As I sit down to write this Stone Column, I feel like I can finally take a breath. It’s been a busy first half of the year for myself and the Stone World staff — filled with a great deal of traveling, both domestically and abroad, to trade shows, workshops and other stone industry events. This is in no way a complaint, as we always learn something new, meet a new industry member or reunite with an old friend. It might make it difficult sometimes to balance being out of the office while still putting the magazine together, but it always works out in the end and is definitely worth our time. I do apologize, though, for anyone who might have received a delayed response from me in the past few months.
Talking with Jason Kamery, who you know is our managing editor, it seems the one common denominator we have been noticing when attending these events is the willingness to share ideas and experiences. The majority of the stone industry is sincere about wanting to help and teach one another. Whether I am at a fabricator forum during TISE or Coverings or one of the workshops Stone World holds with the MIA+BSI, I can more often than not feel the energy in the room and the comradery many share when discussing issues that affect them as fabricators.