If Ed York was alive

[Bob Foster]

What do you think he would say about our industry today?

 

[encapman]

Re: It if Ed York was alive

He'd be as cantankerous as ever. But I think he'd be impressed. I miss the ol' guy. He had a lot of wisdom and called things as he saw it.

 

[Rambo]

Re: It if Ed York was alive

Spending a week with him in Vancover, Washington (Cleaning College) in the early 90's was a real eye opener for my business. I wonder how many know Les Jones lives in Ed's old house in Greenville, S.C Where he lived when he started SCT. I'm sure some of Ed's genius rubbed off onto Les, two geniuses of this Industry IMO.

 

[billyeadon]

Re: It if Ed York was alive

Ed would have loved the BBs. He would have been the King. Of course he would have had his own BB.

Rambo that is an interesting piece of trivia.

Thanks,
Bill

 

[Jim Pemberton]

Re: It if Ed York was alive

I agree that Ed would love the BB's. I always looked forward to "Tips and Chat" and Ed's combination of information, fun and friendly anecdotes, and of course controversial editorial content. We've not seen the like of it since.

He'd feel vindicated at the success of encapsulation technology and its acceptance among cleaning professionals. He'd take perverse joy that the manufacturer's of carpet look askance at it, and would likely be a thorn in their sides over both that issue and the SOA.

I met the man when I was 16 and gave him a ride to pick up some grapes at a local grocery store. The debate that ensued with the manager of the store of the fact that what was being sold as "California Grapes" could not possibly have been California grapes was lesson in understanding Ed York's personality that makes more sense to me 34 years later than it did at the time.

He'd like Mikey, but would drive him to distraction.

 

[Carpet Cleaning Fool]

Re: It if Ed York was alive

By any chance is Ed York related to Shawn York of Vortex fame?

 

[War Monger]

Re: It if Ed York was alive

By any chance is Ed York related to Shawn York of Vortex fame?

LOL!

 

[Bob Foster]

Re: It if Ed York was alive

I understand there are many good stories about Ed York like Jim told. Lets hear them.

 

[Dan Joner]

Re: It if Ed York was alive

Ed did participate in the BBs for a while. It made him mad, so he left.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Re: It if Ed York was alive

I hope it wasn't me.

Not that don't respect him and know his history I do. He was a great man and did more for this industry than many know about. We bought several machines and plenty of chemicals from Steam Services. We were SCT members for many years.

He made a post concerning insurance companies no longer paying for "Mold" claims. He posted that if we just call it "Mildew" it would pass through since you were not saying the word "Mold".

I tried to be tactful and I hope I was, I'd hate to be the one to have disappointed him, but I couldn't let him steer people wrong and they end up doing free work.

 

[billyeadon]

Re: It if Ed York was alive

I hope it wasn't me.

Ed came from the old school where when you sold you sold. He came into the BBs with that purpose and was roundly trashed. If this board had come about in his younger days there would have been no stopping him.

If I was to guess I would say that less than 10% of the posters ever met Ed and the majority didn't recognize his name. When he came on here I think he may have expected a little better treatment due to having created half the organizations in this industry.

What he didn't realize was that if Jesus came on hear selling religious statues he would be told to buy a banner
That crown of thorns doesn't get you anything special here.

My story was during an IICRC meeting in Portland we decided to head downtown to the legendary seafood place Jakes. Myself, Linda Kanouse, Lindsay Barlow and her husband.sat in a booth and told stories. Half of them seemed to be about Ed. When we finished dinner we got up and seated in the booth next to us the whole time was Ed and Wanda. We sheepishly exited.

 

[Jim Pemberton]

Re: It if Ed York was alive

Ed loved every minute of it Bill, believe me!

 

[Nate The Great]

Re: It if Ed York was alive

When I was younger, I talked to him on the phone. Always calling to talk to pops or mom. I knew the name, just didn't know how big a part he played in the industry. I always heard people saying Ed's a straight shooter. When Richard Mitty his son inlaw stayed over at my parents place, he had some good Ed stories.

 

[Nate The Great]

Re: It if Ed York was alive

By any chance is Ed York related to Shawn York of Vortex fame?

