Vice President
David Willis, CSI, CDT, CCCM
WEST REGION CORNER
April - May 2012
Greetings from the desk of the West Region VP. Please accept my sincere apology for being tardy with this months CORNER. I was going to wait and send an article out for May, but a few of you asked to go ahead with an article now, so here goes. I have been trying to get around to all the northern chapters before the end of the year in June, but my new three day work week schedule has limited my travel into some parts of the Region.
I have managed to make it to the Santa Clara/San Francisco holiday event, the Spring Seminar in San Francisco, and the Sacramento Product show this month. All three events were very successful and well attended. The Spring Seminar put on by the San Francisco Chapter focused on Specifications. For those of you that have not had the opportunity to hear John Guill, Michael Chambers or Anne Whitacre speak on Specifications, you are missing some great information. I would suggest contacting them if you are looking for a good Chapter program. John can be reached at jgill@dtrcs.com Michael Chambers is at Michael@mcaspecs.com and Anne at anne_whitacre@gensler.com
The Sacramento product show was done well. Sacramento Chapter President Rick Gauthier reported they had twice as many attendees to this year’s education seminars as last year, and may have picked up 10 new chapter members at the show. Financially things look good also. If your chapter is struggling with product show issues, you might give Rick a call for some pointers. He is at rick_gauthier@comcast.net
This month I had the pleasure of providing the program at the Monterey Bay Chapter’s March meeting. They are a small group but doing ok. What a wonderful place to have a CSI Chapter. I’m envious. Looks like they will have their product show this fall in October, last I heard.
I know it may be a little late to promote the West Region Conference coming up this month in San Jose, but I sincerely hope all you new chapter leaders will make an attempt to come. All Chapter boards please encourage their members to go and if possible help defray the registration costs. I hope to see many of you there.
Here is an update on the Bi- Region conference for 2013 in Spokane Washington. We had hoped to see two NWR members attending our conference in San Jose, but their schedule got in the way. They will be sending promotional literature and some tasty handouts to San Jose to promote the conference which will be in April of 2013. They would like a head count as soon as possible for planning purposes and hotel space and have suggested the West Region might sponsor some hospitality suites and potential speakers. If anyone out there thinks their company might sponsor hospitality or a speaker, please let me know. We will be discussing some of these suggestions at the WR board meeting in San Jose.
You may have all ready heard, but we do have a new WR president Elect (VP), Eric Camin, and Institute Director from the West Region, Brian Cournoyer. Please join me in congratulating these guys and may the Lord have mercy on their souls.
We are still working on providing a Leadership conference in northern California this summer. Eric Camin has been looking into a convenient venue for all. We will keep you informed. Hopefully we will have something nailed down to report at the Region Conference.
That’s all for now. I hope everyone is doing well, and I hope to see you all when making my annual Chapter visitations
Respectfully Submitted,
David A. Willis, CSI, CDT, CCCM
West Region VP
Director West Region
Steve Nash,
CSI, CCS,CCCA, AIA, LEED AP
WEST REGION CORNER
March 2012
Aloha,
Have you registered for the West Region Conference? “The Year of Revival” themed conference agenda looks incredible. It will be held April 26–29, 2012 at the Dolce Hotel and Resort – Hayes Mansion, San Jose, Ca and hosted by CSI San Francisco and Santa Clara Valley Chapters for hosting this year’s conference. More information is available on the West Region website, http://csiwestregion.org. See you there!
CSI has put out a request for volunteers to sign up. This is a fabulous opportunity to strengthen ties to your colleagues, increase your network, gain leadership and management skills, stay on top of the latest trends, and engage in work that will shape the industry. I encourage all those interested to seriously consider volunteering. You might want to consider it yourself, it’s a fulfilling experience. More information and a link to the list of committees and task teams at www.csinet.org/Main-Menu-Category/Communities-2109-14280/CSI-Biz/Volunteer-for-a-CSI-national-committee.aspx
CSI BRANDING INITIATIVE
Previously I announced the CSI Board had determined that perceptions of CSI’s brand had diminished and could compromise our future viability. Although CSI is highly valued in the industry, changing roles in the design and construction community have caused membership to stagnate. To that end, the board engaged a firm to research evaluate and make recommendations concerning the CSI brand.
The first phase of their work surveying members, the Board, staff and constituents (customers and prospective members) has been completed which many of you may have participated in. The surveys focused on the impression of CSI, CSI’s position and the willingness to accept a transition in the CSI brand. The findings from the surveys have come in and should be of interest to members.
