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minds</title></head><body>
<div>It's just you, Darrel... ;-) Well, and me... and
David... and... oh...</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>I do think this was a pretty rare anomaly... Even mainstream
people I come across -- that are involved in building or design, or
media about it -- seem to have heard of it (some still with derision
in their tone, and most still calling it "hay-bale",
though). And I've seen that dramatically change for the better
since my days as editor of TLS. Back then it was 98%
"never-heard-of-it", 1+% had "heard bad things"
about it, and only a tiny minority knew of and were in favor of it.
</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Now that percentage is nearly reversed, with only a small
percentage either completely in the dark (your reporter), or just
full-on against it (mostly for reasons that have nothing to do with
actual straw-bale construction). That reversed 98% are either
more-or-less knowledgeable about it, mostly in a good way, or at least
familiar enough with it to be able to engage their concerns through a
rational conversation about the subject.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>I actually think the natural building movement is doing a pretty
good job (considering our "huge corporate marketing budget")
in getting into the hearts and minds of people.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>I think your experience, Darrel, says (as Derek noted) more about
contemporary media types than it does about how well we're getting our
message out. That reporter is possibly sadly uninformed on a
number of other contemporary topics.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>But thanks for getting the word out... at least as well as the
reporter could convey it. I think we all need to be reminded to
be assertive in reaching out to the "mainstream" (as much as
I like my "alternate universe" here at Ecosa..). And
when we do make "contact", we not only emphasize clarity in
what we tell them, but also that they do the same when writing about
what we do. (que strange "electronica" music melody from
Close Encounters of the Third Kind......)</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>And I can't wait to see that "soy-boo-bale" building
you've got in the works!!</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Cheers from Prescott,</div>
<div>Tom Hahn</div>
<div>Ecosa Institute</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><a
href=
"http://www.latimes.com/la-fg-colombia-bamboo-20111129,0,5294333.story?track=latiphoneapp"><span
></span
>http://www.latimes.com/la-fg-colombia-bamboo-20111129,0,5294333.stor<span
></span>y?track=latiphoneapp</a><br>
<br>
I spoke with a reporter from the LA Times a few days ago who had never
heard of strawbale construction, so of course he had to change it to
"hay" bales in the article that's mostly about bamboo... but
it does bring up the question of how we ever break into the
mainstream. This subject was so new that when I sent him
descriptions of materials we used in a traveling exhibit a decade ago,
he was so grateful that I got credit for designing buildings made out
of soybeans!<br>
<br>
Are we all living in an alternate universe? Just
me?</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><tt>--<br>
Darrel DeBoer<br>
854 Allview Ave<br>
El Sobrante, CA 94803 USA<br>
510-290-3669<br>
</tt><a
href="http://www.BambooBuildingEssentials.com"><tt
>www.BambooBuildingEssentials.com</tt></a><tt><br>
</tt><a
href="http://www.DeBoerArchitects.com"><tt>www.DeBoerArchitects.com</tt
></a><tt><br>
<br>
home page:</tt> <a
href="http://www.wdyl.com/#bamboo"><tt>http://www.wdyl.com/#bamboo</tt
></a><tt><br>
download building codes:<br>
</tt><a
href="http://bulk.resource.org/codes.gov/bsc.ca.gov/"><tt
>http://bulk.resource.org/codes.gov/bsc.ca.gov/</tt></a></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br>
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