Construction Management JumpStart. Barbara J. Jackson

Acknowledgments

      No great accomplishment ever happens in a vacuum. There are always a lot of people behind the scenes who deserve much of the credit for any good thing that makes it to the light of day. I believe this book is one of those good things, and it would never have happened without the hard work and dedication of several people.

      I want to start by thanking Sybex for launching the JumpStart series. I believe that it serves a unique purpose by introducing the public to a number of career paths that they may otherwise never encounter. I am especially grateful to Elizabeth Peterson for discovering my web page and making the phone call asking whether I would be interested in writing this book. I want to acknowledge her for recognizing construction management as the untapped career opportunity that it is. Elizabeth, by initiating this book on construction management, you have provided a great service to the construction industry and the clients it serves. Thank you.

      I also want to thank the many other talented members of the Sybex team who helped put this book together. I'll start by thanking my developmental editors, Brianne Agatep and Maureen Adams, for walking me through the writing process and taking care of all of my formatting errors. Next I want to give a special thanks to Suzanne Goraj, who cleaned up all of my grammatical gaffes and helped my message ring loud and clear. And to Mae Lum, the production editor, a special thank-you for keeping everything on track while I traveled around the country teaching seminars and doing consulting work for the construction and design-build industry. I'd also like to thank Agatha Kim, Kelly Talbot, and Angela Smith for all of their contributions to making the second edition of this book even stronger.

      Of course, I would be remiss without thanking the rest of the Sybex team responsible for tying up the loose ends and putting the whole thing together: compositor Kate Kaminski of Happenstance Type-O-Rama, illustrator Jeff Wilson of Happenstance Type-O-Rama, proofreader Nancy Riddiough, and indexer Nancy Guenther. For the Second Edition, copyeditor Kim Wimpsett, compositor James Kramer of Happenstance Type-O-Rama, illustrator Richard Sheppard of Happenstance Type-O-Rama, proofreaders Publication Services, Inc., and indexer Jack Lewis. For the Third Edition, thanks to copy editor Mike Isralewitz and production editor Jayalakshmi Erkathil Thevarkandi.

      In addition to the fine folks at Sybex, a number of other supporters must be mentioned. Let me start by acknowledging several authors, most of them good friends and fellow faculty, who have written really good texts used as general references in the writing of this book.

I extend a very special thank-you to my dear friend, colleague, and technical editor Paul Weber for his diligent review of every word in the manuscript for technical accuracy and application. Paul, I greatly appreciate your support and assistance in helping me achieve this goal. And as always, your abilities to communicate graphically were put to good use in several instances throughout the book. I would also like to thank Jes Frazier for her steadfast help and support in helping me review every page and every word.

      And finally, as always and forever, I thank my husband, Wayne, for his continued support, love, and understanding year after year while I continue to pursue the passions of my heart.