Report of the MCAA Marketing Committee
Words: John Smith Jr.The association has begun to make significant inroads into the promotion of masonry. This past year we dramatically expanded the association's website and hired an internet technology manager. In less than a year, our website has become the envy of many in our industry. On a daily basis, new information is available and the usefulness of the site expands. Members, through the use of their member passwords, can download an extensive list of free programs and safety information. News about the association and the industry is updated almost on a daily basis. Contractors can now access local masonry training programs, sources of masonry supply, archived articles, new OSHA regulations and even contact their members of congress. And in the coming months, the website will expand even further in the area of masonry promotion. I am extremely proud of the fact that our site receives over 2.5 million hits per year and is becoming the web location for the entire masonry industry.
Back in April, the officers of the MCAA signed a monumental partnership agreement with the Construction Specifications Institute to co-locate our Masonry Showcase with that of the CSI trade show under the umbrella of Construct America. This new partnership will allow the MCAA to advocate the expanded use of masonry to the nearly 10,000 architect and specifier attendees that will be at Construct America. As our partnership develops with the CSI, so will our effectiveness to convince specifiers to design with masonry.
During the past year, the MCAA along with executive directors from sixteen of our allied local associations have been developing a major national campaign to promote masonry systems. At this years Annual Meeting, they will introduce this landmark campaign that I believe will advance the use of masonry greater than any since material ad campaign. Masonrysytems.org will become over time, the single source of vital information to our industry's customer. School Boards, municipalities, architects, specifiers and other industry customers will be able to find dependable information about designing masonry systems.
Masonry Magazine has also dramatically improved in its quality and usefulness to the advancement of masonry. This coming April, Masonry Magazine will have a special design edition distributed at the CSI Show in Chicago. Architect and specifier attendees at the CSI Show will each receive this special issue touting the benefits of designing with masonry. We believe that Lionheart, Masonry Magazines publisher, has done a remarkable job of making Masonry Magazine the premier magazine in our industry. While our competition has limited their publishing to only 10 issues per year, Masonry has expanded its distribution to include not only 12 quality issues per year but each article is archived on our website where readers can search the past several years of important topics and features.
Lastly, the association is working with the Masonry Institute of Washington to advance the Masonry: It Makes A Village program as a national program with regional finalists competing at the 2005 Masonry Showcase at Construct America. The Village contest is a design competition with teams of architects and contractors designing and building a unique masonry project that can be found in a "village". A creative hands-on competition such as this will spark the imagination of the over 10,000 specifiers and architect attendees of the CSI Show, something that can have a dramatic impact on the expansion of masonry.