For TRADA, as for the timber industry as a whole, it has always been a challenge to reach out to architects, engineers and specifiers, to spread the message about timber where it counts.
The launch of our on-line knowledge resource askTRADA this year has reaffirmed to us how valuable technical information can be in linking the industry to specifiers and end users – but it has underlined, too, how much more must be done by all of us to encourage architects to design in timber, engineers to look to timber for structural solutions and specifiers to be inspired by what others have achieved, aesthetically, structurally and environmentally.
TRADA has decided to take the bold but carefully considered step of making the core technical information on askTRADA free to all visitors from the new year.
Our investment in askTRADA for the coming year will include a well-illustrated library of case studies to provide the inspiration that we know these industry professionals are seeking. We heard this time and time again in the personal and telephone research we carried out among our professional members. And we will continue to invest in our rolling programme of practical research projects to enhance the technical information which will take inspiration from the drawing board to reality.
The timber industry as a whole, we believe, can only benefit from what we are doing. Our corporate members will, of course, stand to gain the most – askTRADA will be assisting them to promote their products and services to audiences that in many cases they cannot reach cost-effectively by other means.
At a time when companies are questioning the value of belonging to trade associations, we believe we are offering something tangible, as well as the opportunity to promote timber per se to a huge, receptive audience.
