It’s the 5th and final week of the BHMA Built for What Matters Challenge, in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Builders Hardware Manufacturer’s Association.  In a couple of weeks I’ll be headed to the BHMA conference and anniversary celebration in Lake Tahoe!

My submissions for the other weeks of the challenge have been a great opportunity to share information about the safety, accessibility, durability, and innovation provided by the door and hardware industry – you can read those posts here:

For the 5th and final week, the topic is Built for Impact – how our company’s work supports healthier, safer, and more connected communities.  We were asked to “reflect on your company’s mission and how your products improve safety, access, or durability in everyday life.”

Community…one of my favorite things to talk about.  🙂

I was actually thinking about this over the weekend, which I spent in Denver at the annual CONSULT conference.  The sense of community among the attendees was palpable – it felt more like a family reunion than an industry conference!  Don’t get me wrong, there were a lot of great education sessions (I conducted one!), meetings with vendors, and networking happening, but it was obvious that people were really enjoying spending time with colleagues and even competitors who had become friends.

When I think about the communities that I’m a part of, it looks like one of those old bubble diagrams that we used to draw in architectural school.  Of course I have my family and close friends, my neighborhood and others who live in my city, my fellow salsa dancers, travelers and animal lovers, coworkers and industry colleagues, connections on social media…the list goes on and on.  The bubble diagram is not neat and orderly (as preferred by my old college drafting teacher, Ernie Wright).  The bubbles are different sizes and often overlap.  Some of the bubbles aren’t even bubble-shaped, but the diagram is beautiful just the same.

The bubble that I am most proud of is this one – the community that has grown around iDigHardware.com.  That might seem silly…how can a group of readers from across the internet and around the world mean so much to me?  First, I feel responsible for planting the seeds, when I created the site more than 16 years ago.  Second, I’ve nurtured it and done my darnedest to make sure everyone who came looking for help was able to get what they needed.  I’ve marveled at the willingness of community members to share their insight and to help each other.  I’m still amazed at the varied roles of iDigHardware’s readers, from within the industry and beyond.

Finally, I look at the impact this community has had on the safety of building occupants.  Buildings are safer because of the code development work that BHMA has taken on, and because of the access to this information through iDigHardware.  Code officials have a better understanding of the intent of the codes, helping with strong enforcement in the field.  More than 25 years ago, I took a poll of my coworkers and industry colleagues…“Where is panic hardware required by code?”  Very few could succinctly answer that question.  Today, thousands of people can confidently share this information, or will at least know where to find it.

The instructions for today’s challenge were, “reflect on your company’s mission and how your products improve safety, access, or durability in everyday life.”  Allegion strives to create a safer and more accessible world, and the Allegion values align directly with my own.  iDigHardware, and the community of readers and contributors that make the site better every day, are a community that we can all be proud of.  Thank you!

 

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