Great Lakes Region Caucus in Las Vegas.
The caucus will be held,
Thursday, June 5, 2008, 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM
Las Vegas Convention Center Room #S228
If you have any business to propose at the caucus please reply
to me by May 5th 2008 to be put on the agenda.
The agenda will be published on May 15th 2008. Any items not
being on the agenda at that time will be delayed until the
Region Conference in Evansville IN. in August.
Remember if you are a Region Director or Region Chair, you
must be present at the conference to collect your share of
the Stipend.
If you cannot attend you must formally name your replacement
in accordance with the attached proxy form. For Proxy Form,
Select Here.
Forward original proxy form to the office of the Region Secretary,
Mr. Jim McDonald
Design Group
515 East Main Street
Columbus, OH 43215
Dear CSI
Great Lakes Region Directors:
In the interest of increasing our member service and making
our Career Center more visible, I want to bring to your attention
some of the jobs that have recently been posted in your region.
The CSI Career Center program is suffering from a lack of
job seeker activity – the employers who have been posting
on our site told me in a recent survey that they have not
gotten the response they hoped for from our site. This has
led to a drop in repeat business from employers posting jobs.
Each job posting brings in about the revenue of a new member
($235/non-CSI members, $175 members), so this is a relatively
healthy revenue stream for us. If we can increase the visibility
of the site and the number of jobseekers, this will soon boost
all the response rates and consequently revenue.
One of CSI's major benefits is the opportunity to network
with other members in the construction industry, and the Career
Center is one way to do this. The income would be very welcome
now, as well.
Click
here to find a list of open construction-related jobs
in the states from your region hyperlinked to the job listing
and another link to the Career Center. Could you please put
this list in your region newsletters (or pass along to your
newsletter editor), post on your region website, and pass
along to your chapter presidents? Also, please feel free to
share with your colleagues at work.
Please let me know if you need any more information, or have
any questions.
Thanks for your help in spreading the news about the CSI Career
Center.
Caroline Warren
Caroline Frankil Warren
Manager of Membership and Chapter Relations
The Construction Specifications Institute
99 Canal Center Plaza Suite 300
Alexandria, VA 22314
Direct Line:703-706-4726
Toll Free: 800-689-2900 ext. 4726
cwarren@csinet.org
Stay Put. Stay Focused. Stay Informed. CSI Webinars –
90-minute interactive telephone/Internet education programs.
Education you need to do your job better. www.csinet.org/webinar.
Construction
Specifications Institute
Great Lakes Region
February
17, 2008
Ladies and Gentlemen:
I want to thank all the Great Lakes Region membership for
their help and dedication for the past year with our Region
Conference and Great programs. We all need to start thinking
again about the new year schedules and get prepared for the
new Fiscal Year 2009 starting July 1, 2008
Officers, Chairs and Task Teams!
Remember each chapter must be prepared for the coming year,
and have their slate of officers and committee chairs
submitted to Institute by April 30, 2008.
In order to do that each chapter must have their slate of
officers, and complete their elections to get ready for the
2009 fiscal year. I encourage everyone to consider their slate
and find responsible individuals to continue the growth of
CSI. I want to remind each chapter the secretary should also
submit a copy of the new officers to Lane Beougher and myself
so we can keep our records as up to date as quickly as possible.
Awards, awards, awards. Each
chapter needs to make sure they submit for Region, & Institute
awards each year. Brandilyn has reworked the Awards Guidelines,
and if you were at the region conference one was passed to
each chapter. If you did not make the conference, it is available
on the Great Lakes Region web-site. Be sure you have the current
guides.
We are a volunteer organization, and you must take time and
make sure your volunteer’s are awarded. Everyone likes
recognition and there are some very nice awards available
just for asking. I don’t believe there is every a year
that every award available is submitted for, so take time
to review your options and prepare the forms. You can’t
win, if you don’t play.
