Imagine This Wood Flooring World

Imagine a perfect world for our industry: All wood is readily available; the products, whether prefinished or unfinished, are perfect; technical training is extensive, within reach and affordable; no floor failures occur; inspectors, if they show up, are well-qualified and we look up to them as the gods of knowledge. Most importantly, we don't have to explain to everyone why wood is better than all other floor covering products. This kind of utopia is what we all strive for.

We all do what we can to help protect our industry. Over the years I tried helping in any way I could. I volunteered on committees, participated in technical schools as a lead instructor, wrote articles for our magazine or just answered calls from colleagues who needed advice.

This year I joined the NWFA board of directors. Last week I said goodbye to my wife and two kids for a week and got on a plane to DC. I spent most of the time discussing our industry issues with many people. It was all in the name of trying the make things better for everyone. So many people showed up: NWFA staff, manufacturers, distributors and contractors. Yes, we all sat together to put our personal agendas aside and discuss what was best for the industry.

A group of NWFA BOD members brainstorm about member services during our meeting in Washington, D.C. That's me on the left, then NWFA Chairman John Lessick, Joe Rocco, Chris Zizza, Erika Wexler, and Brett Miller.

We also spent a day lobbying at the House and Senate on behalf of the Hardwood Federation. We did it to protect and promote our industry through legislation. Can you imagine a future where wood is illegal to use for building? So, even though it didn't involve working with power tools, I put on my suit and walked from office to office to talk to our representatives about what was important to us in the wood industry. (See the video of me talking with Hardwood Federation Executive Director Dana Cole here.)

That's my fellow blogger Elizabeth Baldwin on the left and Hardwood Federation Executive Director Dana Lee Cole on the right.

It was a busy week, and we really accomplished a lot. Remember the old and bad news about the NWFA? It is gone and in the past. I am asking you to show up at the NWFA Expo next year to see how everything is better and different. I want to thank the NWFA staff and all the volunteers who worked so hard to get us to where we are today. Please remember, I said "better," not perfect. We still have things we all would like to see change. Call the NWFA at (800) 422-4556 and ask to volunteer.

On the next post, I'll be out of my suit and back on the job site, and we will discuss how to make your own medallion without having to be a geometry expert.