dom-mas
The video was from the 2008 MCAA convention (Mason Contractors Association of America) that is held annually. It is sponsored by the MCAA, Spec-Mix and other suppliers.
The competitors come from regional contests around the country and are generally sponsored by their employers. They lay block and/or brick and are judged by contractors and others for speed and deductions for low quality. It is like a flat out drag race with unbeleivable production rates.
Gabe -
Putting on masonry training class can be a real chore if you are really serious about. I supervised 1 week (8 hours a day) for 3 separate years while working for a block producer. The goal was to teach people to lay to the line in case of mason shortages.
We rented a building at a near-by county fairground that had facilities and could accept deliveries and removal of waste. The class size was limited to 24 students, as recommended by the instructor. Based on a recommendation by a block supplier in the Milwaukee/Appleton/Green Bay area we hired an experienced mason contractor as an instructor because he had done it before and enjoyed teaching. We paid him (contract agreed), housed him, fed him, entertained him as long as he drove the 300 miles.
The students were union apprentices, mason contractors employees, laborers for GC's, and active employees laying block for mason contractors, but union requirements. I assume all were paid for the time spent by their employers. We allowed the union BAs to come at any time as long as they brought donuts. We provided the coffee, sodas, water and lunch (usually off the grill). - Also steaks off the grill and beer the last evening when awards were made.
As a block producer, we supplied the block, cement, lime, sand that was required by the instructor. Cement and sand suppliers donated materials to us, but they were always doing some arm-twisting to get them used. The cost each year was about $15,000 including material disposal (not including block cost and block were not reused), not including our time and miscellaneous items. You cannot do quality masonry using used materials.
Two of the 3 years the best masonry was done by female employees from mason contractors (one was a wife), but the active apprentices were also pretty good. the outstanding work was a colored split face arched wall with a 45 degree corner built by a receptionist.
It was a lot of fun, a lot of work and a bunch of money