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Concrete Decor - Concrete Decor Magazine, The Journal for Decorative Concrete - Index

Industry News
Publisher Bent Mikkelsen, with business manager and wife
Sheri, aboard the Carnival Cruise ship prior to departure.
Concrete Decor
publisher Bent
Mikkelsen recently
spent some time
taking in two highprofi
le industry
events. Here is
what he found.
28 | www.ConcreteDecor.net | Dec. ’07/Jan. ’08
On the Road ... and At Sea
The fi rst annual Decorative
Concrete Cruise
When Michael Bulnes of California
Decorative Concrete called and asked if
Concrete Decor would help him promote
the fi rst annual Decorative Concrete
Cruise, I immediately started thinking
that this would be a great excuse to
escape the offi ce for some “business”
travel. As I thought about it further,
I started to realize that such an event
could actually turn into a valuable
networking opportunity. And sure
enough, it did.
As the Decorative Concrete Cruise
set sail from Miami on Monday, Nov. 12,
nearly 70 industry professionals were
aboard. Having never been on a cruise
before, I was a bit nervous. I was one of
four speakers, along with Bob Harris of
Decorative Concrete Institute, Wayne
Sellon of Tajmawall and Jeff Girard of
the Concrete Countertop Institute, and
we each shared some thought-provoking
words on the subject of decorative
concrete. However, the scene of that
unlucky associate from “The Godfather”
being thrown overboard late one night
with a brand new pair of cast-in-place
concrete shoes haunted me. Needless
to say, I was glad that the ship hosted
lots of evening entertainment to keep
everyone from ideas such as “sink the
publisher.”
Among numerous choices for
evening entertainment were appearances
by unexpected vocal talents — Wayne
Sellon and Larry Freeman, marketing
director for Proline Concrete Tools.
Each would certainly have made guys
like Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings
proud. They also gave new meaning to