Of Gods and Monsters
October 22, 2012
I was supposed to be at the ACI convention in Toronto, but a nasty virus decided I should stay at home. I wanted to talk about the great things would hear about at the convention but since it was just starting, that wasn’t going to happen. Next I thought I would try to talk about the great things I have heard in the past - at ACI Conventions and meetings for the NRMCA and ASTM. The trouble is, although I have learned a LOT at conventions and meetings, I can't tell you a single memorable presentation (except for Ken Hover likening performance specifications to washing dishes). That made me start to wonder, "What the most valuable thing I have gotten from attending concrete meetings and why do I keep going back?" While "knowledge" is the knee-jerk reaction, in looking back on it, it is meeting people.
At my first ACI Convention with my father, Jim, probably in about 1981, I was overwhelmed. It seemed my father knew just about everyone there. He couldn't cross the hotel lobby in less than an hour, because he knew everyone and it seemed that everyone wanted to talk to him - at length. Dad introduced me to this guy who looked like the quintessential university professor. Put him in front of a fireplace with a pipe and an Irish Setter and the image would have been complete. There was also a roly, poly, bombastic man who seemed full of himself. Certainly these two were characters, but I didn't realize that I had just met two of the "gods" of the concrete industry - Bob Phileo and Bryant Mather. At ACI I have met other gods of the industry, including Adam Neville, Surendra Shah, Mohan Malhotra and Dick Gaynor. I have also met the Titans, destined to become gods - Ken Hover, Steve Kosmatka, Doug Hooten, Frank Kozeliski, Ward Malisch and many others. Finally, there are those that I know will one day become Titans, then gods. They seem like normal people today, but it is easy to see the potential for greatness in them.
Of course, along with the gods there were also the monsters, both the human and ideological kinds. There haven't been many of the human kind, but I have encountered those who have tried to trivialize people who disagreed with them, manipulate the system to accomplish their goals or act in an unprofessional manner. Actually, I am amazed there haven't been more of these people. Ideologically speaking, there have been a lot of dragons to slay.
I have been blessed by the number of friends I have made. Not only are they invaluable in providing technical information when I need it, but they help keep me grounded. Once, after a particularly bad choice of words I used in a widely distributed email, a couple of friends pulled me aside and quietly suggested that I might want to rethink my phrasing. They were right, and their actions enabled me to do damage control without much further embarrassment.
Gene Boeke, formerly of Beers Construction in Atlanta, is a person who I particularly admire. His well-grounded, pragmatic attitude and advice have made him into a role model that I think of whenever a particularly tricky situation arises. Gene's efforts to improve the industry have provided a shining example for those of us who follow after him.
In addition to the people, there are the stories. You don't read about these stories in magazine articles, and not all of them have to do with concrete. Frank Kozeliski's tales of concrete pumpkins and snowmen, Al Kaufman discussing the placing barges for the new Oakland Bay Bridge, Bryant Mather's innumerable tales of Corps projects he worked on starting in the 1950s and Jim Cook talking about his statistical analysis of project test results provide a justification for me to attend meetings. However, it is the stories of Rick Yelton's refereeing of youth athletics, Dick Gaynor talking about fishing or the day-to-day trials and tribulations of convention attendees that remind me that concrete isn't just about rock, sand, cement and water, but about the people who make this industry possible.
ACI is also a place where dreams come true, or go to die. Use of fly ash, pumping, SCC, performance specifications and the Internet by the industry are dreams that have gone on to become reality. My father had a dream of improving concrete mix design technology and pushed it to the point of obsession. While he by no means accomplished this single-handedly, he made it obvious that one man CAN make a change in the industry.
Gods, monsters, people, stories and dreams. They make the concrete industry sound like a Greek epic worthy of Ulysses. Maybe we aren't defeating a cyclops, fighting harpies or sailing treacherous waters, but we are chasing our dreams and occasionally slaying a few sacred cows. If the Colossus of Rhodes were built with reinforced concrete, it might still be standing today. After all, we have made possible the Burj Khalifa, the Hoover Dam and countless other monuments to humanity.
So why do I go to ACI Conventions? To be part of the epic tale that is concrete, to rub shoulders with the mighty and the mundane, to hear their stories and learn their dreams (and maybe slay a few monsters).
What are your dreams?
P.S. I have already thought of the topic for 2 weeks from today. Riddle me this, Batman? What do Spiderman, MacGyver and concrete have in common?
