We've had what I would call a pretty good year for CSINext. I wanted to wrap up the year with a little "toilet" 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 may become a series of what not to do in construction... only time will tell. I hope you get a good chuckle out these.

A few weeks ago, while patiently waiting in that a.m. parking lot we call a freeway, I was listening to a drive-time talk show. "Not many specifiers calling in today," I thought. Caller after caller would agree with the host's comments by saying "Exactly!" - even when the stated position was complex, and the callers appeared to grasp only part of the issue.

Greetings! We had our May Chapter meeting of CSINext. The presentation went smooth and it was our second month with out a major techno glitch .. well I did loose my Microphone at the end, but I'm blaming that on Windows 8. CSINext would like to thank our presenter Sarah E. Caldwell, MBA, CSI, CDT, LEED-AP she did an excellent job and the presentation is available for online viewing...

Greetings fellow members of CSINext. We will be conducting our Chapter Meeting and the topic will be "Marketing in Today’s Economy " Presented by Kimberly Kayler, CPSM, CSI . Mark your calendars for May 9th at 3:00pm EDT. We look forward to having you attend.

"Existing communication methods have done a good job of addressing most of the information exchange involved in construction. E-mail and electronic file transfer are commonly used between owner and architect, and between architect and consultants. One conspicuous oversight has been the contact between the design professional’s office and the contractor in the field.

My, how things have changed! The brave new world of 24/7 interconnectivity certainly is marvelous; each day brings new ways to learn more about everything, sometimes too many. I'm not going to give you the old line about "When I was a kid, we had to walk two miles to school, through the snow, uphill both ways!" And I'm not going to rail against progress. I am fascinated by new technology and new products, and I still enjoy learning about everything possible.

The year is winding down and CSINext is gearing up. This fiscal year has proven to be very successful. We are still looking for a few volunteers to join us on the board. We have two chapter meetings left, the first one is at the end of month. And then the last meeting of the FY year will be in May.

Greetings fellow members of CSINext. We will be conducting our Chapter Meeting and the topic will be "Digital Art, it's not another BIM Presentation" Presented by Daniel Hargreaves, CSI, CDT, AIA, RAS. Mark your calendars for March 28th at 11:00am EDT. We look forward to having you attend.

Isn't it interesting, that amidst all the hoopla about "sustainable" design, there has been little reduction in the stream of new, improved, state-of-the-art, can't-live-without-them products that increase energy demand? Most of these supposedly life-changing inventions offer needless conveniences, and most of them require electricity to operate. They appear to have been created for no better reason that someone could do it.

Greetings! We had our February Chapter meeting of CSINext. We had a few technical difficulties with the slide presentation. Our presenter Robert Popp was kind enough to provide a PDF of the slides.

What you talkin’ about Willis? Just a little throw back from the 70’s… CSINext has implemented Private Messaging (PM) and Article Comments. Each of these will help to expand the Virtual Chapter experience. One of the key strengths to CSI is communication and the member network. CSINext strives to do this in a virtual way. Just like any good Social Network.

The holidays are over and it is time for a changing of the guard… digital guard that is. At the November 17, 2009 Board Meeting, the Institute Board chartered the first virtual chapter. CSINext is 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.

UPDATE!
We're Back! The website is going through some growing pains. We have changed out the back-end software. The main reason was to increase security. But we need to have fun to, there are some very exciting new features...

One of the most difficult things specifiers do is try to decide if one product is equivalent to another. Fortunately, many product characteristics are based on industry standards, which can make those products easier to specify and to evaluate.

Greetings fellow members of CSINext. We will be conducting our Chapter Meeting and the topic will be "How to properly develop performance specifications for Fluid Applied Air Barrier Systems based on performance testing, standards & codes" Presented by Robert Popp, CSI, CCPR. Mark your calendars for February 21st at 11:00am EST. We look forward to having you attend.

Greetings fellow members of CSINext. We will be conducting our Chapter Meeting and the topic will be "LEED and Integrated Technologies" Presented by Anthony Ursini. Mark your calendars for November 15th at 3:00pm EST. We look forward to having you attend.

Greetings fellow members of CSINext. We will be conducting our Chapter Meeting and the topic will be "Marketing in Today’s Economy " Presented by Kimberly Kayler, CPSM, CSI . Mark your calendars for October 10th at 2:00pm EDT. We look forward to having you attend.

President-Elect Robert Huserik has added a CSINext group on Facebook. This is part of a continued effort on CSINext to expand the awareness of the chapter and CSI. We are excited about this new addition and watch for even more exciting stuff. You can visit the group by clicking the 'Become a Fan' link on the right or just CLICK HERE.

Greetings fellow members of CSINext. We will be conducting our Chapter Meeting and the topic will be "Eliminating Fear, Terror, and Boredom - Networking for Construction Professionals" Presented by Sarah E. Caldwell, CSI, CDT, BS, MBA, LEED AP. Mark your calendars for September 6th at 3:00pm EDT. We look forward to having you attend.

We had our first CSINext Chapter Board meeting of the year. We are excited to get the chapter back on track. We have Chapter Programs scheduled for September and October. August is in the works and then we will take time off for the holidays and jump back on track in January. Very soon you should be receiving an invite to register for the chapter programs. We will continue to reach out in many different ways to the virtual community.