In Praise of Vision Casters

Eric Herman

The key to progress in most industries is the presence of people who are able to see through to a better tomorrow. At WaterShapes, we’ve sought to create a forum for these forward-looking people – professionals who use their positive visions as guiding principles in all the work they do.

That’s why, when people ask me what this publication is all about, I like to say “It’s a magazine about possibilities.”

When we started WaterShapes more than two years ago, we had a strong hunch that there were lots of people designing and building “contained, controlled water” who believed that the future held possibilities far greater than those embodied in the typical images embodied by the swimming pool, waterfeature and landscape-design trades. To be completely candid, however, we weren’t entirely sure how many people we would find who were ready to share in what we sensed could be a rich, varied dialogue.

I’m thrilled to report that what we’re hearing back from you indeed confirms that design, engineering and construction professionals across the country have enthusiastically joined the discussion. I can’t tell you how many people have called to let us know that our authors and columnists are providing information critical to their pursuit of excellence in the watershaping trades.

Architect Randall Angell of Dallas put it beautifully in a recent letter: “It is important for members from every division of our industry to see that there are companies all over the country that put pride into their work and truly care about the customer. For this reason, I believe that you at WaterShapes are vision casters. Through this magazine, you have the opportunity to spawn a level of excellence never before witnessed in our industry. You have the ability to show what can be achieved when thought is put into each aspect of a project.”

I agree with Angell on every point he makes, with one key exception: The “vision casters,” as he puts it, are not those of us who work at the magazine; rather, it’s you in the trade who’ve stepped forward to participate in the development of the magazine as your forum. And that applies as much to those of you who write for us as it does to those of you who take the time to consider, adopt, adapt and apply the ideas explored in our pages.

The level of participation in this forward-looking, high-minded dialogue is strong evidence of a trade that, as Angell puts it in his letter, “has the passion to stretch the limits and reach beyond what has previously been done.”

To that stirring assessment I say, “Bravo!” And to all vision casters in this trade, I say let’s keep the conversations moving forward into a future built on a heightened sense of pride and an ever-broadening palette of possibilities!