Demolition has embraced the Internet, but not to the extent of conservationists.
Just over four years ago, when I took on the role as the media relations consultant for the UK’s National Federation of Demolition Contractors, I was asked to send a message to all of its 160+ Corporate members using an existing email database.
More than half of the emails bounced back with messages such as “gone away” and “broken link”; a sad indictment of the demolition industry’s adoption of the Internet.
Fast-forward just a few years, however, and how the industry has changed. During one recent meeting involving some 12 or more UK demolition contractors, the meeting chairman offered delegates a “comfort break”, a colloquial term for a visit to the bathroom or a cigarette break. All but two of the delegates accepted the offer of the comfort break. But rather than reaching for a pack of cigarettes, almost all of them reached instead for a Blackberry or iPhone to check their email.
Hey, let’s face it, where would Demolition News be without an Internet-savvy audience?
But while demolition professionals have grasped email, the Internet and even social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, they have failed to keep pace with the anti-demolition lobby which is actively using the same mediums to delay and even prevent demolition.
Take, for example, the proposed demolition of the Mitchells brewery in Lancaster. As far as we can tell, a contractor has yet to be appointed for this contract. And yet, the anti-demolition and pro-conservation lobby has already mobilised both off and online and is making life difficult for the building’s owner, the local authority and the yet-to-be-appointed contractor.
Now I am not suggesting for one moment that demolition contractors go head-to-head with the conservationists in an online battle for the hearts and minds of the public.
But when was the last time you saw a pro-demolition website, blog or campaign that was not merely a veiled sales tool for a demolition contractor?
Some demolition companies – notably Safedem in Scotland – have highly sophisticated resident liaison procedures in place to keep local people informed of what to expect before, during and after a demolition contract; and it is an approach that has won plaudits from many of Safedem’s high-profile clients including the Glasgow Housing Association.
Yet, to the best of my knowledge, no contractor has yet taken that approach online where local residents and the often vocal NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) lobby often resides. As a result, the general public remains largely unaware of the safety procedures that demolition companies set in place; of the industry’s almost faultless recycling and salvage record.
And it can’t be time restraints or the prohibitive cost of an online presence that stands in the way. A blog – such as Demolition News or DemolishDismantle – can be set up in a matter of minutes; and the only cost is your time.
We’d love to hear your comments on this and, of course, if you’d like any help setting up your own “contract blog”, please just drop us a line.
