Yesterday was a great day in Tucson from my point of view. What made it so great? Well, first it is the little things. I keep a pretty low bar, so it doesn’t take much. But the greatness came from the temperature being 74 degrees while driving my 2001 Miata home with the top down. This is my second convertible, if you have never owned one… well it is hard to explain. On my drive home, enjoying the wind in my hair and sun on my face I started thinking about my latest Web Browser. This is my latest switch over the past 25 years.

The title requires a little understanding of Revit. I note this because the as far as I can tell the term is unique to Revit. ArchiCAD uses term Components & GDL. Vectorworks calls them Plug-In-Object (PIO). I can keep dissecting the term but for now, I wanted to focus on the software I utilize for my production. In the days of CAD we had Blocks. These were small drawings that could repeat the graphical part of a drawing over and over while holding different attributes of information. 

Each of the following members joined CSI in February. CSINext is please to congratulate the following CSI members on their continued membership.

• 1 Year - Mark Nakagawa, CSI
• 4 Years - Sasha King, CSI, CDT, AIA, LEED AP
• 9 Years - Joni Zimmerman, CSI, CDT
• 11 Years - Karen Nelson, CSI, CDT
• 33 Years - James Whitfield II, FCSI, CCPR, CTC, LEED AP, USGBC

Starting off the new year with new members. CSINext continues to grow! CSINext is please to welcome the following CSI member to CSINext.

• January 2021 - Adrian Weatherby, CSI-S

Each of the following members joined CSI in January. CSINext is please to congratulate the following CSI members on their continued membership.

• 7 Year - Christopher Bennett, CSI, CDT, AIA
• 10 Years - Taylor Coley, CSI
• 16 Years - Keith Robinson, FCSI, CSC, FCSC, LEED AP, RSW
• 26 Years - Louise Schlatter, RA, CSI, CCS, CDT, AIA, EIT, LEED AP, NCARB
• 30 Years - William Rains Jr., CSI, CDT
• 36 Years - Lee Orosco, FCSI, CCS
• 42 Years - Terrence Lunn, PE, FCSI, CCS

Special Shout out to Taylor Coley, CSI for 10 years and William Rains Jr., CSI, CDT for 30 years of continuous membership in CSI!

Once again, we really appreciate everyone's continued membership in CSI.

Greetings! We will be conducting our February Chapter Meeting and the presentation will be "Trauma Informed Design: Designing for Dignity, Healing, and Joy" Panel Discussion hosted by Laura Rossbert with Shopworks Architecture . Mark your calendars for March 4th at 4:00pm EST. We look forward to having you attend this free webinar, register today as space is limited!

INVITATION TO JOIN VIRTUAL ONLINE STUDY GROUP SESSIONS

Daryl Robinson, FCSI, CDT®, CCS, (Crandic & Pikes Peak Chapters/Certification Chair of North Central & Southwest Regions) and Michael Young, FCSI, CDT®, CCS, CCCA, (Denver & CSINext Chapters/Certification Chair of Denver Chapter) cordially invite you to participate in an upcoming series of online presentations. It is our belief that every CSI member should have the CDT® certification suffix after their name.

Therefore, please plan on participating in our upcoming Online CDT® Study Group, which will begin on February 9, 2021. The diversity of CSI members makes for a wide range of perspectives and experiences, which can be shared between the members attending the Study Group. In fact, we are in the process of assembling a group of “professors” who will lead various portions of the Study Group discussions as subject matter experts. The Study Group is offered for free to CSI members and for only $100 to non- members. See additional information about the separate registration for the CDT® Exam below.

Growing up, I enjoyed art. My mom was an artist and I’m blessed that she passed on the skill to me. I’ve been drafting, painting and sketching for as long as I can remember. Around the age of 13 I knew I wanted to be an Architect. I wasn’t sure what that meant, but I knew it was about taking a vision and putting it to paper. I really enjoyed doing the technical drawings in 7th grade and for Christmas, I got my first drafting set. It included a small drafting board, Tee-square, 2 triangles, French curve and few pencils. I still have the French curve and probably should frame it. A few years ago, I put together my first presentation on Digital Art. 

