StonExpo 2004: L.A. Education

  “Stone Industry Education – Powered by the Marble Institute of America (MIA)” is this year’s approach to education at StonExpo. The track of 40 seminars, plus one on-the-go event, covers a wide spectrum of issues facing stone shops in the 21st century.
  The scheduling of the bulk of the sessions before 10:30 a.m. gives attendees the ability to take in as many seminars as they can and still spend plenty of time in StonExpo’s exhibit hall at the Los Angeles Convention Center. And, there are even a few sessions available for early birds arriving the day before exhibits open.
  There’s a bit of something for everyone in the education schedule. Fabricators and installers will find 10 seminars devoted to techniques in the shop and at the job site, as well as 11 sessions covering business management. Stone selection and specification is the focus of eight seminars, while five others center on restoration. New and emerging issues are the topic of four sessions, with two seminars devoted to the needs of architects.
  Several of these topics get some attention before StonExpo officially begins, with three sessions designed for early arrivals. At 3 p.m. on Oct. 27, the education kicks off with Put A Bit Of Science In Your Business: Understand Stone From Formulation To Facade And Beyond, by Dr. George Rust, a geologist from California State University-Fresno; Stone Sealing & Cleaning – Fact And Fiction by Michael Guasch and Claudia Ramirez of StoneTech Professional Inc.; and Enhancing Your Supervisory Skills from the MIA’s James Hieb.
  If the classroom’s not quite the place for someone before StonExpo begins, there’s the stone tour of the Getty Center from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. It’s a chance to get an in-depth look at this major Los Angeles art center that features, among other highlights, a million square feet of travertine. (The $30 fee for the tour is separate from any other MIA events, including education, and it’s limited for 40 participants.)
  Fabricators and installers get plenty of attention during the next three days of StonExpo, including two open forums on Oct. 28 and Oct. 30. The session on the 28th focuses on residential projects, with a panel including Gasper (GK) Naquin, Stone Interiors; Lindell L. Lummer, CTC, Malibu Art Tile & Stone; Ken Krebs, Tennessee Granite & Marble Co.; and Chuck Muehlbauer, MIA’s technical director. Muehlbauer returns for the seminar on the 30th for commercial projects, joined by Brett Rugo, Rugo Stone and Jay Esmay, Cold Spring Granite Co.
  Other fabricator/installer sessions on Oct. 28 include Small Shop Countertop Production by Keith Graves of Marva Marble & Granite Inc. On Oct. 29,  it’s Advanced Countertop Fabrication by Rich Booms, Booms Stone Co., and Scott C. Lardner, Rocky Mountain Stone Co.; Exterior Stone Cladding: Getting It Right The First Time by Michael Picco, Picco Engineering; and Lean Manufacturing In A Countertop Shop by Cold Spring’s Esmay.
  On the 30th, fabricators and installers get a selection of a panel discussion of Understanding Diamonds In The Shop; Preventable Problems: Membranes And Waterproofing from Dean Moilanen, The Noble Co.; How To Avoid Mistakes When Buying Your Fabrication Equipment by Renato Meiohas and Claudio Balbo of AGM Engineering; and Countertop Fabrication, again by Booms and Lardner.
  For business management, sessions on Oct. 28 are Developing A Marketing And Sales Plan For Your Stone Business by Donato Pompo, Ceramic Tile & Stone Consultants; How To Manage Commercial Stone Projects by Joe Kapcheck, J. Kapcheck & Co., and Jim Hogan, Carrara Marble Co. of America Inc.; How To Sell Natural Stone More Effectively by Kevin M. Padden, KM Padden Consulting and regular Stone Business columnist; and Buying Equipment And Tools from Booms and Lardner.
