Monolithic Dome Conference Survives Snowstorm -- Beautifully!

by Freda Parker
March 14, 2008

Best laid plans of conference coordinators

For about eleven months before one of Monolithic's Annual Conferences, Events Coordinator Anne Sutherland begins her planning, enticing, notifying and arranging. That was certainly true for 2008's 14th Annual Monolithic Dome Conference on March 7th and 8th, at the Wyndham DFW Hotel in Irving, Texas and Monolithic's headquarters in Italy, Texas.

On March 5th -- two days before the Conference -- things looked really rosy, and Anne was sure she had everything arranged just right. A day later -- and just one day before one of our biggest events -- things were not so rosy and Anne was not so sure.

A surprise snowstorm hit North Texas, blanketing some areas with up to eight inches of sparkling white, very wet snow. What an afternoon! It gave us beautiful scenery seldom enjoyed here, and a chance to populate our yards with snow people.

But -- oh, oh -- it also slowed or stopped traffic and delayed or cancelled flights. Phones at Monolithic began ringing. Were we canceling? No, not a chance.

That was the right decision. Texans often say, "If you-all don't like the weather here, just wait five minutes; it'll change." And it did. By late Friday morning there was little evidence of the storm and things were back to normal.

Conference heroes

We consider all our conference participants, our guest speakers and our employees -- the folks who braved that storm -- our heroes and we whole-heartedly thank them.

The evening before the Conference, Becky Plinke, one of those heroes, was on a flight from Tennessee. She thought she would make it just fine -- fly into DFW, get a good night's rest, and be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed on conference morning. But -- her plane taxied to the end of the runway, and the captain decided not to chance it, turned back and cancelled the flight. Becky, our hero, rented a car and spent the next 11 hours driving to Dallas!

As with past conferences, this one included people from various parts of America as well as foreign lands. The three who traveled the farthest this year came from Keni, Alaska; Edmonton, Canada; and Sudberry, Canada.

Our 2008 Conference had its repeaters, too. Maurice Dubois, Kirt Olsen and Walter Lanham attended. Maurice and Kirt have never missed a Monolithic Conference, and Walter missed only one because his wife was in surgery. Those three heroes received special ribbons that said, "Whatever It Takes!"

Ninety percent of our other heroes were first-timers, and half of those were interested in residential domes, while the other half wanted information on commercial domes.

Friday's highlights

The morning began with a Welcome Address by Monolithic's President David B. South and Vice President Gary Clark. The first group of Breakout Sessions followed; it included Dome Building 101, An Intro to Dome Engineering, Road to a Dome, Energy Efficiency & ERVs.

At 11 a.m. the second Breakout Session began: Dome Building 102, Finite Element Analysis, New Building-Castle Wall, Design Guidelines.

After lunch, the afternoon Breakout Session included Equipment Discussion, Openings and Coatings, How to start a Monolithic Dome business, Earth-Friendly Financing 101.

The afternoon ended with a video presentation of various Monolithic Dome projects, and Keith Wortman's success story that he titled, "From Dream to Dome."

Friday evening's banquet began with our traditional drawing, that Richard Ploss of Chelsea, Oklahoma won: a basket full of goodies that included the "Training Pak" and a copy of "Think Round."

Saturday's highlights

Two chartered buses took attendees to the Monolithic Dome school gymnasium in Avalon, Texas, then to Italy where folks toured the Italy High School gym; Bruco, our Airform factory; several dome homes and our office.

In addition, Javier Figueroa, Monolithic's Field Superintendent, supervised a crew that demonstrated the construction of a spray-on, shotcrete fence; Melinda and Judy South conducted a workshop on Dome Decorating; and realtors hosted a coffee-and-cookies tour of Starship Pegasus (available for purchase).

As folks got back on the buses for the return trip to the Wyndham Hotel, the weekend of the 14th Annual Monolithic Dome Conference ended. Now Anne Sutherland is busy gathering feedback from those attending heroes and planning next year's 15th Annual Conference!

Related Links:

• 2008 Conference Audio Tracks- Now available for free download
• Index of Monolithic Conferences
• New - Dome Living Book, Vol. II
• Monolithic Workshops

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