Masonry Magazine April 1997 Page. 14
Expo Wrap-up
Continued from page 13
MCAA'S EXPO Ed
Have Far Re
MCAA's Educational Programs
A Successful
Mixing of
Old and New
The blending of association favorites with new speakers and a new time frame helped make this year's MCAA Expo educational programs a resounding success.
One of the most beneficial results of this year's program was the positive response to the schedule change. In the past the MCAA would run the MCAA seminars the afternoon of the golf outing, then would set aside the whole next day from MCAA workshops. During this single day we would run 3 or 4 workshops simultaneously in a time slot. In the course of the day between 9 and 12 workshops would be offered. Finally, members could attend the jointly sponsored EXPO seminars (NCMA and MCAA held at conventions centers in the mornings before the exhibits.
"Unfortunately what we found was that this was creating a situation of information overload, especially on the day when the MCAA ran 12 workshops. By the third or fourth workshop in a row, participants would start to look a little bleary eyed", explained Education Director Connie Kitzinger.
In response to this some significant changes were made. First, the joint EXPO seminars were eliminated due to the fact that these programs were attended predominantly by contractors. This freed up the mornings before the exhibits opened. As a result, we could move the MCAA workshops to those time periods.
This arrangement proved to be very success for a number of reasons. First, rather than preparing themselves for a full day of sitting a This years MCAA workshops were a blend of technical information and managerial/administrative sessions. All of the workshops were extremely well attended and two in particular served as catalysts for future industry activities.
The Saturday morning program on mason training provided attendees with a comprehensive look at what is being done around the country. Participants in the program heard from a 5 member panel of industry representatives, each of whom is actively and successfully involved in mason training. Then after discussion, participants had a tour of two instructional areas. They saw the Metro-Tech high school masonry "shop" area and moved on and saw the Arizona Mason Contractors Apprenticeship classroom and lab areas.
The program was successful for a number of reasons. First, it provided a place for individuals from all around the country to meet and share their problems, successes and failures. It also provided information fo those who were just about to begin programs. The ability to talk with others was a critical component. "The open discussion aspect of the program was so valuable tha many individuals wanted to continue to hold open training discussions at EXPC every year", explained Connie Kitzinger MCAA Education Director. Second, seeing the actual facilities layout and the apprentices working was very inspiring, especially for those just beginning programs.
listening, or skipping a seminar because they were too bleary eyed to listen, people could really focus on one topic a day. Second, after the seminars were over, the participants were read to walk the show floor. Holding the workshops in the morning at the convention center enabled some people to make it to the center every day. Finally, it shorten the entire convention program by one full day. This made the whole program more attractive to participants. More people were able to participate in the entire EXPO rather than just coming for the days the exhibits were open.
Another procedure that was new to this year's program was to ask participants to chose the workshops they planned to attend when they registered, rather than just deciding when they arrived at EXPO. This change was necessary for a number of reasons. First, it gives the MCAA staff a better idea of how many people to expect at a program, thereby making it easier to check room size and room arrangements. The size of the audience is also information that
14 MASONRY-MARCH/APRIL, 1997