I recently received an e-mail from CSI, encouraging me (and, I trust, thousands of others) to volunteer to work on an Institute committee or task team. It reminded me of how I became involved in volunteer work for CSI, and how much that work meant to my career. 

Greetings! We will be conducting our March Chapter Meeting and the presentation will be "Architects Guide to Construction Specifications" Presented by by Nina Giglio, FCSI, CCS, SCIP with HALL | Building Information Group, LLC. Mark your calendars for March 21th at 2:30pm EDT. We look forward to having you attend.

Greetings! We will be conducting our April Chapter Meeting and the presentation will be "ABUSE AND IMPACT RESISTANT GYPSUM: STRONGER AND SAFER WALLS" Presented by by Tina Cannedy, Construction Design Manager with National Gypsum Company. Mark your calendars for April 11th at 4:00pm EDT. We look forward to having you attend.

Candidates for CSI’s National Officers and Directors have been nominated and their candidate statements posted on www.csinet.org/election.  As a member of the organization, it is your privilege to have a say in who represents you in making decisions for the multi-million dollar corporation that is CSI.  I heartily suggest that you take the time to read the statements and decide who you should vote for when you receive your ballot notification in February.  And, then take the few minutes required to submit your ballot and thereby participate in the future direction of our organization.

In the LinkedIn CSI Leaders group, Joy Davis recently began a series of discussions under the heading #CSIStats. The goal, as expressed in the first post of the series, is "helping CSI leaders understand where CSI stands by sharing facts about the Institute … to help you start and participate in discussions about who CSI is and where the Institute should go in the future."

Happy New Year!!! We will be conducting our Chapter Meeting and the meeting will be an "High Performance Coatings for Use in Commercial Construction" Presented by by Carlo DiMaio CSI with PPG Industries, Inc. Architectural  Services. Mark your calendars for January 27th at 2:00pm EST. We look forward to having you attend.

It's hard to believe that the holidays are already upon us, this year has just flow by. First of all, I would like to thank Jeff Holmes with Prosoco for presenting our November program, "Restoration Cleaning". Jeff did a great job on a very informative program. Where I live, historic preservation is a very important aspect of our city. It is amazing how a good cleaning can bring historic architecture back to life. 

Greetings fellow members of CSINext. We will be conducting our Chapter Meeting and the meeting will be an "Open Forum" Hosted by Robert Huserik. Mark your calendars for December 19th at 2:00pm EST. We look forward to having you attend the very first virtual holiday party!

IN THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY, IN E-MAIL, AND ON THE INTERNET, USE OF UPPERCASE IS LIMITED. STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT MOST PEOPLE FIND IT HARDER TO READ UPPERCASE, AND TODAY'S DIGITAL ETIQUETTE VIEWS USE OF ALL UPPERCASE AS SHOUTING. WHY, THEN, DO WE CONTINUE TO USE IT ON DRAWINGS?

Well tomorrow is Halloween. I hope all you kids out there (young and old) have a safe and fun time. Here in Poland we will be celebrating "All Saints Day" a Catholic holiday where you go to Mass and the family visits the graves of the family members that passed away. People decorate the graves with flowers and candles. At night there are so many candles burning in the cemeteries that you don't need a flashlight and you can unbutton that coat from the heat that the candles create.

In CSINext it's all treats and no tricks. I would like to thank Stephanie Bone for her great presentation on modular design. In November the program will be "Restoration Cleaning" and registration is currently open so feel free to sign up!

For many years, I was one of the instructors for my CSI chapter's certification classes. In addition to explaining what CSI's practice manuals say, I liked to include horror stories - real-world examples of the ways people found to really mess up a project. One of my favorite stories came from a public sector waste treatment agency. The project was a relatively simple addition to an existing building at one of the waste treatment facilities, to provide shower and locker rooms for the employees.

Published each year, CSI's "Honors & Awards Guide" describes the requirements for each Institute award and honor, and contains the information needed to make a nomination. Despite the availability of the Guide, which is posted on the Institute website, many nominations are deficient in one way or another. Given the amount of information in the guide's forty-five pages, it is not surprising that questions arise, but staff, the chair of the Awards Committee, and the chair of the Jury of Fellows will gladly answer those questions.

Greetings fellow members of CSINext. We will be conducting our Chapter Meeting and the topic will be "Restoration Cleaning" Presented by Jeff Holmes with Prosoco. Mark your calendars for November 14th at 12:00pm EST. We look forward to having you attend.

It's September! Back to school for all those kidos... For me September is Fall and it means 4 more weeks 'til winter... ugh. One thing that September has brought to our chapter... newly weds, congratulations Mr. Brent Williams! We wish you and your lovely bride all the best! Also I would like to send out a big thank you to Debra Powers of The Hager Companies for her great door hardware presentation last month.

Greetings fellow members of CSINext. We will be conducting our Chapter Meeting and the topic will be "Integrated Modular Design and Construction for Sustainable Building Interiors" Presented by Stephanie Bone with the DIRTT Enviromental Solutions. Mark your calendars for October 17th at 12:00pm EDT. We look forward to having you attend.

Greetings fellow members of CSINext. We will be conducting our Chapter Meeting and the topic will be "We Cannot Afford to Gamble with Life Safety" Presented by Terry Hughes with the Code Solutions Group, LLC. Mark your calendars for September 18th at 12:00pm EDT. Registration is now open and we look forward to having you attend.

Each year, most organizations set aside one day to acknowledge the efforts of their members, and to honor those who have made significant contributions. CSI is no exception; we have award ceremonies at chapter, region, and Institute levels. The crowning moments take place at the annual convention, where Institute awards are presented, where we honor those selected for Distinguished Membership, and where we honor those who have been elevated to Fellowship. While the criteria for most awards are fairly straightforward and easy to understand, there is a mystique surrounding Fellowship; but more on that later.

It's about time to get the new FY started for CSINext. I wanted to start off the year with a little "safety" humor. Most of these images have been going around in email and the internet for years. But I thought it would be funny to have an one stop shop for the pictures. This is part to of a construction image series... hopefully I can find a part three. I hope you get a good chuckle out these.

Witam CSINext! No, that's not some strange misspelling or code word, it's just the fact that your new Chapter president lives in Krakow, Poland. I know there are some of you I know out there and some of you who I haven't yet met so just a little bit about myself as we start this new CSI year... I am CSI Proud! Why?... Well, I have been pretty much "raised" by this organization ever since I was told to join as a Freshman at the University of Tennessee by my professor (and good friend) Kathy Proctor. I am now in my 15th year of membership and what has that gotten me?... Contacts galore, leadership skills, jobs, knowledge, and respect as a professional. I simply would not be where I am today without CSI. Now all of that has not come to me by simply paying my membership dues, I had to get involved and the more I would sow the more I would reap.

Greetings fellow members of CSINext. We will be conducting our Chapter Meeting and the topic will be "ADA Meeting Accessibility Standards for Openings" Presented by Debra Powers with the Hager Companies. Mark your calendars for August 29th at 12:00pm EDT. We look forward to having you attend.