No relation. I asked Mikey that. He just laughed in my face.

 

[Larry Cobb]

Re: It if Ed York was alive

My Ed York story relates to a regional SCT meeting that we helped put together at a local hotel.

The subject of his talk was "How We Market our Services".

He asked for everybody in attendance to submit their business cards to him.

Then, he proceeded to broadly criticize each card, with some good suggestions as to improvements to make.

The crowd of very independent carpet cleaners became incensed.

At least 50% of them walked out of his talk.

THAT was vintage Ed York.

Larry Cobb

P. S. He also promoted the Cimex machine with the first "encapsulation chemical" (Absorb).
It looked like grey mud, but it did work.

 

[Mikey P]

Re: It if Ed York was alive

ya see SHAWN York would have taken those cards, blown them up to 15 ft by 5 ft and put them on wrap on some pos over priced fragile soon to be obsolete truckmount and told the audience they would all go out of business unless they bought one right then and there.

 

[Loren Egland]

Re: It if Ed York was alive

If Ed York had a Powermatic 30+ years ago, he would have been a changed man. :wink:

 

[judson jones]

Re: It if Ed York was alive

Ed York,The biggest waste of talent I have ever seen,never made any real money.

Was so hardheaded he would have been thrown OUT of jail.
Ed and I were partners in a Co called Judson West out of his Fresno operation.
We ran Carpet Dying clinics all over the US.Nick from Jon Don came to several of them.
The only way to get along with him was to give back as much BS as he gave you,RE: Mr. Paytoliet
.I have many stories about what happened to us.

He had his convention booked at a Holiday Inn in Sarasota,Hotel messed up time,Ed raised such hell they moved us to the Hyatt Regency at their expense.Just a minor tale I have some real ones to follow.

Richard Chavez told me at MF about one he attended 30 years ago.

Maybee Jim P. can name some of the groups Ed started.

Good luck,Judson

 

[rhyde]

Re: It if Ed York was alive

ya see SHAWN York would have taken those cards, blown them up to 15 ft by 5 ft and put them on wrap on some pos over priced fragile soon to be obsolete truckmount and told the audience they would all go out of business unless they bought one right then and there.

you forgot the part about cashing in the 401K to buy one

I remember Ed dropping in at Atiyeh's when i worked there but i never really knew him

 

[Jim Pemberton]

Re: It if Ed York was alive

Just a few of the things Ed pioneered.

SCT (later SCRT), an association of predominately "mom and pop" cleaners back when the only alternative was the then named "AIDS" (Now RIA).

IICUC (now IICRC) When he later didn't like the direction of the IICRC, he created another certification body, the Certification Registry.

He fought for the right for hot water extraction cleaners to use the name "Steam Cleaning"

He later moved away from HWE and promoted low moisture cleaning as a precursor to encapsulation.

Steam Services (One of the first true multi line distribution centers to ship coast to coast) was selling everything from brushes to detergent to truck mounts back in the 70's.

Original marketing ideas: Several. Ed's were not rehash's of other people's marketing programs converted to our industry. Of course many he just made up as he went along (which he freely admitted at times), but most worked out for those who applied them.

His "Business Card Public Humiliation" routine that Larry spoke of was legendary, and repeated nationwide. But if your skin was thick enough, you'd learn something in the process.

A list of Ed's protege's and associates include such names as Tom Hill, Jeff Bishop, Bob Whitkamp, Ron Toney, my father (Lee Pemberton), and many others I regret I may have overlooked. My father got along with him fairly good, as they lived on opposite coasts and he kept Ed at arm's length. But we learned a great deal from him, and are grateful for his leadership (and some of his "divine madness) that made him arguably the most influential person our industry has ever known.

Personal note: He was the first person to tell me I had a future as a trainer and that I should pursue that goal in my life. I was only 17 when he told me that. For that vote of confidence from a man who did not suffer fools gladly, it meant the world to me.

Thank you Ed.

 

[hogjowl]

I never met the man and never heard of him before he showed up on ICS somewhere around 2002 or 2003 I'd guess. I was not at all impressed with him. He seemed to be there for two purposes.

