2007 Annual

Meeting Sponsors

• Taylor Machine Works Inc.

• Perforex

• Timber Mart-South

September 7, 2007

SFPA’s ‘Home’ on the Web Gets New Look

SFPA’s headquarters building received a much needed update earlier this year. Now the association’s “home” on the Web has undergone a major overhaul. The redesigned site – www.sfpa.org – features improved navigation and a broader range of information for members and non-members alike.  “We are excited about being able to offer a new look and a new way to bring information to our membership and the industry,” said SFPA President Digges Morgan.

 SFPA’s site has always provided helpful information for members, but now also prominently displays topics that are important to the association and its members. “This is SFPA’s ‘real estate’ on the Internet, so we want to take advantage of it to provide as much information as possible to our visitors as well as our members,” said SFPA Communications Manager Georgiann Gullett, who manages the site. For example, the Southern Pine Council’s “Raised Floor Living” campaign and the message that wood is “perfect for building green” are both featured on the site’s home page. 

The last major work on the site occurred in early 2003 when the Members Only section was redesigned. Please contact Georgiann at 504/443-4464, ext. 216, or ggullett@sfpa.org with comments or questions.

Professionals Finding SP in Sweets

Since 1906, the Sweets catalog has been considered the most comprehensive building resource available for architects, engineers and contractors (AEC). In addition, thousands of today’s building professionals head to www.sweets.com each month to gather information about products for upcoming projects. Southern Pine is well represented in both the print and online versions.

Printed editions of the multi-volume catalog were distributed to 24,000 AEC firms this year with the residential edition going to an additional 48,000 firms that include homebuilders, remodelers, designers and residential architects. The Southern Pine Council places descriptive ads in all copies with a brief summary of Southern Pine’s many attributes. Readers can then easily locate SPC’s eight-page insert in the catalog. The insert explains Southern Pine’s strength, versatility and beauty. Technical information covers SP grades along with tables listing design values and span capabilities. The insert also shows typical SP grade marks. An entire page is devoted to the environmental benefits of building with wood, and six case studies are summarized, explaining why Southern Pine is the designer’s choice. Both the AEC and residential catalogs also include a desktop directory, providing a handy reference to product information.  

Online results are especially impressive. Traffic to SPC materials on the Sweets site is up 46% over 2006 with 1,936 unique visitors recorded during the past 12 months. Span tables and details about raised floor systems remain the most commonly accessed online information provided by Sweets. SPC’s online material supplements the insert found in the catalog. Sweets also offers its entire catalog on a twin DVD set (another 55,000 copies), and SPC’s insert is there, too, complete with Web links.

Reprints of SPC’s insert are distributed at trade shows and seminars throughout the year. Download a PDF copy here or at www.southernpine.com. 

Countdown to Charleston Continues

Time is drawing near for SFPA’s 2007 Annual Meeting at the Francis Marion Hotel in Charleston, S.C. Members of SFPA’s Nominations, Pension and Executive committees meet on Sept. 29, followed by a golf event and a reception on Sept. 30. A full slate of Southern Pine Council activities, a reception and a dinner are set for Oct. 1. The meeting closes with an SFPA board meeting on the morning of Oct. 2.  More than 100 attendees have signed up so far.

Speakers will address a range of issues important to today’s industry during the general session and SPC committee meetings on Oct. 1.  SPFA Director of Economic Services Wade Camp will also provide attendees a softwood lumber outlook. And though he can’t alter a tough economic picture, magician and comedian Glenn Strange is guaranteed to lighten everyone’s spirits with a little laughter during the Chairman’s Dinner that night.

To book your room, call the Francis Marion Hotel at 843/722-0600 or 877/756-2121. For information about registering for the meeting, download our Annual Meeting brochure or contact Dianne Breaux at 504/443-4464, ext. 225, or at dbreaux@sfpa.org. 

PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION  

mechanical means, without written authorization from SFPA is prohibited.