Masonry Magazine March 1975 Page. 10
Assembled for a group shot are MCAA Regional Vice Presidents (from left) Oscar F. Person; Gerald Sutherland; Roy Elam: William Dentinger; Mack H. Pettit; Anthony J. Zotollo and Louis J. Helbert, Jr.; Robert Harrison, Treasurer; Robert E. Beaupre, Regional Vice President; Eugene George, Secretary: William "Nels" Smith, Regional Vice President: Robert Ebeling, Vice President and Charles F. Velardo, President.
1975 MCAA Convention Report
(Continued from page 9)
The MCAA Show Opener took place at 12:30 p.m. and featured a musical band concert by the award-winning Osceola High School Band. Following this hour-long entertainment on the promenade of the Hyatt House, MCAA President Charles F. Velardo, accompanied by Mrs. Velardo, cut the symbolic ribbon to open the '75 MCAA Educational Trade Show in the Convention Center of the Hyatt House.
On Thursday, February 20, the International Masonry Institute presented a seminar called "Operation Feedback," with John Heslip of the Masonry Institute of Michigan, Bill Pautler of the St. Louis Masonry Development Trust, and Anthony J. Zotollo of the New York Brick Masonry Council as featured speakers.
David B. Soloff, Jr., IMI chairman, delivered the welcome address. John T. Joyce, IMI advisor, acted as moderator for the speakers' panel.
The meeting was significant in that it reflected: 1) the growing strength and sophistication of local masonry promotion programs, and 2) the increasing involvement of those groups with IMI guidance and materials-in timely and vital concerns of the masonry industry. Operation Feedback reviewed the importance of communicating with key audiences concerning energy conservation, fire safety, and codes affecting masonry construction.
Former MCAA President and current IMI chairman David B. Soloff, Jr. opened the meeting with the statement, "When business is bad, it's time to advertise, to promote. With continued support, IMI will be able to further expand its mass-media advertising and promotion of masonry."
He urged greater coordination-rather than duplication -of efforts among regional groups in the promotion of the masonry industry. "In its five-year history, IMI has succeeded in getting the attention of architects, builders and the public as to the value of masonry construction," he said. "It is now up to the various local groups to continue this promotional effort in their respective areas."
As examples of current IMI promotion, he pointed to IMI's scheduled advertising on NBC-TV's National Hockey League Stanley Cup Playoffs starting April 13 and in Newsweek magazine starting April 14.
IMI Advisor John T. Joyce, secretary of the Bricklayers, Masons & Plasterers International Union, told the audience: "To increase the use of masonry products we must continue addressing ourselves to a number of priority themes. Three especially important ones are fire, energy and codes."
Bill Pautler, executive director of the St. Louis Masonry Development Trust, discussed the impact of codes on masonry construction and what is needed to keep the industry from "being written out of the box." He indicated that his organization was "forced to get smart" about codes by reacting to the local crisis of codes being revised by the St. Louis Board of Aldermen.
To cope with the code revisions, his group hired a local code consultant. Three weeks were needed to gear up the program and determine what course of action to take on behalf of the masonry industry. The decision reached was to have the consultant do a complete review of the entire codes, rather than just the masonry section. The basic goal was to encourage a code that would stimulate new construction in the city, with masonry getting its share of that expanded market.
MCAA Regional Vice President Anthony Zotollo, who also is president of the Associated Brick Mason Contractors of Greater New York City and president of the Metropolitan Brick Masonry Council of New York City, remarked that "one of the most saddening changes" is the cutback in the amount of total construction dollars being spent nationwide.
"On the other hand," he said, "one of the most promising changes is that the era of the glass and metal skin building it at an end. The high cost of energy for heating and cooling has had a tremendous impact on architectural design and construction. There may be less being built for the next few years, but whatever will be built will more likely be built with masonry than with any other product.
"I am confident," Zotollo said, "that with the right kind of promotion of our product, we will receive a fuller share of the construction dollars being spent than we have received in the past."
(Please turn to page 13)
masonry March, 1975