1) Talk about himself

2) Sell you something ... while he talked about himself.

 

[Bob Foster]

I could imagine what he thought about you...

 

[hogjowl]

No doubt.

I certainly wasn't shy about calling his hand.

He got mad and left in a huff.

I'm sure it was our loss ...

 

[Carpet Cleaning Fool]

Here's a 6 minute video of a guy named "Doctor Ed York" singing the praises of Xerion Solutions encapsulation products.

j]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebn0UH-wniIj]

 

[J Scott W]

Re: It if Ed York was alive

I understand there are many good stories about Ed York like Jim told. Lets hear them.

I remember being at the SCT convention in New Orleans, the middle 1980s. The owner of ZZZZ BEst was scheduled to speak. Ed found out he would not make it due to his legal problems. Mike Davis (All American in Idaho Falls), who owned a growing restoration company, and I were seated next to each other. Ed asked Mike to fill the time with a presentation about his copany and then asked me to tell something about my business. I had only been in SCT 2 years and was at my first convention. The gap in the program was only about 15 minutes away. Not much time to prepare anything special.

Learned a lot about how those highly publicized conventions programs were prepared. A few years later, I worked with Big Billy preparing future ISCT conventions. A lot fo changes over the years, but a lot stayed the same.

 

[J Scott W]

One day I listend to Ed argue about wether a quick connect was a male or female. Ed was going to name them according to the threaded end. A day or two later after a few people came around to Ed's way of thinking, he began to argue for the opposite position.

I don't think it mattered to Ed much what side of the argument he wa son, just as long as there was a good argument going.



I have been thrown out of restuarants twice in my life. Both times I was sitting with Ed. He ruined my reputation in Greenville.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Here's a 6 minute video of a guy named "Doctor Ed York" singing the praises of Xerion Solutions encapsulation products.

It shows you what a good salesman he was.

I had to keep Ed away from my father. It was a learned response, my dad would hear Ed speak and right away he would reach for his wallet. :wink:

 

[Steve Lawrence]

I believe he started Tips 'n Chat while still in Fresno. I visited there in 1979 to see Lee Pemberton's presentation on Disaster Cleaning. I met Steve Brandt, Ed's son in law, and Bill Jensen for the first time there. It was a good time and yes, Ed was quite the character, both a ground breaker and a dick, all in one.

 

[The Great Oz]

I met Ed in the 90s at a CCINW convention when he was selling a portable hooked up with spa ozone generator that he claimed would sanitize carpet. There were two scientists there that had no trouble telling everyone that sanitized water won't sanitize anything else. Ed sold a couple anyway.

At a tradeshow in Seattle in 2001 Ed was representing Cimex and getting around in a wheelchair. I decided to spend some time before the show finding out just how much of a curmudgeon he was, and maybe why. He told me he never cared much about what other people thought of him, or what they thought of anything. Everything he did was with at least one eye on how he could make money from it. He said that changed when he was named Cleanfax person of the year (decade?).

He said he didn't care much about the article or recognition until people started calling to tell him he'd made a difference in their lives. After several calls he said he started crying and couldn't stop. That's when he realized that he was fooling himself, all of those people he'd driven away over the years meant a lot to him.

I repeated that story to a guy that knew Ed well. He just said, "You bought that?" and offered to sell me a bridge.

I told Ed that not everyone was willing to believe he'd changed, and he seemed happy to hear it.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I visited there in 1979 to see Lee Pemberton's presentation on Disaster Cleaning.

I went one of Lee's classes around the same time, SCT sponsored one in Phoenix, AZ. I had heard about Lee Pemberton from my father but had never attended one of his seminars.

Being a young hot shot, I listened, watched the slides and took notes but we were mainly carpet cleaners and what Lee was teaching was "Disaster Restoration", so I left unimpressed.

As time passed and we began get involved in Restoration work I began to realize that Lee was a genius and I was too young and dumb to realize it.

Thankfully I had good notes, sure wish I could do a "Back To The Future" and pay more attention to Lee and ask questions, we could have been on the right track earlier. :wink: