Annual Conventions

∙ 2020 Convention:

• The 48^th Annual Convention, which was to be held April 2-4, 2020 at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, CA, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak. This cancellation occurred just two weeks before the Convention was to take place. 
• Attendees were given the option to defer their registration to 2021 or receive a full refund. 
• CSDA was able to recover most of the expenses that had already been paid, with the exception of a $19,000 payment to Access DMC, who declared bankruptcy before refunding our payment as they had promised. CSDA took legal action to attempt to recover this payment but has not yet been successful. All other expenses were rolled over into 2021. 
• 2021 Convention:

• The 49^th Annual Convention, which was to be held March 31 – April 2, 2021 at the Hamilton Princess Hotel and Beach Club in Hamilton, Bermuda, was postponed due to continued concern and risk from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Convention was rescheduled for the same dates in 2022.
• In December 2021, it was determined that the local travel restrictions to enter Bermuda would be too strict to allow for a positive Convention experience for CSDA. The decision was again made to postpone the Bermuda Convention to 2023. The new dates will be March 30 – April 1, 2023. 
• 2022 Convention:
• A search was launched in December 2021 to find an alternative venue in the United States that could host the CSDA 2022 Convention. A contract was signed with The Scott Resort & Spa in Scottsdale, Arizona for the dates March 30 – April 1, 2022. Marketing efforts and registration planning began immediately. 

Concrete Openings

• Ad pages were down 10% in 2021 with 51.6 total pages. CSDA’s official magazine continues to outperform and outlast others in the industry, but the ongoing consolidation of manufacturer members and a continued shift to digital marketing in 2021 lead to a slight decline in ad pages. CSDA continues to aggressively promote the advantages of advertising with the only publication in the industry dedicated to the concrete renovation sector, the advantages of print media advertising and the competitive rates offered by Concrete Openings.
• Concrete Openings recorded a net profit of $58,343 (up 88% from 2019).
• The print quantity for the December 2021 issue was increased for distribution at the World of Concrete 2022 via exhibitor member booths and at the CSDA booth.
• Circulation has decreased to 17,500 copies (down 13%) per issue with annual readership conservatively estimated at 65,000 per issue. This decrease is due to the temporary cessation of international mailing to non-members. With the current state of international shipping including delays and lost packages, a large number of international copies were being returned to CSDA or lost in the mail. In an effort to save money and avoid wasting issues, international shipping to non-members is paused until transportation logistics improve. 

• A total of 3,307 (up 3% from 2019) online subscriptions to Concrete Openings have been received through the website since it was launched in September 2009.
• The Concrete Openings 2022 Media Kit was produced, and a promotion campaign began in December.

Database Development & Management

• Total database entries ended 2019 at 19,977 (+1% since 2019).
• The prospect database decreased slightly to 9,342 (virtually no change since 2019, started with 0 in 1992) entries even after the ongoing database cleanup.
• The specifier database of engineers, architects, general contractors and government officials stands at 6,530 (virtually no change since 2019, started with 0 in 1992).

Financial

• CSDA income for 2021 was $1,055,412, down 1% from 2020 but up 28% from budget. The corresponding expenses were $836,724 which was down 3% from 2020 and 4% under budget.
• Membership dues of $426,413 were down 1% from 2020. This decrease was due in large part to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and the loss of a large contractor member. The CSDA staff and Membership Committee continue to focus on member retention, improving member benefits and promoting the association to potential new members. 
• CSDA assets ended the year at $621,198, up 12% from 2020 and up 65% from 2019.

GPR Imaging

• Two GPR Imaging Certification courses were held in 2021 with 14 students achieving certification. One was held at St. Petersburg College in Clearwater, FL, drawing eight students and one was held at Husqvarna Construction Products in Olathe, KS in conjunction with the 101 Training classes, graduating six students. 

International Association of Concrete Drillers & Sawers

• All in-person IACDS events were put on hold due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 
• IACDS hosted a series of webinars in 2021, with CSDA members participating in many. One was led by CSDA member Mark Critchfield of Slurry Solutions.
• CSDA Executive Director Erin O’Brien served as Technical Coordinator for the creation of an IACDS Document on Slurry Management in Concrete Cutting. 

