News Detail

Competing for Time, Talent, and Resources

11/1/2004

As we continue to look forward to ACI's next 100 years, we need to consider how we will maintain the quality and reach of our programs in what will clearly be an environment of increased demands for our products and services, as well as increased competition for resources.

Our Strategic Plan outlines some aggressive goals:

1. ACI will be a recognized leader and preferred partner in developing and maintaining technical knowledge on concrete.
2. ACI technical knowledge will be readily available and easily employed in the design, construction, repair, and quality control of concrete facilities and products worldwide.
3. ACI will serve as a major force in creating and maintaining a worldwide community of individuals and organizations supplying and accessing knowledge on concrete.
4. ACI will help build and maintain a professional workforce of sufficient size and skill to meet the needs of industry.
5. ACI membership will be increasingly valued by a broader segment of the industry workforce.

To achieve these goals will require a consistent and continuing commitment of resources-human and financial.

Our Plan also identifies a potential for reduction in the pool of ACI volunteers because of a declining number of engineers and individuals employed in the concrete industry, increasing industry consolidation, and increasing demands on what little time is available for volunteer work. Couple the potential decrease in the volunteer pool with a recognition of the increased competition for the industry's financial resources and some might question what the Board was thinking in approving such an aggressive plan.

I believe they recognized the value of ACI products and services developed through the knowledge, creativity, dedication, and resourcefulness of our members and staff. They understood the need to reach out through chapter and international activities to encourage a broader base of participation. They understood the need to develop and deliver ACI programs in a more cost-effective manner using technologies previously unavailable to us.

In past issues, I have addressed the importance of creating value, and of chapter and international participation, but have only briefly touched on changes in our approach to creation and dissemination of information. It is worth noting some examples of recent ACI initiatives to use technology to our advantage.

Most of you are aware that staff, working with the Internet Advisory Committee, has made great progress on ACI's website. The Technical Activities Committee has fully supported expanded use of the website for committee communications, document reviews, balloting, and archiving. And website use is becoming even more viable with the growing availability of high-speed Internet access. This fact really hit home with me during this year's travels to our international conferences-whether in Mumbai, Osaka, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Queenstown, or Sydney, my ACI committee correspondence was only a mouse click away. Like it or not, the convenience of electronic communications is here to stay. Think of the impact this has on chapter and international participation at the local level.

Electronic communications may also help us address the real problem of cost of membership in countries where the standard of living makes ACI participation virtually impossible. At our Washington, DC, meeting, the Board approved a trial program recommended by the International and Membership Committees that would offer electronic-only memberships in several developing countries. If successful, this program could be extended to a new type of membership.

Our Publications Committee is also working on the use of electronic publishing and on-demand printing to help us disseminate documents, such as our special publications, that are becoming too expensive to provide in a traditional, limited-run print format.

In the education area, the Educational Activities Committee is looking to deliver ACI's information over the web by offering professional development credits for registered users, a system similar to that run by the American Institute of Architects.

While not a comprehensive account of new initiatives, these examples illustrate our efforts to operate more efficiently and cost effectively. With improvements in efficiencies, high-quality products and services, and a broader membership reach, we can achieve the goals outlined in our Strategic Plan.

As always, your feedback is welcome.

Anthony E. Fiorato, President
American Concrete Institute
fiorato@CTLGroup.com

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