The results indicate CSI members will support a change to the CSI brand, although there is not wide spread support for an entirely new name. Slightly over 60 percent support a name change in theory, no specific name was presented in the surveys. It is anticipated that when presented a specific name support would erode significantly. The CSI initials do have value and recognition as members responded with more acceptance to an “initials only” approach for the name. Most respondents thought the industry recognition for CSI initials outweighed any concerns over confusion with the TV show. The CSI logo generated support as seventy percent of the members supported updating the logo but opposed drastic changes. All respondents liked the CSI shield and appreciated the history behind it.
The survey also proved constituent’s (potential members and buyers) general perception of CSI is disconnected and does not reflect the reality of what CSI offers. Ninety seven percent of the constituents had heard of CSI and seventy percent indicated they had a general understanding of the organization. However nearly one third of the constituents said they were not members because they don’t identify as “specifiers.” Our members clearly understand outsiders misunderstanding of CSI, with a majority do not believe people outside the organization understand what CSI represents. Such a wide misunderstanding by constituents proves the need for CSI to reinvigorate our brand.
Not surprisingly seventy five percent of the members and nearly as many constituents supported the addition of a tagline to help identify what the Institute represents. The top four terms and phrases were documents/documentation; standards/formats; building information; and technology/technical knowledge. Also garnering attention from several board members was a phrase that focused on the “team” aspect and opportunities for networking and collaboration.
What’s next? Three to five brand concepts will be developed and presented for feedback to members, constituents the Board and staff. Input from chapters and members will be solicited and encouraged. Check out the CSI website for updates and LinkedIn Group to join in on the discussion. We want your feedback!
Steve Nash, CSI, CCS, CCCA, AIA, LEED AP
Director West Region
President
Craig Mount,
CSI, CDT, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP
WEST REGION CORNER
Febuary 2012
Thank You:
To all of the hardworking volunteers of the Chapters,
You are the lifeblood of CSI and what makes us relevant and useful to our colleagues in the industry. This cannot be overstated. You are all about SERVICE. It is this service and passion for improvement that leads to the new ideas and programs within CSI, helpful educational seminars, much-acclaimed certification programs, promotion of better industry standards, MasterFormat, UniFormat, dinner meetings, our camaraderie, shared learning, and sincere caring for our members.
Announcements and Important Dates:
West Region 2012 Conference – April 26-28, 2012, Dolce Hayes Mansion, San Jose, CA. Mark your calendars now.
Spring WR Board of Directors Meeting – Thursday, April 26, 2012, 9:00 am-4:00 pm, at our West Region Conference, Dolce Hayes Mansion, San Jose, CA
Spring WR Members Meeting – Saturday, April 28, 2012, 1:00 pm-2:30 pm; at lunch at our West Region Conference, Dolce Hayes Mansion, San Jose CA
Spring WR Speak-Out – TBD, tentative at WR Conference, San Jose, CA
West Region Leadership Workshop, Northern California – TBD (hopefully before March 2012) ** We are just waiting on someone in one of the Northern Chapters to champion this event. The program will be very similar to the Leadership Workshop in La Quinta last fall and the speakers have volunteered to do it again. The champion just needs to arrange an acceptable date, location, other logistics, and arouse some passion for it from the chapters. We have plenty of people to help the champion.
A Few Thoughts
In my last article, I expressed my view that the best gift to give at Christmas was our time and caring for those we love, and even for those we may not know very well, like the elderly neighbor. I hope you had a chance to do that in December and felt the richness of sharing. I know it is not always easy to do. Family and relationships can sometimes be challenging, to say the least. But that is all the more reason to do it and thereby we learn, build and grow ourselves. It also helps to have sharing relationships with friends – a support group if you will. So if you did not reach out very much in December, that’s ok, go ahead and do it now. It is never too late to show you care. (Yikes - I am starting to sound like a Hallmark card.)
In July, Dave Willis will become your West Region President. This is an excellent time to talk to Dave, or any of us Region officers about what you would like the West Region to be doing, and how you can help. Most of our Region committees have been a little quiet this year and would love to have your ideas and participation. In CSI, I believe a Region’s main goal is to support the Chapters in any way possible. To me, this means leadership training, hands-on attention, sharing education and certification seminars, promoting good dinner speakers, and being a wonderful resource for ideas, expertise, support and encouragement. The leaders and committees of the Region are here to listen and to give back. But honestly, we need a little help. So consider giving us your requests, ideas, a little time, and some participation. I believe a Region committee can do a lot of good if the members just devote 4 hours a month. So please call a committee chair (listed on the West Region website – www.csiwestregion.org ) or me, and we will do it together.
With warmest regards,
Craig Mount, CSI, CDT, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP
Region President