Across the Waters
Eric Herman
For all the comments I’ve heard through the years that there are too many swimming pool trade shows and that the National Spa & Pool Institute’s big national show isn’t all it should be, I’m among those who believe that NSPI’s International Expo is nonetheless an indispensable event. And I say so for one reason: It’s the only U.S. watershaping show that can legitimately claim to be international in scope and attendance.
Through the years, NSPI has done a fine job of forging connections between U.S. builders and their counterparts abroad, both through its annual Design Awards competition (even though, alas, our builders don’t directly compete with those from other countries) and by virtue of the fact that it aggressively markets its Expo worldwide.
When you get right down to it, the Expo is the only chance mainstream U.S. watershapers have to interact with substantial numbers of their colleagues from other parts of the globe. To my way of thinking, this makes the show invaluable.
In that spirit of reaching out to faraway lands, you’ll find in this issue a pictorial on residential and commercial swimming pools from across the seas (click here). You may notice that we’ve momentarily set aside our usual descriptions of design issues and engineering solutions in favor of letting these beautiful images speak for themselves – which I think they do, eloquently. Enjoy!
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We quietly introduced a new column in our last issue: “Details” by David Tisherman.
What can I add to introduce our friend and colleague Mr. Tisherman? No more than that he is as talented as he is – well, “opinionated” – and that he has played a formative role in the magazine through its first two years.
I make no bones about this: David has a capacity to squeeze more creativity and value into square inches of his projects than lots of other builders fit into a whole year’s worth of work. In fact, he’s operating at such a level that we probably could consider profiling one of his projects in each issue.
Short of renaming the whole magazine in his honor, we decided to offer him his own column instead. What you’ll find in each is a single detail you can adapt or apply directly in delighting and dazzling your clients.
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Finally, you may have noticed in our last issue (and this one) the absence of “Things Electric” by Jim McNicol. Jim’s been a bit under the weather the last couple of months and decided to take a break. I’m happy to report that he is on the mend and will be back early next year to continue his insightful discussions of all things electric.