Technology can empower or control, depending on its use. Innovation requires wisdom and responsibility to ensure progress serves humanity. Tools must enhance life rather than dominate it.
SHIVANSHU K. SRIVASTAVA
Our June issue focuses on the vast range of tools that can help you excel in your career.
Starting off with our cover feature, RTC Products presents an overview of new tool products the company exhibited at the Coverings show a few months back and how they can increase your efficiency, comfort and more.
In our Product section, special correspondent Chris Woelfel brings us an additional report on outstanding tools and accessories that impressed her at Coverings, and a sidebar rounds out that report with other choice tools to explore.
NTCA Executive Director Bart Bettiga’s One-to-One this month details the evolution of Best of Everything (BOE) and its strong legacy of innovative tools for the industry.
In our Technical story, James Woelfel delves into the importance of achieving a flat concrete substrate. He discusses ways to properly prepare a concrete substrate, as well as tools to help gauge the floor. In Ask the Experts, we look at matching mixing-drill speed with the needs of the material to obtain a strong bond for thin-set mortars and precise flow for self-leveling underlayments.
In our Business story, Matt Rogers of Measure Square outlines how a CRM dedicated to the needs of tile and stone workflows can streamline, simplify, and organize your processes for greater efficiency and productivity.
In our Mindset Matters blurb, we focus on mental health tools you can use to enhance your life every day, at home and on the job. And in our Artisan feature, we hearken back to the recent Coverings show with a synopsis of a panel of artisan women who represent different aspects of the industry, how they are intertwined, and how they complement each other.
Rod Owen muses about tools in his opening President’s Letter—from trowels to cutters to software, to skills, knowledge and discipline—and how to use tools of every stripe to their best effect.
And we end with an ask: Do you have a favorite tool that has made a big difference on your projects? We started our Cool Tools section in January, sharing favorite tools that installers and contractors have named as game changers on the job. We want to know what has worked for you! Send a print-quality photo (1.5 MB or larger) of your favorite tool with a comment on why it has made an impact to lesley@ tile-assn.com, and we’ll consider it for a future issue!
Lesley Goddin has been writing and journaling since her first diary at age 11. Her journey has taken her through a career in publishing and publicity, landing her the editor position of TileLetter and its special publications in 2006. Her goal is to educate, inspire, recognize and encourage those in the tile industry -- especially the tile and stone contractor.
