seafood gumbo, poboys and bananas Foster to numerous educational sessions that invariably prompted a lively back and forth, this year’s Forum was one to remember. For your author, who called the New Orleans Uptown neighborhood home for nearly five years in the late 1990s, the event was like “coming home,” and it was nice to see the city from a French Quarter perspective. As a resident, she typically avoided the area due to its crowds of tourists, but, as a tourist herself, it was heartwarming to see a city cleaned up and revived post Hurricane Katrina and soak up all the incredible architecture, history and, naturally, food.

Opening in 1886 and since expanded, the Monteleone is still owned and operated by the same family. Many of its employees have been with the hotel for decades, and the staff is well-trained in the art of non-obtrusive, top-notch hospitality. Not to mention, rooms and common areas — which boast unique features like a grandfather clock in the lobby carved from a single piece of wood in the early 1900s, several elevators with their original doors and the famous Carousel Bar — are cleaned quietly and nearly constantly. IAEC President Nick Montesano of DTM Drafting & Consulting Services remarked that he had never been in a hotel room that was kept so consistently clean. “I think the staff came in there twice a day to clean the room!” he said.

Emerging from and returning to a pristine room each day prepared the 132 attendees for the informative technical presentations designed to help them in their day-to-day consultancy practices. These included Carlos Escobar’s and Pete McIntosh’s “Dual Plunger Retrofit Brake” presentation, which proved eye-opening in that the slightest wear on a brake sheave affects not only the life expectancy of cables, but the overall quality of a ride, Montesano observed. The quality of these and the other presentations is “a great value in furthering everyone’s knowledge of vertical-transportation (VT) system components,” Montesano said, which is a key benefit of attending the Forum. Another, he said, is the opportunity to renew QEI certification, of which Montesano himself took advantage. “That’s another great service for members,” he said. Prior to the Forum starting in earnest, IAEC Board members held a meeting the afternoon of Monday, May 19.

Tuesday, May 20

As the 28 vendors set up their booths in the Monteleone’s Iberville Ballroom, NAESA International board member Joe McAnulty of ATIS offered a NAESA Code Update Continuing Education (CE) session from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for .8 CE Units. Forum registration opened at 6 p.m. to coincide with the Opening Night Reception and a chance to visit vendor booths, as well as a silent auction to benefit the Elevator Escalator Safety Foundation (EESF). As soothing Sinatra-era music played in the background, guests talked and made their way around the room with a full open bar at its center. Servers dressed formally in white jackets carried around plates of elegant hors d’oeuvres, explaining each in detail — turkey Waldorf salad on a miniature scone, lamb chop lollipops, blue crab and corn beignets…. Steadfast industry supporter Daniel Swett of Lift AI (not to mention Greg DeCola of VDA) bid on nearly everything in the EESF silent auction — cigars, golf clubs, headphones and gift cards — helping the Foundation net a total of approximately US$3,700.

A second-line parade through the French Quarter streets followed by a lavish rooftop reception in the Monteleone’s Riverview Room proved a fitting end to a day of learning.

Wednesday, May 21

It was back to the lovely Iberville Ballroom with its crystal chandeliers and nattily-dressed servers for breakfast and perusing exhibitor booths prior to everyone gathering in the Queen Anne Auditorium for a very special Welcome Opening. First, IAEC Executive Director Sheila Swett introduced Monteleone Conference Services Manager Lisa Thompson, who presented a fascinating history of the Monteleone. She explained how visionary founder Antonio Monteleone — a cobbler from Sicily, Italy — saw vast potential in the French Quarter which, in the 1800s, was a pretty run-down and dangerous place.

He purchased the 53-room Commercial Hotel, subsequently re-naming the Beaux Arts building the Hotel Monteleone and building it into an upscale establishment that prides itself on its fine cuisine and friendly service. The Monteleone family crest graces everything from the front façade to the napkins to outside the rooftop elevator. The Monteleone steadily gained a reputation as the place to be, and in 1949, its Carousel Bar & Lounge, New Orleans’ first and only rotating bar, opened. The Iberville Tower, housing 160 rooms and 48 luxury suites and fronting Iberville Street, opened in 2023 after a two-year, multimillion-dollar renovation. Inside the original 14-story building where your author stayed, vestiges of the past, including a mail-chute system next to some of the elevator banks, are evident. Lacking destination dispatch, the elevators are small, old, sturdy and well-maintained, much like the ones at the stately Balmoral in Edinburgh, Scotland. Such touches speak to an earlier era when quality and things that last were the order of the day.

After Thompson, Nelson Graham, who became the (sole) City of New Orleans elevator inspector after retiring from Schindler, spoke. As the only city inspector, Graham shared that he inspects up to three elevators a day. Safety testing, he said, is witnessed by third-party inspectors from major OEMs. At age 63 and with 38 years in the industry — eight as the city elevator inspector — Graham said he has no intention of retiring anytime soon. He talked about what a great industry elevators are and that New Orleans, specifically, is an exciting and never-boring place to live and work. It’s vital, he said, that the older generation guide and mentor the next generation.

As Forum attendees settled in for a full day of presentations, some of their partners and spouses took advantage of the always-popular Companion Program. In New Orleans, this included a “culinary adventure” at the 3-Michelin Star Commander’s Palace restaurant in the magnificent Garden District and local tours highlighting the city’s charm and flavor.

