John Callahan wrote:

*************
John Leeke:

I found this approach really hit home:
>
> By the way, a few years back I trained staff maintenance workers at Southern
> College, near Chattanooga, in the special preservation methods needed to
> preserve some 46' tall exterior wood columns. They were able to apply their
> new knowledge to other buildings at the college as well. Unfortunately, they
> are not available for outside work.
>

If nothing else my consultants did irked me, the failure to inform,
educate and develop the independence of our own maintenance and
preservation staff would continue to drive me nuts. The most valuable
service that can be provided is one that allows our staff to continue to
move onto ever more challenging projects.  Some understand that
preservation crafts people are created from crafts people with
opportunities to learn preservation...others do not.  In fact, the
consultants who return are those who have left the staff better off,
regardless of the work on the buildings.

-jc
************

Excuse me if I rant: I was once standing beside a 'preservation consultant'
(who shall remain nameless in this public venue, but who's name at least half
of you would recognize) at a conference. I knew this really was a
'preservation consultant' because it said so on her name tag.  We were both
looking at pocket microscopes on display at the PRG exhibit. I was getting
ready to buy 4 of the Panasonic Light Scopes at about $35. each. This
'preservation consultant' next to me asked, "for what in the world would you
be needing four pocket microscopes?" I related how I was often training
painters, plasterers and woodworkers in how to use them in their work on
buildings and often left one behind for their continued use. The 'preservation
consultant' nearly exploded, "How can you be so irresponsible to place such a
[powerful] tool in the hands of [mere] tradesmen? They would not know what to
do with a microscope anyway. That is certianly a good way to spoil a project."
I was floored by this response, since I have been a tradesperson myself since
I was 14, but managed to ask how it could spoil a project. This 'preservation
consultant' smirked, "well, on *my* projects I take charge and examine every
square foot of surface for changing conditions, and continuously direct their
work accordingly!" I told this person that I found trades and craftspeople
were often bright folks who could readily learn these things, and on my
projects I train them  in how to direct their own work, sometimes by using
tools like microscopes. She was getting red in the face and barked, " *I*
could never do *that* [and loose hundreds of billable hours doing very
little]." (comments in [square brackets] added by me to indicate between-the-
lines-meanings clearly evedent in her tone of voice.

It has always been a tenant of my consulting practice to work myself out of a
job by educating my clients and especially their trades and crafts people.
(I'm committed to helping a lot more people than myself.) I credit this one
tenant with the fact that I had plenty of work through the last recession
while other consultants and architects were calling me to see if I had work
for them. (Miss Manners says it's OK to toot your own horn if it's true.)

John Leeke, Preservation Consultant

(ever since this incident I've been looking for a different title for myself
other than "Preservation Consultant", let me know if you have any ideas. Last
year I was thinking of "Preservationist." Jeff Smith, the state planner for
New Hampshire (and a preservation advocate) reminded me that they now have
innoculations against that.)