At last month’s excellently attended NAT conference in Seattle, the closing session threw up a somewhat sobering but nonetheless fascinating discussion that could easily have been titled ‘How do you sell a tunnel’. It became increasingly clear that for an industry that excels in an extremely challenging discipline, this ‘product-promotion’ was an area that has been consistently overlooked. The ensuing exchanges between the participants concluded that a more aggressive sales pitch from within the industry was required to promote the need for tunnels. The tunnelling industry in the US found itself guilty of waiting for projects to come up instead of getting out there and convincing the right people that they need a tunnel before they had even considered it as an option.
I’m by no means pointing a finger at the US sector, they have seen the problem and started to address it and should be commended. This inability or even avoidance at self promotion is a problem that is commonplace throughout many industries the world over. Whether it is concern over being mistaken for arrogant, or just the engineers contentedness in a job well done with no fuss, the result is the same. Client’s won’t come to those who don’t shout their virtues. Ask anybody in the street about tunnels and I’ll bet 99% won’t have even considered them, let alone realise their vital importance in infrastructure. Why would this be different for any number of possible clients who may have no experience with tunnels as a solution?
The British Tunnelling Society has made great steps towards changing the present situation in the UK with the establishment of a Parliamentary Lobbying Committee. The Committee has been set up with the specific intention of telling our political figureheads of the importance of the use of underground space and with persistence has gained the chance to talk, on a level, with some high level decision makers. This is a great place to start and should be held up as an example to follow. This month sees the T&TI website go online. Why not start a discussion now about how to get the message across to those that can swing these multi-million dollar projects. Use the website as your international notice board, I’m looking forward to your suggestions.
