Serving you online: association Web sites continue to evolve - E-Concrete - Product/Service Evaluation

Concrete Producer, The, Jan, 2004 by Tom Bagsarian

I bought my first home PC in 1997 mainly for one reason--games. My screen time would take me to a fantasy world where I could compete in sports against the best of the pros, race fast cars, and destroy monsters.

I'm not sure what it says about me, but it's seven years later and I have one game, which I never even installed. I just don't use my PC the way I thought I would. Instead, I find it's simply a way to access the Internet. What I find impressive is its use as a research tool, where its possibilities of giving users important and meaningful information are seemingly endless. That's why I enjoy writing this monthly column, so I can direct you to Web sites than can help you grow your businesses and compete more effectively.

The associations to which mealy readers belong also realize this. And they continue adding special features. A couple of sponsoring associations of the upcoming Manufactured Concrete Products Exposition (MCPX)--the National Precast Concrete Association (NPCA) and the National Concrete Masonry Association (NCMA)--have added some new bells and whistles to their Web sites you might find useful.

A visitor to NPCA's Web site, www.precost.org, can find an array of technical information. A visitor can receive the "Guide Specifications for Precast Concrete Products" at NPCA's site. Developed by the plant certification committee and approved by the association's board of directors, this guide helps specifiers write proper specs when precast concrete products will be used on a project.

Visitors also can receive TechNotes, short technical bulletins with information on new technologies, production practices, and quality issues. Shorter bulletins, called TechBriefs, are intended for production personnel and are often posted in areas where plant employees can easily review them. Past issues of TechNotes and TechBriefs are available as a collection in the NPCA TechFiles, available from the online bookstore.

Targeting Information

Added in October, an NPCA member now can log in and enter the names of people at his company he wants to receive targeted information from NPCA. For example, he can add the production manager to the education mailing list, or the QC person to the safety mailing list. The member chooses to receive information by e-mail, fax, or regular mail.

"It enables us to communicate very specifically with people in the plants who do specific jobs," says Bob Whitmore, director of communications at NPCA. "We're able to move our communications down through the company, rather than just to the main one or two contacts at a plant.

Similarly, NCMA is touting its e-TEK program at www.ncma.org. The association has converted its technical papers, usually four to six pages long, into PDFs and created an online service to which members can subscribe. Sponsoring members then can offer the information to designers, architects, and others interested in masonry construction.

The NCMA site also offers visitors reports online from the association's own research and development laboratory. Paper copies are available at the online bookstore. Visitors also can use a search engine to find abstracts of more than 10,000 concrete masonry articles. Once articles are located, users can contact libraries and publishers for copies.

The site Lists consultants who provide various services related to concrete masonry, including structural design, forensic evaluation, and plant management. Visitors can download the directory. In the marketing area, visitors can download articles for print and radio advertising.

"We want to get the information out to people," says Brooke Kemp, NCMA communications specialist. "In the next year, we'll be stream lining it and making it more intuitive."

Finally, visitors to the MCPX show Web site, www.mcpx.org, can use the Attendee Assistant to create his own itinerary at the show. Users can add appointments in a calendar and keep track of seminars and exhibitor booths.

For more information, visit NPCA's Web site at www.precast.org, and NCMA's site at www.ncma.org. Visit www.mcpx.org for show information. Turn to p. 70 of this issue for pre-show coverage.