The Chapter Holiday Party
Its hard to believe that were approaching the halfway point of the Chapters fiscal year. But,with this milestone is the Chapters annual holiday party. This year were continuing the party program we developed last year, which proved to be a great success. The schedule includes a cocktail hour and full dinner that will be momentarily interrupted to raffle off a myriad of donated party gifts. The event should be a time of social interaction with fellow members, their spouses and/or guests. See the program information about the details for time, location, and donations.
Membership
Over the past couple of years, the Chapters membership has dropped over 10%. There is no clear reason at this point, but I hope to institute an exit survey that should reveal the reason(s) why a member decided to leave the Chapter. Knowing this information will, 1) allow us to address the immediate concerns of the departing member and see if there is a solution that will possibly change their mind, and 2) identify areas that need special attention to mitigate the departure of other members for the same reasons. Although this sounds great on paper, it may take some time getting the program implemented and show any appreciable results. But there are a couple of things that current members can do to help the Chapter with its current membership woes.
The first is to let the Chapter leadership know about problems or issues that either you may have with the Chapter, or may have heard from a fellow member. Not every problem will have a quick and easy fix, or even a fix at all, but it is difficult to address a problem if the people responsible for fixing it dont know about it. When presented a problem, I can assure you that the Chapter Board will make every attempt possible to address it. However, to modify P.T Barnums quote, you can please some of the people all the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cant please all of the people all of the time.
The second is recruitment of new members. As CSI members, were constantly interacting with other players in the construction industry; this interaction is an excellent opportunity to promote CSI. When I talk or meet with a new product representative, one of the first questions I ask is ÏAre you a CSI member? And if the answer is Ïno, then I give them my CSI spiel (if Im willing to hear their marketing information, they should be willing to hear to mine).
Members are the lifeblood of the chapter; its not just the money from dues, but the participation, the exchange of information and new ideas, and the expansion of knowledge within the construction industry that come with membership that make the Chapter an active Speaking of participation_
Board Elections
In March 2008, the Chapter will hold its elections for new board positions. This is an excellent opportunity for those members who have an interest in expanding their involvement in the Chapter. Positions that will be open for nominations are:
- 2nd Vice President (Open to Professional members)
- Secretary
- Treasurer
- Professional Director (2008-2010)
- Industry Director (2008-2010)
If you have an interest in a position, but would like additional information about what the positions duties entail, either contact the incumbent or me. A formal nomination committee will be established in January, so a decision to run for a position is not required immediately, but this is a good time to start thinking about it and become fully informed.
The date is set, and now, so is the location for the Region Conference
As previously reported, the Southwest Region Conference Committee set the dates for the conference for April 24th through the 26th. At its latest meeting, the committee has selected the Tempe Mission Palms Hotel in Tempe, AZ to be the site of the conference. There is still much to plan and coordinate, but we ask that you set aside the dates and support the Chapter by attending the conference and take advantage of the many educational sessions that currently being developed. Also, the committee will eventually be seeking sponsorships for many of the events, including the hospitality suite, trade show, awards banquet, and the show in general.
Ronald L. Geren, CSI, CCS,CCCA, AIA, SCIP
Phoenix Chapter President
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