At the World of Concrete, Concrete Decor kicked off the New Year by hosting the fourth annual Decorative Concrete LIVE! It was our most successful not just because of what we accomplished, but what happened in the space — community! Artisans and company reps were all working together! It reminded me of why the decorative concrete community is one of the strongest attractants to our industry in years past.
After several months of in-depth planning, Concrete Decor will unveil its newly designed website March 30. For those who reference our online resources regularly, you’re going to find it easier to navigate our immense library of content. For those new to the website, prepare yourself to learn how the many facets of this industry fit together in ways you haven’t experienced. Our annual Product and Training guides will also remarkably change. New search tools will help you find what you’re looking for much faster.
I might sound like a broken record, but I still believe that on-the-job training is how to best teach the trades. It’s how I learned, and those skills are with me for life. Our industry is changing in ways I don’t believe are all that good. When investors buy up manufacturers or distributors that have enough market share to justify the acquisition, a shift in expectations occurs throughout the supply chain and, as a result, a change in how they sell products to the end-user.
Decorative concrete as a unique trade
At Concrete Decor we look at decorative concrete as a unique trade. It draws interest from other trades, but that doesn’t make us a flooring or coatings industry adaptation. We are decorative concrete and unless the world recognizes us as a trade, the trade will be nothing more than a bunch of business opportunities. Trade comes first! It’s how this industry evolved. It’s what got so many different types of distributors excited about serving this industry. But as fast as it is growing, it can dissipate even quicker from a lack of attention and investment back into this industry.
An industry’s success is often seen in the pages of its trade magazine(s). Fewer companies invest in Concrete Decor today because they claim that analytics aren’t found in a printed ad. However, unless a magazine covers an industry the way it should, all you’re left with is a bunch of product manufacturers and dealers selling off reasons why their product is better than another.
We can still make this industry work if we keep things in perspective. Decorative concrete has no interest in being just another industry. Knowing the people I know, our industry deserves and demands better.
Please subscribe to Concrete Decor’s online newsletter and read our blog online at www.concretedecor.net/digital/blog/. Let’s turn the problems of a strong labor pool over to some other industry. And while we do that, let’s we turn up the volume on what distinguishes us from the rest.