Greetings! We will be conducting our February Chapter Meeting and the presentation will be "Gamificiation & Construction: Transcending the Way the Industry Motivates, Operates, and Trains its Workers" Presented by Mark Ogg. Mark your calendars for February 4th at 4:00pm EST. We look forward to having you attend this free webinar, register today as space is limited!

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the accessible route. I included one of my favorite internet photos of the stair with a ramp added to it. Most of the time when we think about accessibility, a wheelchair is typically envisioned. While this an easy to grasp concept, the ADA is more than just the wheelchair. It accounts for all aspects of accessibility. This includes the blind, those on crutches and other limited mobility challenges.

I was taking this past week off from work, projects and almost everything that used my time. However, I did set time aside for my family and video games. This has been a very relaxing week, I even stayed off the computer for the most part. My daughter and I have been tackling some classic games and discovering new ones. I wanted to reflect on a few different levels as to what has transpired over the past 365 days. There was a lot that happened besides the COVID-19 pandemic. 

As I was thinking about Sheet Numbering, I starting strolling back through memory lane. I have some vague memories about sheet numbering from the 80’s. With CAD bringing a level of organization and limits to a file name in DOS, consistent numbering became more important at retrieval of the file. I wrote my own standards back in 1991. I adapted these as times and projects changed. Finally, in 2003, I drank the Kool-Aid and adopted to the National CAD Standards (NCS).

Greetings! We will be conducting our January Chapter Meeting and the presentation will be "Thermal Breaks in Cladding Support Attachment Assemblies" Presented by Luana Buratynski & Joe Baz. Mark your calendars for January 7th at 4:00pm EST. We look forward to having you attend this free webinar, register today as space is limited!

Last week I outlined several ideas for up-and-coming blog post. This is the first one on Accessibility and getting myself back on track to writing the blog. Texas at the turn of the millennium opened up their Registered Accessibility program to non-government employees of TDLR. At this point the ADA and Texas Accessibly Standards were 8 & 6 years old respectively. It took me a couple of years, but in 2004, I decided to go to the Texas Accessibility Academy and get registered. 

This is just a test, please ignore.

Last year I wrote about the Trusted Advisor and the continuing affect it has had on my carrier. Take a look at the blog post from May 2019. https://www.csinext.org/the-artichoke-s-life/trusted-advisor This is a blog post to spark some interest and start the next 30 days of rolling out the CSINext Trusted Advisor Network. Or also in our inner circle, the TAN Line. Continue to watch this space for for details and hopefully we can start 2021 with a bang. Until next week, cheers!

…and now for something completely different.
In his lifetime an average person would walk as much as circumferencing the world five times.

The year 2021 is just around the corner. I know there are a bunch of us that just want to wish the year 2020 away. The reality is it here and it will always be a part of history that we have survived. The sad news is there are a lot of us who did not get to see the new year. I wish to take a silent moment to remember those. 

Each of the following members joined CSI in December. CSINext is please to congratulate the following CSI members on their continued membership.

• 2 Year2 - Brent Williams, CSI, CDT
• 4 Years - Todd Hansen, CSI, CDT
• 4 Years - Richard de Campo, PE, CSI, CCS, CDT, AIA
• 12 Years - Ryan Harrington, CSI, CDT
• 13 Years - Kazim Kanani, CSI, CDT, Assoc. AIA, CSC
• 16 Years - William Desrosiers, CSI, CCPR, CDT
• 25 Years - Daryl Robinson, RA, FCSI, CCS, CDT, AIA, LEED GA
• 26 Years - Edgardo Cruz, CSI, CDT, M. Arch
• 31 Years - Kent Kile, FCSI, CCPR

Special Shout out to Daryl Robinson, RA, FCSI, CCS, CDT, AIA, LEED GA for 25 years of continuous membership in CSI!

Once again, we really appreciate everyone's continued membership in CSI.

The CSINext Chapter has awarded Ingrid Antoine, a student at the Community College of Denver, the Built Environment Preparatory (BEPREP) Scholarship sponsored by PPG Paints..

All things COVID has change how we do things. I left off last April that our office had started a stay at home. I like to think of it as leveraging the 21st century and taking productivity to the next level. I plan to expand on the past 7 months, but for now some mini bullet point updates.