  On Oct. 29, business-management sessions include How To Turn An Unhappy Client Into A Satisfied Customer by John Connors, Sepulveda Building Materials; Effective Risk Transfer Insurance Dos & Don’ts by Marc Rosenkranz, Schechner Lifson Corp.; For What It’s Worth: Appraisal Of Your Stone Deposit from Mark Zdunczyk, Continental Placer Inc.; How To Value Your Company For Sale Or Merger by Terry Gambill, Terry Gambill and Associates; and Diversifying Your Operations: Expanding The Use Of Stone from Dale McAvoy, Park Industries. Wrapping up business-management topics on Oct. 30 is OSHA/EPA Compliance Review – Dry vs. Wet Dust Collectors by John Schubert, Schubert Environmental Equipment Inc.
  For restoration on Oct. 28, there’s Stone Tile Installation Failures by Fred Hueston, National Center for Stone and Masonry Trades; and a reprise of Stone Sealing & Cleaning – Fact and Fiction by StoneTech’s Guasch and Ramirez. On Oct. 30, restoration sessions include Preparing for Success – Tackle Maintenance Issues Before They Become Problems by Tom McNall of Tom’s Maintenance and Stone Maintenance For Residential And Commercial Interiors by Hueston.
  Stone selection and specification becomes the focus of several sessions on Oct. 28 with Know Before You Import: Customs And Building Stone by Jacob Bunin of the federal Bureau of Customs and Border Protection; and Selling Stone Products To Architects – An Industry Opportunity by Mark Fernandes, Luck Stone Corp. On Oct. 29, the topic is covered with a reprise of Rust’s Put A Bit Of Science In Your Business: Understand Stone From Formulation To Facade And Beyond. There’s also a two-part session of  Know Your Stone & Its Care And Maintenance, featuring a panel that includes (depending on the session) Fred Jackson, Rod Sigman and Christine Jenkins, CTC, of Aqua Mix, Joseph Salvo of Miracle Sealants & Abrasives Co., Robert Theofield of Akemi, Andrew Levine of Stone Care International and StoneTech’s Ramirez.
  On Oct. 30, selection/specification seminars include Sourcing Stone From China And India by Paola Blasi and Marcantonio Ragone of IMM Carrara; and Understand The Charisma Of Stone: The Intelligent Choice by Rust.
  Architects will benefit from two sessions on Oct. 29, with Introduction To Stone Design by Stone Interiors’ Naquin and MIA’s Muehlbauer; and The Natural Stone Industry In Italy – International Sourcing, Selection And Fabrication by Vince Marazita of Marazita & Associates and sponsored by the Italian Trade Commission in Los Angeles.
  For new and emerging issues, sessions include Understanding China And What It Means To The Natural Stone Industry by Jack Seiders and Jack Lieberknecht of Architectural Granite & Marble Inc. on Oct. 28; and Granite Resin Process by Filippo Emanuel of Tenax USA, Don Halvorson of Forensic Tile Consltants and Malibu Art’s Lummer on Oct.29.
  Two other seminars on new and emerging issues feature MIA’s Muehlbauer, with Meet The New MIA Technical Director – Showcase The New Design Manual On CD on Oct. 28 and Use The New MIA CDs In Your Orientation, Training And Marketing Programs on Oct. 30.
  The package deal for the seminars is with a full convention registration, which covers nine seminars, a three-day pass to the StonExpo trade-show floor and tickets for the MIA Gala Reception on Oct. 28 and the Pinnacle Award Luncheon on Oct. 29. For MIA members, it’s $315 by Sept. 13 and $365 after that; for non-MIA members, it’s $415 by Sept. 13/ $465 thereafter. (There’s also an additional $50 fee, regardless of when the registration is received, for Rust’s Put A Bit Of Science In Your Business seminar with any package offered.)
  Another combination gives access to five seminars and the three-day trade-show pass; depending on whether the registration is received by Sept. 13, the charge is $300/$350 for MIA members and $345/$395 for non-members. A three-seminar, three-day show ticket package is available to MIA members for $200/$250 and non-members for $220/$270, with the lower prices available by Sept. 13.
  And, attendees can always go ala carte with seminars, with individual session tickets available for $80 by Sept. 13 and $95 on-site; any ticket includes a one-day pass to the trade show.  (The additional $50 fee for Rust’s Put A Bit Of Science In Your Business remains on individual-ticket sales.)