The Last Word

We've recently been asked - again - to organise a Global Boards Conference. Some of you may remember that this idea was floated in 2010: we keep on being asked to create such an event, but economic conditions have not been right in the last few years. We had not considered the possibility of 'resurrecting' the Global Boards Conference, until we were asked by potential participants to once again look at the conference. Such a conference would concentrate on 'future boards;' new cement-based and other mineral-system-based board compositions, state-of-the-art manufacturing technology and new board applications.

We are aware that there are other events that cover some of the topics that a Global Boards Conference might cover, so we went out to our large database and asked our many readers and contacts for their feedback.

Have you ever noticed that concrete gets an increasingly bad press in the media these days? A while back I went to see Dredd - a grim and apocalyptic sci-fi movie about a future mega-city and its gun-toting lawmen (it was surprisingly funny). One of the leitmotifs of the film was its ugly concrete. Everywhere, it was dirty, covered in graffiti, crumbling, harsh and unforgiving. Perhaps the film-makers had 'dressed' it like that to make a point, and if they did, they did a good job. I noticed it, but perhaps most of the film-goers didn't. Without a doubt, anyone watching the movie would have received a subliminal message that concrete - at least the concrete of the future - is a dirty and unglamorous material.

I've often noticed in literature as well that both cement and concrete get a rough ride. If it's not James Bond being toughed up on some grey, forbidding concrete floor, it'll be a Kafkaesque anti-hero trying to negotiate a Stalinist-brutalist labyrinth of decaying concrete tower blocks. Concrete needs better PR if it is going to become a sexy, cool and desirable building material in the future.

The news in this month's Global Cement Magazine that Cemex is to institute a global water management strategy for its cement plants (and presumably all of its other industrial assets as well, since cement production is not necessarily a thirsty industry, but concrete production certainly is a major user of water) is a fantastic, far-sighted development.

In common with the other multi-nationals, most notably the signatories to the WBCSD's Cement Sustainability Initiative, Cemex has foreseen that sustainability is crucial for its continued existence. With the news that the company will 'regularise' its water management, with a view to reducing its specific water consumption, Cemex has brought to the forefront of its environmental agenda the issue of a The Last Word column, Dr Robert McCaffrey, thirsty world.

A shower is a wonderful thing. While you switch off and undertake your near-automatic ablutions, your mind can wander... and so it was this morning. As I stepped out of the shower, the idea was nearly fully formed (after having had a gestation period of several years). And here is that idea: the Global Cement Run.

As regular readers will know, I am a keen runner. I've done ten marathons and many other shorter races. I run at least once every week and have run in many places around the world, sometimes in the company of contacts in the cement industry. As a hobby, I also organise very tough running races in the UK - you can see all the details about them at www.Trionium.com. Annually, the races raise a decent amount for charity.

My daughter Jemima asked me earlier in the year, "Dad, what's the longest you've gone without food?" I wracked my brain to remember. Apart from an overnight fast for a cholesterol test, and perhaps missing the odd meal over the years, I had to admit that probably the longest I had gone without food was a paltry 14 hours.

To friends and colleagues, I'm well-known for becoming rather tetchy when I haven't had anything to eat (it's not just me, the rest of my family is the same and there will be plenty of people reading this who recognise the symptoms too). It's best to ask me important questions just after lunch, rather than just before. I'm familiar with some mild symptoms of hunger.