Swett’s introduction of the day’s speakers included a brief history of her ironic entry into an industry she has come to love. It was the result of her father telling her to “not come back until you get a job” and Dover Elevator being the only one of several prospects to give her a chance. Despite being a woman in what was then almost an all-male world, Swett proved herself at Dover with her precise drawings and attention to detail and safety, working her way up to modernization mechanical engineer lead in Horn Lake, Mississippi. Swett launched her own consultancy in her hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, in 1996, and — now living in Houston — she’s been at it for nearly 30 years now.

The first presentation was by TAK Mathews, who traveled all the way from India. He spoke about “Destination Control — Perspective Gathered Over 25 Years.” Mathews talked about his upcoming tradeshows, including the International Sourcing Exhibition for Elevator and Escalators (ISEE) in Nairobi, Kenya, in December, and introduced event co-organizer Priyanka Choudhuri. He encouraged fellow consultants to attend ISEE. Despite their infeasibility for small properties, Destination Control Systems DCS) are the future of lift grouping and dispatching, he said. More than 90% of India’s tall commercial high-rises use DCS, he pointed out.

It’s not a ‘one and done’; it’s a lifelong endeavor. — John Koshak of Elevator Safety Solutions on proper maintenance and safety

After a break for coffee and king cake — the ring-shaped pastry covered with a purple, green and gold sugary glaze traditionally associated with Mardi Gras — Margaret Laurenço of Smart Elevator Tech, LLC, gave her always well-received “Pit Ladders and Access Safety” presentation for .1 CEU. She spoke about new code requirements for pit ladders, including increasing step width from 9 in. to 16 in., incorporating non-slip rungs, having weight-actuated sensors to remove power from the elevator and incorporating latching manual reset switches. Speaking about why the code is so tedious and slow to roll out, Laurenço joked that she “thinks the people who write the code don’t have to get in and out of the pit,” adding that, “The way to use a ladder safely is to use a safe ladder!”

Sessions then paused for lunch and visiting vendor booths in the Iberville. Although it was hard to tear ourselves away from conversations, the day’s remaining presentations were captivating.

They were:
♦ “Always On, Always Aware: Complete Elevator and Escalator Oversight” by Dominic Beni of Claddagh Electronics Ltd., who spoke about the implementation of the Internet of Things (IoT) in elevators for monitoring
♦ “Modernizing the Consultant’s Toolkit: Automated Plans, Smarter Portfolios, Better Outcomes” by Rob Wurth of Lift AI
♦ “Elevator Industry Field Employees’ Safety Handbook” by Dot Mynahan of National Elevator Industry, Inc., for .1 CEU
♦ “Surveying Freight Elevator Doors” by Michael J. Ryan of The Peelle Co.

A second-line parade through the French Quarter streets followed by a lavish rooftop reception in the Monteleone’s Riverview Room proved a fitting end to a day of learning. Starting at 5:30 p.m., guests met in the Royale Parade Departure Room to don masks, hats, beads and scarves as they enjoyed Hurricane cocktails prior to joining in the second line behind a loud and lively brass band. “I wasn’t sure what to expect but it was such a great night,” Molly Cruz, Schindler national sales and process manager, said. “NOLA didn’t disappoint!”

The fun and food continued at the rooftop party, which included not only an open bar and food stations with offerings such as charbroiled oysters, crawfish Monica and bananas Foster — beloved New Orleans specialties — but also a delightful three-piece jazz band and those trusty, well-dressed servers coming around bearing delicacies like jumbo shrimp with remoulade. The evening festivities were an unforgettable Forum highlight.

Thursday, May 22

“Safety and You” presented by John Koshak of Elevator Safety Solutions was a standout on the Forum’s final day. Koshak, who has done forensics on tragic VT accident cases dating back to the 1970s, illustrated how neglecting seemingly minor but crucial safety steps can lead to fatalities. The talk nearly brought the speaker, and some audience members, to tears, and truly drove home the importance of proper maintenance and safety procedures. “This stuff affects me,” Koshak said. “And I want it to affect you; I want you to be cognizant of it and say, ‘That’s a problem,'” as lives literally depend on this kind of vigilance. “It’s not a ‘one and done’; it’s a lifelong endeavor.”

Also presented on the final day were:
♦ “Evolving Elevator Technologies: Emergency Communications” by Daniel Goldstein of Kings III Emergency Communications
♦ “Dual Plunger Retrofit Brake” by Peter McIntosh and Carlos Escobar of Hyperion Solutions, which prompted Montesano to snap a picture of the “beautiful” dual plunger brake retrofit kit from Titan Machine the pair showed on the screen
♦ “Enhancing Efficiency and Comfort” by Dan Baltzegar and Emery Wilcox of Vantage

This year’s IAEC Forum wrapped with the traditional Board of Directors (BoD) Annual General Meeting. Swett thanked all for attending and reflected on the success and uniqueness of this year’s iteration. “The highlight, I’ve got to say, was the parade,” Montesano observed. “The vendors seemed to love it,” adding that it’s important for them to stay involved with the VT consultant community and vice versa. The BoD approved hiring a consultant on finances, which are in “very good shape.” The next IAEC Forum’s location and date is yet to be decided.