Marketing

• In December, the committee reviewed several proposals from O’Brien International on various digital marketing projects to promote CSDA and its members. These proposals included plans for marketing Certified Companies and Operators, marketing to specifiers, local and regional marketing efforts and more. The proposals were recommended to and approved by the Board.  
• The “Diamond Advantage” presentation was updated with new images and information, and sections on GPR, concrete polishing, selective demo and slurry control were added. The final presentation was approved for AIA LU’s and can be used as a digital or in-person option for marketing and education. 
• The “Submit Your Request” feature in the “Specifier’s Corner” on the CSDA website home page continued as a popular resource for specifiers. A total of six (up 20%) new requests were received in 2020 and 2021, with a total of 486 since this feature began.

Membership

• Membership decreased to 393 in 2021. Membership is up by 88% since 1993.
• In 2021, there were 23 new members and 89 resignations. The number of resignations was up over 2020, due in large part to the resignation of a large contractor member with multiple locations. 
• The member testimonials continued in Concrete Openings with quarterly insertions in 2021 from Brandon Bailey (A-Core) and Dan St. Onge (Hi-Tech Concrete Cutting). 
• Promotional material sales totaled $2,656 (up 29% in 2021). 

Next Generation

• The seventh Next Generation receptions was held during the World of Concrete 2021 in Las Vegas. The reception drew over 100 current and prospective members.
• The group also hosted two virtual Networking Happy Hours in March and November. The March event was a virtual wine tasting, with 22 attendees, and the November event was a virtual whiskey tasting event, with 18 attendees. 

OSHA

• CSDA participated in the annual OSHA 2021 Safe + Sound and National Safety Stand Down to Prevent Falls in Construction Campaigns and received Certificates of Recognition for its participation.
• Erin O’Brien continues to have discussions with representatives from OSHA regarding the renewal of a CSDA OSHA Alliance. These discussions will continue in 2022. 

Polishing

• CSDA conducted one polishing training class at the World of Concrete 2021. The Concrete Polishing 101 class was successful with eight students in attendance. New instructor Ryan McBride taught this class. 

Public Relations

• Four news releases promoting CSDA and its activities were written and distributed throughout the year to over 250 media contacts.

• Over 15 known placements in 17 separate industry publications were recorded. With the explosion of digital media many placements are made online and we are not aware of all of them. The known publications included:

ASCC Membership Directory Builders Exchange of Central Ohio Concrete Construction Concrete Décor

Construction in Focus Contractor Supply

Diamante A&T Finer Points

IACDS News IACDS Website

Professional Demolition Americas Professional Demolition Int’l.

WOC Daily Planner WOC Program & Exhibits Guide 

WOC Registration Brochure WOC Website

Worldwide Drilling Resource

Safety

• Safety and training DVD sales have reached 1,818 copies:

Core Drilling 363 copies

Electrical Safety   39 copies

Hand Sawing 270 copies

Slab Sawing & Blade Safety 495 copies

Wall Sawing 391 copies

Wire Sawing 260 copies

• Sales of the CSDA Safety Manual have reached 272 copies.
• Sales of the CSDA Safety Handbook (original and the English/Spanish version) have reached 6,888 copies.
• The committee has updated all the Toolbox Safety Tips (TSTs), including quiz questions and answers. Two new TSTs were released in 2020, titled TST 209 Avoid Bringing COVID-19 Home and TST 210 Maintaining a Six-Foot Worker Separation. The number of TSTs stands at 110 and all are available online on the CSDA website.
• CSDA continued its membership with the Construction Industry Safety Coalition (CISC). The organization provides a unified voice from 25 trade associations from the construction industry on OSHA’s Rule on Occupational Exposure to Crystalline Silica.

Standards, Specifications, Tolerances and Best Practices

• The committee revised, approved and released three documents: two Best Practices on Submitting Images for Publication (CSDA-BP-014 Submitting Images for Publication) and Care of Quick Disconnect Flanges (CSDA-BP-013 Care of Quick Disconnect Flanges), as well as one updated Standard on Hand Sawing (CSDA-ST-108 Hand Sawing). All documents are available to download from the CSDA website.

