FCA Presentations Have Jumped the Shark

We have rounded the corner and are well into our series on the trends and issues that came up in conversations and conference sessions this past Fall.

This week, I want to acknowledge something I never expected to say: FCA presentations have clearly “Jumped the Shark.”

If you’re not familiar with the phrase, “Jump the Shark” comes from an episode of Happy Days where the Fonz literally jumps over a shark on water skis — a moment widely viewed as the point where the show went downhill. It’s become shorthand for anything that has overstayed its welcome or drifted past its prime.

For anyone who wants a nostalgia break, you can watch the infamous clip:

Now, back to our regularly scheduled facilities blog.

I’ve been presenting at facilities conferences for years, and FCAs have usually been a central theme at these events. In the past, there might have been one other FCA-related presentation sprinkled into a conference agenda, but more often than not, I was the only one speaking on the topic.

That changed in a big way this year — and not just this Fall. At one of the APPA conferences I attended (and spoke at), nearly half of the presentations were about FCAs or about how institutions were using their FCA data.

As a frequent FCA speaker, I had a bit of a Sally Field moment. For those who don’t recognize the reference, here you go:

A big part of me was genuinely excited to see this surge in FCA presentations. To me, it means that the importance of consistent and defensible FCA data has finally gone mainstream — and that’s a great development for the sector. Our view of Integrated Asset Management (IAM), shown in the Venn diagram below, has always started with Capital Planning Excellence as the first step on the journey. 

But I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t another part of me feeling a bit like a proud parent whose kids have suddenly left the nest and are learning to fly. For years, FCA presentations were “my thing,” and now they’re everywhere. What comes next? 

My days of giving FCA 101-style presentations are likely over — unless I want to blend into the crowd, which we’ve always tried to avoid. Instead, I’m excited to start exploring deeper and more advanced asset management topics as we head into 2026 and beyond. 

Speaking of conference presentations, that takes us to next week’s post. Many of the Fall events I spoke at focused on a topic I’m calling The Holy Grail: Integrating Capital and Maintenance Planning. While it’s connected to FCAs, it goes well beyond them and takes asset management to the next level. We’ll explore why this topic resonated so strongly across so many conferences. 

See you next week!