September 2009

Gung Ho Summer

The end of summer marks the beginning of our chapter’s new year.  While we do not meet as a chapter in July and August, planning and budgeting for the new year keeps the board and committees busy over the summer.  Many new and exciting things are being implemented now, while others will be soon.  I am very proud to be working with so many spirited board and committee members.   I swear we’re all Gung Ho! about CSI.   

Before I review what lies ahead for us, I want to mention that we had the chapter’s first BBQ in late June hosted by Steve and Diane Pestell at their beautiful home in Windsor.  About 35 members and their friends and family attended.  Though it was a warm day, people simply relaxed under the gorgeous canopy of mature oak trees, chatting, laughing and making new friends.   The cool new pool enticed a few to dip in, too.   Dan Cahill of the PRMD catered the event, and boy did he enjoy overhearing our conversations.  I want to thank Steve and Diane again for their generosity and hospitality. 

It’s not too late to add to or join a foursome in the second Redwood Empire CSI-AIA Golf Tournament at Windsor Golf Club on August 28.  Last year’s event was a tremendous success and this year’s tournament is shaping up very nicely.   Go to aiarecsigolf.ezregister.com for information on playing and sponsoring.  Thanks to Steve Clark, Carl Portscheller, Amanda Edvardsson, Matt Cardle, Kelli Mathia, and Rob Shimetz for pulling this event all together.

We will break tradition this year by having the September chapter meeting at the Harmony School District site in Occidental.   The Redwood Empire Chapter of USGBC will be joining us on a tour and a program of the new Salmon Creek Falls Environmental Center, a multi-use building that has been submitted for platinum LEED certification.  I attended the grand opening back in June and was mightily impressed with the design, technologies and products used in the building.  A team of the project designers will explain how the design evolved and how they were able to achieve so many LEED points.  Many thanks to Rob Cox and Dmitri Rusov-Morningstar who are working on this tour and program.

The West Region Conference is September 24 – 26 at the Berkeley Marina Doubletree Hotel.   The East Bay Oakland Chapter is hosting the conference.  The registration brochure is attached to this Bark.  A highlight looks like a bay cruise and dinner on the Hornblower, including a technical review of the new bay bridge replacement now under construction.  And yes, we are supposed to motor right under the new expansion.   Please remember that the deadline to book discounted rooms is August 26 and the early bird deadline to register for the conference is August 31.   Being so close, this is an easy opportunity to experience CSI at another level and meet new people and make new contacts.   It would be terrific if a lot of us could make it this year.  Please contact Jennifer Alexander, our Region Director, or me if you have any questions.

John Guill will be presenting three seminars in October and November on specifications at the North Coast Builders Exchange.  Traditionally we have had one fall seminar, however John has graciously extended himself for us this year.  Introduction to Specifications (October 9), Advanced Specification Writing (October 23), and Division 1 General Requirements (November 20) are intended to help our local industry community learn about how CSI is a resource on how to create and organize information to construct buildings.

Our board and committees are really committed this year to improving the services we provide.  As good as our member services have been in recent years, I am sure you will notice some improvements.   You will also notice the new faces of the many new members we added last year.  As the diversity of our membership is enriched with the addition of more people and their niche expertise, we all enjoy a richer CSI experience.   So invite a colleague to join you at a meeting and share the gift of CSI.