News Detail

ACI Thinks "Out of the Box" with New Member Benefits!

12/1/2006

Who says that ACI "moves slowly," or is "set in its ways," or is too conservative to "change with the times" or "try something new"? In the past, that "who" was just about anyone and everyone who ever got to know ACI and how it functioned! But that was then, and now is now! ACI is meeting and exceeding its challenge this year of being mindful on many fronts that it is not good enough just to do things because "we have always done it that way." Now, consistent with my first presidential objective, ACI, in "thinking out of the box," is launching its refreshingly creative and vastly improved New Member Benefits Program effective January 1, 2007. I am so enthusiastic about these membership enhancements that I have decided to dedicate this Memo in its entirety to share with you what I believe will greatly enhance the value of all of our memberships and will, over time, broaden ACI's ability to more effectively disseminate concrete knowledge globally to a new generation of concrete professionals. You will be reading and hearing a lot about this, but I wanted to give a brief synopsis as a sneak peek of what is coming.

1. Free Student E-Membership: To provide students worldwide with the connections, resources, and opportunities to be successful in their studies and, ultimately, in their careers, ACI has made membership free and easily accessible...electronically...to all full-time students! Students have access to the same membership benefits described below, including listing in the online Membership Directory, opportunities to earn CEUs online, and free document downloads, plus so much more. Student E-Members will have access to the current and archived research papers and articles from Concrete International, the ACI Structural Journal, and the ACI Materials Journal, which should make doing course research easy and effective. The Student E-Membership incentive is in addition to the new membership benefit program.

2. Concrete Knowledge Center:This online service will allow professionals to:

• Search the full text of almost every research paper cited in the ACI 318-05 commentary;
• View in-depth, actual building design and detailing case studies to better understand how 318-05 provisions should be addressed in designing and detailing their projects;
• Find answers to many frequently asked questions relating to 318-05 provisions;
• Identify field conditions that may indicate concrete distress and access the full text of many articles related to these conditions; and
• Review several other sources of technical information.

3. Free Downloads: Each year, ACI members will be able to download from a large selection of ACI committee documents, Symposium papers, and Journal articles. The articles date back as far as the early 1900s. Individual members can download three free documents, papers, or articles each year, and Organizational and Sustaining members can download eight.

4. Free Online CEUs: ACI members will have free access to eight courses each year, and can earn up to .8 CEUs, which is equivalent to 8 PDHs. In addition to being free, this ACI-provided process will be very user-friendly and convenient.

5. Membership Directory:ACI's Membership Directory will be online and available to the public and will provide ACI members with the opportunity to be listed. Potential clients will be able to search for Organizational and Sustaining members by business name, category, and geographical location. Individual, Junior, and Student members can be searched by name and geographical location. Networking will become even easier as ACI members will have exclusive access to full member contact information. Members not wanting to be listed will be able to opt out.

6. Concrete Repair Bulletin: To receive more practice-oriented repair information, members will be able to elect to receive the International Concrete Repair Institute's Concrete Repair Bulletin magazine in place of the ACI Materials Journal or the ACI Structural Journal. All ACI members will continue to receive Concrete International.

7. Career Center: Employers seeking highly qualified concrete industry-related applicants-ranging from entry level to CEO and every job in between-can advertise in ACI's Online Career Center.

As I have asserted in previous memos, the impact of what we are doing today may not be seen for several years. If ACI is to continue to be one of the best technical societies dealing with concrete, then we must be willing to "think out of the box" and wisely respond to the changing face of the global concrete industry. I am happy to report that ACI is doing just that.

Thomas D. Verti, President
American Concrete Institute
tverti@pankow.com

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