As I sit here, reflecting back on the entire history of the virtual community that we know as CSINext, I’m amazed that we’ve come so far, so fast...for you see, this is the end of my second go-around as President of this Chapter. The first one was our first “official” year, even though I’d spent the previous 18 months running around in the background trying to pull everything together to make the concept of a “virtual Chapter” a reality.
Lots of news to report. First, it's looking like the CSI board is going to approve our petition for charter, so we can finally get down to the business of community building with some legitimacy.
Our October webinar, set for Wednesday, October 28th, at 2pm EST, has been postponed to November 18th because of technical issues. We apologize for the delay, but learning the particulars of a virtual environment are new and a lot more complex that you might imagine. We hope that you will join us on November the 18th at 2pm EST for an insightful look into the near future of communications in the construction industry. Simply join our email list...the sign up link is located on the lower left side of this page...to receive a free invitation to the webinar.
Yesterday I spent the day attending GlassBuild 2009 at the Georgia World Congress Center. GlassBuild is the largest trade assembly solely devoted to the glazing construction industry in the world. Lots of amazing products, vendors and speakers.
The single biggest lesson learned from the show? Visual is IN! Greater than 80% of the vendors that were displaying “glazing” materials (glass, plexiglass and other things used to fill a hole in a building) were displaying decorative products front and center. Fritted glass, dimensional glass, ceramic printed glass...and the machines and equipment used to produce them...were upfront and stars of the show.
Given the amount of discussion that I've heard lately, you'd think that the "virtual world" was as foreign to the A/E community as is the term "successful BIM integration". OK, so I"m guiding the lily a bit, but I've run into a lot of opposition to building a virtual chapter lately within the CSI community. It seems to me that there is a great amount of angst over the thought of opening our somewhat closed community to large numbers of emerging professionals with their 24/7 addiction to everything digital. Irrational as it may seem, there is a lot of fear of the future, and understandably so.
The Construction Specifications Institute is proud to announce the release of the new MasterFormat 04 conversion app for iPhone. This application allows the user to input the old MasterFormat 95 Standard number and instantly see the MasterFormat 04 Standard numbers with descriptions. The application is compatible with iPhone and iPod Touch and requires the use of iPhone OS 2.2 or later. You can download the app from the iTunes AppStore for only $2.99. Click the button below to check it out.
Over the last few months, as the development team has been diligently working on building CSINext, I’ve spent a large amount of time looking at how other member based organizations are handling the shift from traditional, face to face networking to a newer, more virtual communication process. What I’m finding is both encouraging and discouraging.
CSI has more than 140 chapters across the U.S. When CSINext receives its charter, it will be unique among them. The biggest difference? Simple...target market. Until CSINext, all of CSI's chapters - even the ones meeting by conference call and webinar - were specific to a particular city or geographic region. They grew out of a location, and focused in part on that location's construction community.
In this month’s Architect, Edward Keegan does an excellent job of delineating the turmoil which the job description of “spec writer” currently seems to be under. There is no denying that the traditional picture of a dutiful technical writer, toiling away creating tomes that equal a phone book in scale, is under attack by new and disruptive technologies, online spec engines and systems and new design methodologies such as BIM. While all of this is true, the simple fact remains that you cannot complete any modern construction project with simple drawings alone, no matter how you generate those designs. You’ve got to have a full understanding of your design elements and how they relate to each other, and that relationship is always handled through the “specs”.
Sign up now to be in attendance for the first official meeting for CSIN! This Wednesday at 3pm, EDT, join us for "Fiduciary Duties: Connecting the Mission to Membership.
Bryan Varner, of the Redwood Empire Chapter will be discussing the legal requirements that all chapter officers need to know. You can find the full description of the presentation on the CSIN Blog.Bryan is an excellent presenter, having been an integral part of the team that brought you the Incoming President's Seminar at the Institute.
All you need to do is sign up for the Email List, located at the lower right of this page...beneath the row of buttons, to receive your FREE invitation to our first ever webinar!
CSI Leadership: Your Fiduciary Duty to Connect the Mission to Membership
When: 2pm ET, Wed., Sept. 30
Where: Web-based on CSINext.org
Presenter: Bryan J. Varner, CSI, CCCA, LEED AP
Cost: FREE — All CSI Chapter Leaders are invited!
REGISTER NOW! Sign up for CSINext’s email list and get an invitation to this event!
…and if all those “C”s didn’t have you hacking up hairballs, Congratulations! You’ve successfully discovered the web news feed for the Community Building site, CSINext.
