October 2009

The Conference Season

As the summer winds down and the chapter’s new year begins, we always have the annual West Region Conference to look forward to. Ah, that also means the 49ers and football is back in my life, but that’s a chat for another time. Did I mention we’re undefeated so far? Better not go there, I know.

I just returned from the North West Region Conference in Seward Alaska. I spent several days extra in Seward, for obvious reasons. The Kenai Fiords National Park, accessible by watercraft or aircraft only, is an enormous and stunningly beautiful and pristine land and ice field mass teeming with wildlife and sea life. Did you know there are 100,000 glaciers in Alaska?  That if Alaska were cut in half that Texas would still be the third largest state? I could go on, as you know I’d like to, but my space limitation here forces me to focus on CSI news I really need to share with you.

Before I hype our upcoming conference in Berkeley, I wanted to quickly mention that CSI region conferences are probably all a blast. You meet really nice people, make new friends, learn some interesting technical stuff, and discover how other CSI chapters and leaders do things. And best yet, you can make a vacation around a CSI event somewhere in the country you would like to visit. I now have offers to return to Alaska and go with locals (aka my friends now) to their favorite fishing places, and stay at their vacation retreats. CSI membership has its privileges too.

By the time you get the newsletter, the conference in Berkeley will be about to start. It runs from September 24 through the 26th. It’s at the Berkeley Marina Doubletree Hotel, right off the University Avenue exit. If you can still make it, even if you have not registered, show up, even for just Friday or Saturday. The technical programs should be great. Friday night we’re going on a bay cruise for dinner and will feature a presentation on the new bay bridge replacement. Saturday we’re going to go fly kites . . . and I am not kidding. These “chapter challenges” always turn out to be fun, so please join us.

I am very excited about two new things our chapter is doing this year, and we have one of our premier educators to thank for it, the specification ace John Guill. First, John will be doing three seminars on specifications at the North Coast Builders Exchange, a 3-hour introduction class and then a 6-hour advanced class, followed by a 6-hour class on Division 1.  Please see the flier in this month’s newsletter for more details. I recently took the LEED examination, and in the preparation process I realized the heightened importance in the utility of specifications to communicate the requirements for green products, equipment, and the administration of the project. The USGBC may have created a green building movement, but CSI created the foundation of how we communicate. John’s classes will help brand our chapter locally as the best resource on technical documents and education.

And better yet, John is starting a CSI Technical Forum, which will meet at the North Coast Builders Exchange periodically. The purpose will be to educate construction professionals about technical documents, standards and formats, while exposing them to the array of benefits CSI offers. The atmosphere will be informal, the attendance probably small, and just the perfect forum to share the gift of CSI in our local construction community. And we’re going to sponsor treats and refreshments too. I encourage anyone who is interested in this Forum to contact John. And John thanks very much for stepping up again to help us improve our services to members and the community.

I want to mention that our programs committee almost has the year planned out. As we publish our programs and speakers further out, we give members and others more time to plan to come. That’s better member service. Thanks to the committee chair Rob Cox and his team, Dmitri Rusov-Morningstar, Jerd Lapham, and Steve Pestell.

Lastly, our annual Roster is coming out very soon. The managing editor, Amanda Edvardsson, and publishing editor, Dan Furlong, have worked this summer on it . . . and improved it. The Roster will contain a section that divides the members by the 50 divisions in MasterFormat2004. I have seen the proof and it’s terrific. Thanks Amanda and Dan for all your work on this document. It’s a great tool for us to stay connected with one another, as well as a nice marketing tool to attract new members. Who in their sober mind would not want to be associated with such an esteemed, professional organization? Well, ask John Guill if you can’t think of five funny answers.