Training

• The number of graduates for CSDA training programs now totals 9,748 (up 5%):

• Cutting Edge (808 graduates, no longer offered, new class created in 2021)
• Cutting Edge Online (50 graduates, new class for 2021)
• Estimating (354 graduates, +3%)
• GPR Imaging Certification (65 graduates, +27%)
• GPR Methods & Theory (33 graduates, +94%)
• Mechanics (10 graduates, class no longer offered)
• Online (6,720 graduates, +3%)
• Operator Certification (521 graduates, +8%)
• OSHA Construction Safety (166 graduates, no change)
• OSHA Silica (11 graduates, class currently being developed online)
• Polishing (190 graduates, +17%)
• Robotic Demolition (15 graduates, class no longer offered)
• Slab Sawing & Drilling 101 (290 graduates, +11%)
• ST-115 Certification (137 graduates, class no longer offered)
• Wall & Hand Sawing 101 (181 graduates, +12%)
• Wire Sawing 101 (106 graduates, +18%)

• The CSDA Online Training website hosted through WeKnowTraining (formerly Yardstick) was shut down in 2021. It finished with 1,333 users with 283 companies having taken a total of 8,563 exams. CSDA received $78,168 for its portion of the registration fees since January 2007.
• A new CSDA Online Training website hosted through CSDA and OBI was launched in July 2021. This new platform will allow CSDA to develop and manage its own classes and keep a much larger share of the registration fees. Since the launch, the site has hosted students from 28 companies registering for 88 courses. CSDA has earned $16,563.80 in training income since July. 
• CSDA held two training courses at World of Concrete 2021 in Las Vegas. The offering of training programs included Estimating (6 participants) and Concrete Polishing 101 (8). CSDA received $10,170 in registration fees for these classes.
• The Slab Saw/Core Drill, Wall/Hand Sawing and Wire Sawing 101 courses were held at Husqvarna Construction Products in Olathe, KS in October. Sixty-three graduated from the three courses.
• The Slab Saw/Core Drill, Wall/Hand Sawing and Wire Sawing 201 Operator Certification courses were held in November at St. Petersburg College in Clearwater, FL. Thirty graduated from the three courses.
• Two GPR Certification classes held at Husqvarna in October and St. Petersburg College in November with 14 students achieving Certification. 
• The number of Certified Operators continues to grow, with 87 current Certified Operators from 32 companies. There are now 38 technicians holding GPR Certifications from 21 companies. 
• The new Cutting Edge Online course being developed by Digital Lagoon was completed and launched on the new online training platform in July. 

Websites/Social Media

• The CSDA Facebook page continues to grow, with 2,775 followers (up 39% from 2019).
• The association’s Facebook CSDA Discussion Forum currently has 1.1K members (up 7% from 2019).
• The CSDA Instagram account now has 2,016 followers (up 58% from 2019).
• The CSDA Twitter account, @csdaconcrete, currently has 149 followers (up 1% from 2019).
• The CSDA LinkedIn account has 1,325 followers (up 31% since 2019). 
• The CSDA Next Generation Instagram account has 103 followers (up 69% since 2019). 
• Members are encouraged to follow these accounts and “like” or “re-tweet” posts with the hashtags #csdaconcrete, #csdaconv and #CSDANextGen.
• Online subscription for Concrete Openings continues to generate leads with 3,307 new subscribers since this feature was added.

World of Concrete & Exhibitions

• CSDA received a record rebate in the amount of $69,100 (up 59%) for its support of the World of Concrete 2020. Attendance for the WOC 2020 was down 12% to 54,000, due in large part to the CONEXPO event taking place later that year and the early signs of the COVID pandemic in China. CSDA’s rebate was 13.2% of the total cosponsor rebates of 19 cosponsor associations. This excellent performance was due to an aggressive marketing campaign focused around CSDA’s focus on the A26 code, with a new focus on digital marketing including paid web and social media ads. The combined efforts by CSDA staff, with member support, promoting discounted registration resulted in this profit. 
• CSDA received another record rebate in the amount of $85,869 (up 24%) for its support of the World of Concrete 2021. Attendance for the WOC 2021 event was down significantly (67%) to about 18,000. This was largely in part due to the event taking place in June instead of January, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The show was rescheduled from January 2021 to June 8-10, 2021 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. With many international and company travel restrictions still in place, attendance was much lower than average. Even with this reduction in attendance, CSDA was still able to secure a record rebate, and the second highest (16.4%) amongst the 18 co-sponsor associations by promoting its A26 source code. 
• Total WOC rebates of $1,049,349 have been received since CSDA began as a cosponsor in 1977.

• CSDA World of Concrete 2021 Exhibitors “Booth Directory” with exhibitor booths indexed by both booth number and alphabetical by company name was distributed at the CSDA booth and made available online.
• CSDA endorsed the following 2021 exhibitions:

-BuildTech Asia 2021, March 10-12 in Singapore

-World of Concrete 2021, June 8-10 in Las Vegas, NV

-14th International Conference on Shock & Impact Loads on Structures, November 3-5, 2021

-World of Concrete Asia, Nov 30- Dec 2 in Shanghai, China