Happy New Year!

Yes, I know, summer is drawing to a close.  But September marks the beginning of CSI Albuquerque Chapter’s regular annual monthly lunch meetings after a long summer siesta.  How did you rest?  Are you ready and excited for a fruitful year with CSI?
 
While you’ve been resting (or working harder than ever), Andy Townes, Jake Jacobsen, and a number of other enthusiastic CSI Board and Committee Members have been planning monthly program topics that would make the most stoic architect giddy with youthful exuberance.  A complete list of the yearly lunch meeting topics will be posted in the next couple of weeks.  In fact, our Communications Committee is giving our chapter website a complete tune-up; more on this will be announced soon.

Also keep a look out for an announcement and RSVP from our Arrangements Chair, Chris Morrison, and plan on attending the September 13th chapter lunch meeting with our guest speaker, Toby Pugh, AIA, Facilities Standards and Specifications Director for Walt Disney Imagineering.  The line-up for the rest of the year is looking equally as exciting, and meetings will continue to be the second Monday of the month at 11:30 a.m. at the Courtyard by Marriott.

In other planning news, the chapter held its annual planning meeting in July which is always open for all CSI members to attend and help the chapter Board and Chairs plan for both one and five years.  This year, we focused on four goals having strategies that revolved around clear / complete / concise / correct communications (hmm . . .this sounds familiar) as well as gaining new and retaining existing membership including more Emerging Professionals.

Lastly, we are moving our Continuing Education Conference & Product Show (CEC/PS) this year from October to April 29th, 2011 to combine it with the CSI Southwest Region Conference.  David Vaughan and his Committee are working diligently to provide us with some enthralling educational tracks and exhibitors.
 
Are you ready?
 
To Infinity, and Beyond!
 
Stirling Morris, CSI, CDT
President
Construction Specifications Institute
Albuquerque Chapter
 
Join us on our new facebook page and Linkedin group under the name:  CSI Albuquerque Chapter, and find us on Twitter @csiabq.org.

by Robert J. Cohen, CSI, CDT
Managing Member, Robert Cohen Co LLC

Taking the CDT exam is important on many levels.  On a personal level for the individual, and on a community level when working in our various professions, taking the CDT exam brings many benefits and, from my perspective, will lead to better projects with fewer misunderstandings.

From a personal perspective, it forces one to study and learn a level of detail that one would not normally seek.  While many of us work every day with AIA contracts, and the various elements of a Project Manual, many of us do not have the global understanding that is necessary to successfully sit for the exam.  Also, taking the exam-prep class provides a wonderful opportunity to network and get to know fellow students and fellow CSI’s and develop the sort of camaraderie that only common suffering and group fear can lead to.

From a professional standpoint, I have become convinced that the material I learned will help me do a better job as a contractor and a product rep, and will allow me to interface with owners and design professionals with a much higher degree of competence than I had before the class.  I took the class thinking it would help me “sell more stuff,”  but I found that what I really gained was an understanding of the owner/architect/contractor relationship that I had not achieved in 30 years of working in the business. 

I don’t know if I’ll sell more stuff as a result of the exam, and actually don’t much think about that anymore when I reflect on the CDT.  What I’m grateful for now is the new knowledge I gained, the added humility at realizing how much I don’t know, and the feeling that I’m now a bona fide member of a much larger and greater community than I was before.

CSI Albuquerque July President’s Message:

Focus on the Future

Hello, CSI Albuquerque Members & Friends!

Under the guidance of the 2009 – 2010 Board of Directors as led by Andre Larroque, CSI Albuquerque had a very successful and fruitful year.  In addition to some really exciting topics and tours at our regular monthly lunch meetings, as arranged by Peter Holloway, we added and continued some inspiring programs like the joint technical seminar with the 505 BIM Users Group and another great joint luncheon and technical seminar with the USGBC New Mexico Chapter.  All of these programs and seminars follow suit with the new CSI mission:  to advance building information management and education of project teams to improve facility performance.

The chapter also celebrated many other success stories including the most well attended CSI CDT / Certification Workshop we have ever had as well as many CSI Southwest Region and Institute individual and chapter awards including the Outstanding Chapter Commendation Award for the 11th straight year!  We celebrated each of these glorious successes at local, region, and national events throughout the year and also at the chapter Awards Banquet last month.

But as a musical hero of mine still croons today, the times they are a-changin’.  Following suit with the positive changes made during Andre’s chapter Presidency, I will strive to provide continued positive change through “Focus”.  We need to:

Focus on Leadership:  CSI’s mission and goals, diverse membership, and the ideas, standards, and formats that flow from within easily allow any member to be a thought leader in construction.

Focus on Involvement:  It’s not enough to say you are a member of CSI; you need to be involved to truly benefit from it and to find your place in the construction process.

Focus on Change:  When the construction industry faces changing trends, attitudes, and best management practices, so must CSI.

and most importantly . . .

Focus on the Future:  If CSI doesn’t lead the construction industry, if we don’t stay or get involved, and if we don’t accept change, there will be no future for CSI.

As of July 1st, the 2010 - 2011 Board of Directors that will help us achieve this Focus will be:

President:  Stirling Morris
President-Elect:  Jori Smith
Past President:  Andre Larroque
Secretary:  Willard Eastman
Treasurer:  Amanda Gonzales
Vice President Professional:  Bill Sprick
Vice President Industry:  Phil Humphrey
Director Professional:  Charles Lowery
Director Industry:  Jan Loving

In addition to this ready and willing Board, we have very engaged Committee Chairs and Committee Members that are already mapping out the future of our chapter.

