PRESIDENT’S LETTER Martin Howard The NTCA Board of Directors has identified international outreach as one of its main strategic objec- tives. The goal is to establish dia- logue and collaboration with other associations with shared interest in promoting and advancing the proper professional installation of tile and stone in the marketplace. NTCA seeks opportunities to learn and collaborate with other associa- tions to build consensus within the industry where advantageous. In February 2016, a delegation of NTCA representatives attended Qualicer, the XIV World Congress on Tile Quality in Castellon, Spain. There it presented on how the NTCA has become a major force and contributor to the develop- ment of tile installation standards in the United States. In September of 2017 NTCA was represented at Cersaie Ceramic Trade Fair in Bologna, Italy, and met with dele- gations from 12 member countries of the EUF, European Federation of National Tilers Associations. During this meeting relationships were formed, and consensus was reached on a number of impor- tant topics. This month NTCA will participate again with the EUF at Cersaie with an agenda focused on learning and sharing the strengths of each country represented. Our interest is focused around the areas of recruitment and training of new workers and contributing to the development of International Installation Standards. We hope to learn how other countries recruit young workers into the trade and how they assess their skills to pair them with the appropriate training program. Some countries use technical colleges, vocational schools or trade associ- ates to facilitate training and we want to gain insight into their best practices based on what has proven to be the most effective. Others have various certifi- cation(s) that identify the skill and knowledge level of workers. We want to understand how these were developed and what impact they have on career development. A key element will be understand- ing the certifying process and the In pursuit of best practices through international collaboration 16 TileLetter | September 2018