Hello, and welcome to CSI FY 2020! We have a lot to accomplish this year and we are off to a great start! This month, I'll provide a summary of our June chapter meeting, summer board meetings and insight on an exciting year expected for our chapter.
Our June meeting was held at the TRL where we had an amazing food truck, a quick project showcase presentation, and great conversations as we reflected on our accomplishments in the past year. In the board meeting preceding the chapter event we received the funds from the golf tournament fundraiser and SW Region Conference. Thank you again to Terry Vaughn (Fundraising Committee Chair), Robin Snyder (SW Region Treasurer and Conference Coordinator), and all the event sponsors, speakers, volunteers and golfers for your support in making this a very successful combined event! Hold on to your hats for this year’s tournament, it’s going to be even better and at a new location The Biltmore!
Ed Galindo, our Past President, requested we focus on these items going into this year.
- Awards and the milestone requirements to be met by the board and committees to attain these achievements.
- Communicate to all chapter members to use our trusted advisors – they are a great resource!
- Need to assure we are providing and receiving value in the meetings/programs we are offering.
- Committee Report - Thank you to all the chairs and committees for their dedication this year!
- Need membership alternatives – Emerging Professionals Membership/Student Membership
- Website needs more information – use these resources! Do you have recommendations for technical white papers? Please contact the Technical Committee with your suggestions!
Over the past year, we also achieved the requirements for the OCC (Outstanding Chapter Commendation) for CSI FY 2018-2019. Institute approved, and this is the 18th yearin a row for the CSI Phoenix Chapter to receive this honor… Congratulationsand thank you to the board and all who supported us for your hard work!
In our summer board meetings, we were focused on these items and more! We have a few minor adjustments with new faces on the board and new committee chairs. Just FYI, all CSI members are welcome to attend the monthly board meeting, and/or committee meetings to find out how you can be more involved with our chapter! We focused our meeting on the year ahead, and the following items:
- Emerging professionals and students are not always available to attend a monthly lunch meeting. We are taking a step back to evaluate how CSI is instrumental in the development of these individuals and how we can reach out and educate this diverse group. These are the industry leaders of the future and CSI Phoenix is striving to remain a relevant resource for industry knowledge. Find out what CSI can do to support and educate the next generation of our construction industry.
- Committee coordination will be reported on monthly by Jay Harris who has accepted the 1st VP board position this year and has been instrumental in filling the vacant board positions for a Director, Secretary and 2ndVP, Thank you Jay!
- The testing certifications are reported via institute website, and do not include chapter member names, only the pass/fail status. The need for a certifications committee on this is not substantiated. We will be eliminating this committee and instead, invest our efforts on professional development training needed to test for the certifications.
- Barbara Faulwetter expressed interest in the Professional Development Committee chair role and discussed possibilities for diversity in the training and education programs offered this year, possibly the addition of a “Trusted Advisor” course...stay tuned for details!
- Taking the role of the Academic Committee Chair is Don Zanrusso! He has plans for incorporating the Academic Committee and the Kenn Lockhardt/Scholarship foundation.
- We have an upcoming chapter volunteer event with the Mesa Fire and Medical Department on Saturday, October 26, 2019. Volunteers work in groups and go door to door installing smoke alarms and educating residents on fire escape plans – contact me for further details.
- Our monthly chapter meetings will continue at the Doubletree. We are set for the regular meeting dates except for next month, the October monthly meeting will be on October 17th. Our regular meeting date conflicted with the CSI CONSTRUCT event on October 9-11. I will be attending and receiving the OCC award for 2018-2019, hope to see you there!
- We will be doing a new mix of programs this year that should be of interest to the Chapter and guests. Unfortunately, the monthly lunch meetings do not allow enough extra time for networking, so we will be offering after-hours marketing events as well as group discussion events in a round table setting with one of our industry Pro’s sort of a “Grill the Advisor”. With the new meeting content and times, we hope to still catch the daytime crowd, while we add the evening attendees and allow some time for networking afterwards. We won't serve a traditional dinner during the presentation but will have hors devours during the networking. Please watch the chapter emails, FB event posts and the website calendar of events for the exact timing of the afternoon and evening events. Bobbi Jo Huskey our Program Committee Chair has done a great job identifying programs and getting the arrangements made for the speakers!
Thank you to all the board members, committee chairs and volunteers for your support. I am very excited for the year and feel we are off to a great start! Please find a Board member or Program Committee member to give your feedback; we are interested to hear your thoughts! If you want to be involved, please contact me or another Board member. Your chapter needs you! I can be reached at hunger@fmsolutions.net or by phone at 602-448-5355.
See you on October 17th at the Doubletree!
Heather Unger
President, Phoenix Chapter CSI
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