I would also like to cordially invite each of you to attend our Planning Meeting at 5:30 p.m. on July 28th when we will focus on achievable chapter goals for the next five years.  Save the date and time, and keep a look out for further announcements on the location.

In order for the chapter to adequately focus on the future, we need each CSI Albuquerque member, as invaluable contributors to the Project Team, to give their input.

You and I are the future of CSI.

Stirling Morris, CSI, CDT
President
Construction Specifications Institute
Albuquerque Chapter
www.csiabq.org

 

 

contributed by Jori Smith, CSI, CDT, LEED AP BD+C
Project Manager, Gerald A. Martin, Ltd.


My family cleaned out our storage shed last weekend.  What a chore!

Among the many things discovered moldering in old cardboard boxes was my senior thesis from architectural school.  In 1987, The Use of Computers in Architectural Practice was just getting a foothold.  I happened to be in my firm's CAD group at the time, and was one of three people using 286's to generate CAD drawings and details.  This was high tech!  We were on the cutting edge!

As I browsed through the 23 year old paper and mused over the differences between what we hoped back then that CAD would do for architectural practice, and how it has actually evolved, something occurred to me:  there are people in our industry who are willing to just keep working based on the information they learned in college.  People who don't think that continuing their education is important.  People who don't believe they can learn anything from a seminar or conference.  Come to think of it, I'm married to someone who thinks like that. 

As you are subscribing to this CSI blog, I'm going to assume that you've seen the light.  But have you managed to work side-by-side with someone for years, and never realize that they are letting their education "molder"?  I know an engineer who thinks doing submittals electronically means hand-written notations that get faxed!  Our everyday contacts with project team members include a constant stream of people who can benefit from one off the most important facets of the Construction Specifications Institute's mission - Education and Certification of building professionals.  Invite them to get involved! 

At local, regional, and national levels CSI does an excellent job of providing high quality continuing education, at unbeatable prices.   And, if you've never attended a regional or national conference, please consider adding one to your schedule next year.  The 2010 SW Region Conference included a terrific presentation on cutting edge structural engineering concepts - "Translucent Concrete, Glass Columns, and Carbon Fiber:  The Future of Building Structures."   Concrete beams without rebar, photo-ingredient concrete, translucent concrete, glass stair treads, rolled-on carbon fiber reinforcing resin 6 times stronger than steel - this is not the stuff I learned in college.  And I'm willing to bet that the engineer with the fax machine never did either.

By Daniel Hargreaves, CSI, RAS

        “The meeting’s too far
                          It’s not convenient,
                                       My family comes first…”

CSINext – A Virtual Chapter!
                                    
The holidays are over and it is time for a changing of the guard… digital guard that is.

At the November 17, 2009 CSI Board Meeting, the first virtual chapter was chartered, named CSINext , the brain child of CSI Member Brent Williams. With social media storming through the internet like wild fire, CSINext is the next evolution of the CSI chapter.

You may be familiar with Blogging, Facebook, and Twitter which is social networking. This is where CSINext comes in, taking the traditional chapter model to the digital world via social networking. Basically, allowing access to potential CSI members all over the world.
 
The chapter can be found at http://www.csinext.org

On February 16, 2010 the acting CSINext board held its first meeting.  The Board Members include: Daniel Hargreaves, Joy Davis, Bryan Varner, Robert Dye and Blake Wagner were present.  Not present were Robert Mallory, Lauren Paulson and Brent Williams.
Brent Williams’ resignation, in writing, as president was regretfully accepted.   Bryan Varner made a motion to appoint Daniel Hargreaves as President for the rest of FY2010.  Robert Dye seconded the motion and the motion passed.  The other officers are President Elect – Robert Mallory, Secretary – Bryan Varner, Treasurer – Robert Dye.  Board of Directors - Lauren Paulson and Blake Wagner. 

The chapter’s goal is to establish a social network that strives to function just like a traditional chapter.   Once a member logs in, the first thing each member needs to focus on building is their profile. This is a snapshot of the members information that they will need to fill in as they see fit, including a place to upload a picture of themselves.  Just like any good chapter, it always helps to place a face to a name.  The user list lets each member visit each other’s profile; also the last five members to visit are listed on the home page.  Each member has access to the Private Messaging System.  Think of this as a local email account.  This is feature rich and integrated with the member’s profile. What this does is if the member visits the User List and clicks on a name, there are several new options for sending a message to another member.  They can use the Quick Message or select Private Message. Then just type away and hit send to begin communicating amongst each other. They can also post comments on the Wall, basically a way to talk out loud in the room for all to hear (or in this case to be seen).

Another feature is Article Comments. At the bottom of each article is a comment box. Sharing of comments, thoughts and ideas is one of the best ways to interact with each other. All the user will need to do is login, go to the article and at the bottom add their comment. Then hit send… have you noticed in the computer world everything requires you to hit send. There are other features such as an event calendar, photo gallery, guest books, and article and web link submission.

The focus of the chapter is communication and networking. Having a web presence allows for everyone to access the CSI community.
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Daniel Hargreaves, CSI, CDT, RAS, is a member of CSI since March of 2000.  He was President of the Dallas Chapter in 2005, Institute Director in 2006-2009 and President of the South Central Region in  2010.  He is the current electronics’ chair for the Dallas Chapter. He has authored several websites for CSI chapters and businesses. He has been in Architecture over 25 years. His day job is Project Manager for MPI Architects located in Dallas, Texas.