Masonry Magazine March 1978 Page. 12
IMI AIMS AT LOADBEARING MARKET
The International Masonry Institute, promotional arm of the Mason Contractors Association of America (MCAA) and the International Bricklayers' Union, is aiming much of its promotional firepower at the loadbearing masonry market in 1978.
The IMI Board of Trustees/Advisors has decided that the Institute should make a concerted attempt to advance the use of the contemporary masonry loadbearing system this year, and has approved promotional plans that call for advertising, publicity, seminars/conferences and market research in this area.
The Board met in late January in Washington. D.C. It made it clear, however, that loadbearing will not be IMI's sole concern. Other objectives for the year are:
* To strengthen IMI's cooperative links with local/regional masonry promotion groups in the US and Canada through affiliation and through mutual assistance.
* To initiate a new IMI program designed to provide accredited engineering schools with more information and materials for the teaching of masonry courses.
* To provide local regional masonry groups with publicity and promotional materials, and with materials and guides to be used in staging seminars for various types of audiences.
* To furnish mason contractors and local union officials with materials they can use to sell masonry to building owners, designers and public officials.
The Board received an interim report on a broad market research project IMI now has underway, the results of which will provide guidance for all elements of IMI's promotional work this year, and which can also give direction to local regional activities. Final report on the market research project will be presented when IMI holds its 8th Annual Promotion Meeting, May 7-10, in New Orleans.
The IMI Board also received progress reports on its "affiliation" program and its campaign to increase IMI's funding base from one cent to two cents per hour worked.
Evaluating present-day efforts in the area of masonry engineering instruction are three members of IMI's Engineering Education Advisory Council (seated from left): Dean William M. Sangster, Georgia Institute of Technology; Dean W. A. McLaughlin, University of Waterloo (Ontario, Canada), and Dean D. C. Drucker, University of Illinois. Looking on (from left) are: L. Gerald Carlisle, IMI advisor; Buck Richardson, IMI director of masonry engineering; Neal English, executive director of IMI, Ray Lackey, senior vice president of IMI's public relations advertising agency, Henry J. Kaufman & Associates; and George A. Miller, MCAA executive vice president and IMI trustee.
Discussing the various educational aspects of IMI's masonry engineering research programs (from left) are: IMI trustee Donald R. Bidwell; IMI chairman Charles F. Velardo; Eugene George, vice chairman of IMI, and IMI trustee George A. Miller.
IMI's public relations advertising counsel Ray Lackey (standing) outlines the proposed advertising and promotion campaigns of IMI for the balance of 1978.
It was noted that IMI now has eight affiliates, the most recent affiliate being the Masonry Institute of Washington headquartered in Seattle. Other affiliates are the Texas Masonry Institute, Chicago Masonry Institute, Masonry Institute of St. Louis, Masonry Institute of Houston/Galveston, Masonry Promotion Fund of Lake County, Illinois, Masonry Industry Fund of Northwest Indiana, and Masonry Institute of Memphis.
IMI's affiliation program was established in 1976. It is a program of voluntary affiliation between IMI and local/regional masonry promotion groups which adhere to specified standards in their structure and operations. Additional applications for affiliation are being considered by IMI and will be acted on in the near future.
The Institute's two-cent campaign also was initiated two years ago in an effort to broaden IMI's financial base, overcome the inroads that inflation has made in IMI's financial strength, and enable the Institute to expand its promotional work in such areas as architectural engineering student education, national consumer advertising, and audio-visual production.
IMI is supported by contributions agreed to in collective bargaining between Locals of the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen (BAC) and Chapters of the Mason Contractors Association of America and other contractors. When IMI was established in 1970, the contribution rate to IMI was set at one cent for each hour worked by bricklayers. More than 85.8 percent of the BAC membership is now covered by agreements that provide contributions to IMI.
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