As I am writing this, National Tile Day, February 23, is just three days away. Our social media and online digital sites have been awash in Why Tile? news and hashtags, and posts that serve to boost tile’s popularity with consumers, illustrating the properties, artistry and performance characteristics of the floor and wall covering that we in the industry have dedicated our lives to promoting, selling, installing and using in design. Tile manufacturers' associations – foreign and domestic – as well as contractors, design- ers, Coverings, and others are all getting into the act. Did you catch any of it? How did you get onboard with raising aware- ness of tile as a great finishing material in 2018? Did you miss it? Well, mark it on your calendar for next February 23, 2019 and plan a promotion or awareness cam- paign in your segment of the market. Wondering what to do? Enter #whytile or #nationaltileday in your favorite social media and see some of the efforts that took place in 2017 and 2018, then plan accordingly and join the festivities. Taking a look at our story lineup this month, please be sure to catch the Business Tip, written by Pat O’Connor. He takes a look at how the new Tax Cut and Jobs Act may affect your business. LATICRETE’s Sean Boyle also gives us a view into economic trends and growth that will impact our industry in 2018 and beyond. Also take a look at the Coverings preview. It includes information about an exciting new activity NTCA is spear- heading at the show – the Installation Experience. At press time, it’s still in the planning stages, but read and learn about what we’ve got up our sleeve for your enjoyment and education, and plan to attend Coverings May 8-11 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta this year. God bless, Lesley lesley@tile-assn.com EDITOR’S LETTER Lesley A. Goddin “Raising awareness, changing the marketplace, effecting spiritual change - whatever it is that you decide is your thing, go for it.” – Stone Gossard CORRECTION We are getting REALLY good at this. Making corrections, that is. Perhaps some of you caught our faux pas in our February issue – on our cover and cover feature. Though the renovations to the Flamingo casino and resort in LasVegas, Nev., made the facilities SEEM new, they really are 70 years old, not 7 as we published on our cover, table of contents, and opening page of the story. Here’s how the cover S H O U L D have looked. With sincere a p o l o g i e s to both the Flamingo and Bostik. years old, not 7 as we published on our cover, table of contents, and opening page of the story. Here’s how the cover S H O U L D have looked. With sincere National Tile Contractors Association www.tileletter.com February 2018 ON THE COVER: Bostik, Inc. 70-year-old Flamingo hits the jackpot with Bostik Hot Topics: Dealing with substandard tile Tech Talk: Does lack of 80% mortar coverage mean that a tile installation will fail? 10 TileLetter | March 2018