Report of the MCAA Marketing Committee

Words: Damian LangThe MCAA Marketing Committee continues to be one of the most active and exciting committees within the association. Over the past year we have aggressively sought new funds and methods to promote the use of masonry and our industry.

MasonrySystems.org

A beta version of the MasonrySystems.org website launched in October 2008, with the full launch of the site in January 2009 coinciding with a major marketing push for the site including an e-mail marketing campaign for MasonrySystems.org as well as a search engine optimization program.

MasonrySystems.org will be used to educate designers and construction users on the benefits of total masonry construction. The site has three main sections: "Inspiration," which will showcase the best in masonry design and construction; "Information," which will offer data, articles, presentations and videos about every aspect of masonry; and "Interaction," which will encourage participation through bulletin boards that offer the opportunity to post messages, questions and announcements. MasonrySystems.org will be a one-stop shop for anything and everything masonry.

The Mason Executives Council has worked hard to improve the functionality of all sections of the site, making millions of corrections, adding links and resources from all over the web, organizing the masonry resource directory, implementing interactive features of the site, and completing a wall cost calculator.

Lionheart Publishing, a marketing partner for the site, is contacting potential advertisers in order to incorporate banner advertising on key pages. The site's founding sponsors also have the opportunity to add their banner ads and company profiles to the website as part of their sponsorship packages.

The Minnesota Masonry Promotion Group and Masonry Association of Florida have opted to join the Masonry Executives Council in the last few months and make substantial contributions toward the development of MasonrySystems.org.

Masonry Design Magazine

In January 2008, Masonry Design magazine was launched and has been sent bi-monthly to a target of 15,000 design professionals with an expected growth rate of 10-20% annually. Circulation was preliminarily built from bulk subscriptions from local and national associations, suppliers, and contractors who wished to send the magazine to their customers.

The MCAA is the principal sponsor of Masonry Design magazine. The Marketing Committee provided $75,000 to support the launch of the magazine. Other sponsors will be sought by Lionheart Publishing, the publisher and owner of the magazine.

Masonry Design magazine delivers the message of the masonry industry through unique features of original content, with an emphasis on masonry systems/total masonry construction. Features may vary from more technical in nature that appeal to an engineer audience, to more inspiring features that appeal to architects. Topics of importance to all target audiences, such as “life cycle cost” and green building features have unique appeal and interest.

RMMI Going Green Initiative

The Rocky Mountain Masonry Institute (RMMI) Going Green Initiative requested a one time allocation of $22,000 from the MCAA Marketing Committee. This money will be used to fund the position for a representative on the US Green Building Council for Colorado.

Shahnaz Jaffari, LEED APÂ©, Technical Assistant for the Rocky Mountain Masonry Institute has provided the attached report on the progress of the initiative.

It is the opinion of the committee members that “Going Green” is the next big wave of building practices and that the MCAA must educate owners and architects about the green values masonry has to offer.

University Professors' Masonry Workshop

The University Professors’ Masonry Workshop was set up to train architects on designing with masonry and the advantages of doing so. Some committee members questioned that the amount spent for so few architect attendees might be better spent elsewhere. After discussion with other industry associations who were discontinuing their support, it was determined that the MCAA would not support the workshop again in 2009. The program was canceled for 2009 by TMS.

MCAA Website

The Association’s website, www.masoncontractors.org, continues to grow on a daily basis. Our site is viewed by thousands of unique visitors each day, and millions across the globe search for news and information regarding the best building system on the market: masonry. The site has grown significantly over the past six years and has become a hub of resources for contractors and suppliers and is an important promotional tool for architects, specifiers, officials and other potential customers. We are proud that the website is the best site in the masonry industry.

Excellence in Masonry

The Excellence in Masonry program is currently being revamped. Damian Lang, Bradley Clay, and Jeff Buczkiewicz are working on the changes to the program.

The Year Ahead

The Marketing Committee will continue to look at a wide range of programs focusing on educating the design professionals in our industry, research where we have lost market share, why and how to get it back, and make sure the marketing funds the MCAA has available are used in the best interest of the MCAA members. We believe that continuing a strong, effective contractor driven marketing effort will help our entire industry flourish.

Green Activities Report

By Shahnaz Jaffari, LEED APÂ©
Technical Assistant, Rocky Mountain Masonry Institute

Our last improvement within the USGBC Colorado Regionalism Task force, which I direct, has been to harmonize regionalization credits for the West Region. Our task force was given assigned to harmonize regional zones within the west region and their corresponding credits. For this purpose I had to get in touch with the coordinating regionalism staff of the USGBC at the national level. This created a great networking opportunity and gave me access to some good information on LEED 2009. I used this first hand knowledge to prepare a presentation on how LEED 2009 was different from the previous version and gave the talk at The Masonry Society national conference. I also learned how to apply for open positions in the USGBC LEED Committees at the national level. I hope to nominate myself for the first available seat in Materials and Resources Committee, or its corresponding Technical Advisory Group.

I taught a class on Sustainability and LEED 2009 for the BIA Brick Fundamentals Course on Wednesday Nov. 4th. The week-long course was held in Denver mainly for masonry sales people from Colorado and other states. My hope is that the sustainability lecture will help the group sell masonry as a sustainable product.

On Wednesday Nov. 12th I presented a Lunch & Learn for architects on “LEED 2009 and Green Masonry Buildings” at RMMI. The presentation covered changes in the new LEED version and looked at some case studies of masonry buildings that have received LEED and Energy Star ratings. It also went over sustainable attributes of masonry including beauty, durability, thermal mass, fire resistance, mold prevention, and minimal maintenance.

With the Advocacy Committee of the USGBC Colorado chapter I volunteered to be part of the Industry Collaboration Subcommittee. This group will act as Denver Regional Sustainability Council which will attempt to coordinate green organizations within Colorado and bring them together in a council. I will get to meet USGBC advocacy committee members of other regions at Green Build in Boston, and will get special advocacy training for free. For the past two years I have acted as liaisons between this committee and the Advocacy subcommittee of the AIA Committee on the Environment. As a member of AIA COTE I have had the opportunity to network with architects from large Colorado firms.

I traveled to Boston in late November to participate in USGBC Green Build National Conference. It was a great learning experience to attend keynote speeches and study sessions in the green building area. There were also a number of networking events, and meetings exclusively for USGBC Leaders that I attended as a member of the USGBC West Regional Council. I attended an open USGBC Board Meeting on Monday Nov. 17th to meet USGBC National Board Members.

Thanks for your support.