http://www.iliai.com/rss/blogXML.phpILI Bloghttp://www.iliai.com/blogs/6http://www.iliai.com/blogs/6Indiana Limestone Institute Spring Meeting 2013 The 2013 ILI Spring Meeting was held at the Bloomington Convention Center on April 22.  More than 35 members attended the interesting and informative roundtable discussion about the move to a "sustainability standard".  Brenda Edwards, of TexaStone Quarries, shared her experiences in being a pilot company working to implement the proposed standard.  Stephanie Vierra, of Vierra Design & Education Services, brought us up to date on what is driving the push on sustainability.  It was a lively discussion with a number of good comments and opinions.Later that evening, Joe Myers, of MyersCroxton Group, presented to the 75 members attending the dinner, a discussion on changes in the evolutionary marketplace on marketing and branding of products.Stephani Vierra explaining trends in sustainable design and constructionJoe Myers explaining changes in marketing and branding http://www.iliai.com/blogs/5http://www.iliai.com/blogs/5Indiana Limestone Institute Spring Meeting 2013 Please join us for the Roundtable and stay for dinner to enjoy networking with your fellow members and their guests. When Monday, April 22nd, 2013 Where Bloomington Convention Center 302 S. College Ave. Bloomington, IN 47403 (3:30pm)  Round table:NSC-373 Standard for Sustainable Stone production Brenda Edwards (ILI member and owner of TexaStone Quarries) will be here to share her experiences representing one of two "pilot" companies currently working to certify to this standard. Stephanie Vierra, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP BD + C(President, Vierra Design & Education Services, LLC), will bring you up to date on what is driving the push toward sustainable, high-performance design in the marketplace.  Based in the Washington, DC area, Vierra has over 7 years of experience representing the natural stone industry on sustainability, and over 25 years of experience in the architectural profession including in associations, research, and practice. She works with the federal agencies and military through a partnership with the National Institute of Building Sciences on whole building design policy, design and technical guidance, and education to advance high-performance building design. (5:30pm)  Happy hour reception (6:30pm)  Dinner served (7:30pm)  Keynote presentation: Joe Myers (ILI Advisory Board Member and Co-founder of MyersCroxton Group), will provide a Branding Professional's perspective on the evolutionary marketplace and ways in which businesses and organizations can engage and position Brands with their audiences to become more successful. We have a block of rooms with reduced rates at the Courtyard Marriott immediately adjacent to the convention center. Courtyard Marriott 310 South College Avenue Bloomington, IN 47403 (812) 335-8000 www.marriott.com http://www.iliai.com/blogs/4http://www.iliai.com/blogs/4  Dear ILI Members, we wanted to express our sincere appreciation to all of you for your continued support of the ILI through 2012. Thanks again to those who made it to the Fall meeting in Bloomington at the end of October.The participation in the mini-trade show and dinner was great!  Along with seven associates on display, we had about 80 members in attendance for the evening.  Everyone seemed to be well engaged in the activities and hopefully enjoyed themselves. Bill Browne, founding principal of Ratio Architects based in Indianapolis, gave our keynote presentation on cladding trends in architectural practice.  It was an eye-opening perspective on how contemporary architectural practice is being influenced by cladding strategies that have been in use for decades as well as technological advances in application.  He also discussed how the latest generation of designers are pushing the envelope with fresh perspective and the most advanced computer modeling tools we've seen yet. We hosted a few of our friends from the Indiana Geological Survey once again.  Assistant Director of Research, Todd Thompson demonstrated an electronic archiving project we've been working on with the INGS.  This system is intended to serve as a home for historical documents, photos, drawings, etc. from across our industry in an effort to preserve them, make them available to on-line research, and promote the continued use of Indiana Limestone.  The potential for expansion of this project is unlimited. As membership is our primary funding mechanism, it is critical to our operation that we continue to work hard on bringing in new members as well as retain the current membership.  As always, any suggestion or help in this effort is greatly appreciated. Our Board of Directors for 2013 has been confirmed and are as follows:  (** Executive Committee) ·President – Will Bybee (Bybee Stone Company, Inc.) ** ·Vice President – Carey Stapleton(Independent Limestone Company) ** ·Secretary-Treasurer – Curt Adams(Architectural Stone Sales)** ·Bond Christie(Christie Cut Stone Company) ·Duffe Elkins (Indiana Limestone Company)** ·Brian Elliott – Elliott Stone Company ·Steve Evans(Evans Limestone Company) ·David Fell (B.G. Hoadley Quarries)** ·Tom Van Etten (Galloy & Van Etten, Inc.) ·Ed Walsh(Sturgis Materials)   NSC STONE STANDARD The NSC-373 Standard Development project continues moving forward with the public comment phase now closed as of 11/12/12. A ballot is currently open until 11/29/12 to vote for acceptance of draft "NSC-373 (version 373i1r1.9)".  Based on the 46 comments made by the ILI to this draft, I voted "No" to this ballot.  I will be posting an editorial on my take of the standard development process in the coming days.  I hope more individual companies will start to invest themselves in this dialog as it is sorely needed. Thanks again for your support. Best regards, Todd Schnatzmeyer, AIA/LEED-APExecutive Director812.369.2010 celltodd@iliai.comhttp://www.iliai.com/blogs/2http://www.iliai.com/blogs/2The 2012 Spring Meeting for institute members is set for Monday, May 14th, 2012 at the Bloomington Convention Center.  We hope to see you all there for the Round Table and Dinner.  Our speaker at the dinner is Todd Thompson from the Indiana Geological Survey.  He will discuss "Features & Fossils of Indiana Limestone".  See you all on Monday.  http://www.iliai.com/blogs/1http://www.iliai.com/blogs/1We are excited to announce the recent  changes in our institutes website! We’ve been working very hard to enhance our site and give our firm a major facelift. We’ve also continued to research and identify the latest and greatest technologies to improve the services we provide and ensure we continue to meet your needs. Take a moment to look around our new website and review some of our advanced features, like our new members section.  We have changed the format and are adding additional member information.  Also, a new blog will enable us to keep you more current with news and information. We hope you like what you see. It’s the same great service, just with a new look and feel. We look forward to hearing your feedback.