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.)