Get started with your submission
for Region Awards. The deadline for submittals is 60
days prior to the Region Conference and for those that have
just completed submission for Institute awards it is best
to continue directly to Region Awards.
Region Conference, Evansville, Indiana,
August 7th to 9th, 2008. Please make sure your chapter
officers are informed urged and supported, to attend Evansville
this year to take advantage of our great programs. Each chapter
needs to have some type of budget in their chapter to make
sure you have representation at these conferences to learn
what a great benefit membership in CSI can mean.
Be sure to watch the Web-site for new updates and information.
We will try to do a monthly newsletter to be published on
the web.
Director Reports
Remember if you are a Region Chair, or Director we will need
to get a report of your activities to be part of the
Annual Business Meeting. The reports will be for
Fiscal Year 2008, and current directors and chairs need to
submit in early July.
If you are a current Region Chair, I would like for you to
talk with Lane Beougher about you ability to complete another
year as a Region Chair.
Schedule for the next 6 months:
June 3rd and 4th, 2008 Institute Board Meeting, Las Vegas
June 4th to 7th 2008, Construct 2008, Las Vegas
August 7th to 9th, 2008, Region Conference Evansville IN.
Please put these dates on your calendars, and don’t
forget to vote in the elections, both Institute and Chapter
in February and March.
Please contact myself or Lane if you have any questions, and
we will be making efforts during this time to visit chapters
we have not attended this past year.
Make sure you keep us informed with newsletters, and e-mail
updates each month by sending them direct to my e-mail, bobg@archbricktile.com.
Thanks for your help.
Sincerely,
Robert C. Grabhorn, CSI, CDT
Great Lakes Region Director, Industry
August 2, 2007
Hi folks and welcome to Detroit.
It’s been a very interesting year serving as one of
your representatives on the Institute Board of Directors.
As I said last year in Dayton, Randy Reifsnider’s shoes
made a huge footprint on our Region and CSI, and it’s
difficult to fill them.
One of the legacies Randy left for me was a nomination to
serve on the Institute Audit Committee. I was elected by the
outgoing Board last June, and re-elected a few months ago.
This has opened my eyes to the fiscal complexities of operating
a large non-profit organization and its foundation. It has
also broadened my experience with keeping the financial train
on the track. If your chapter is experiencing difficulties
with its finances, auditing process, legal status, bylaws,
taxes, or similar issues, I would welcome the opportunity
to offer my assistance.
I’ve had the opportunity to attend a number of chapter
meetings and special events around the Region during my first
year, and I hope to visit each chapter at least once by the
end of my term. I’m not sure about house calls, but
I do want to know if your chapter has an upcoming event you’d
like me to attend.
One of the issues I’d like to address is participation
in CSI beyond your own chapter. My service on an Institute
task team and the technical committee was the most rewarding
time of my short 22 year career in CSI. If you’d like
to serve at the Institute level, please contact Bob Grabhorn
or me and we’ll submit your name. Our Region has been
well represented, and we hope to continue that tradition.
We also have opportunities for service at the Region level.
We are currently looking for an Industry/Associate Member
to fill Bob’s shoes. Next year, that person and I will
be looking for a Professional Member to replace me. Our Region
committees are led by a committed group of individuals that
serve a two year term. The offices of treasurer and secretary
are also two year opportunities. If you would like to serve
your Region in any capacity, now or in the future, let us
know.
Last year in Dayton, the Region Board of Directors passed
a long overdue revision to our bylaws. This year, we will
be debating similar revisions to our collection of policies.
Many of these policies are out of step with the Institute’s
Administrative References and no longer match our own bylaws
or current practice. If you have questions, contact your chapter
president or an executive committee member, and we’d
be happy to discuss them with you.
In closing, I want to thank Jerry Reed, Jerry Marquette, and
the entire Metro Detroit Chapter for throwing a great conference
here in the Motor City. I hope to talk with as many of you
as possible and hear your opinions on the direction of CSI.
We look forward to seeing you all again at Evansville in 2008!
Warmest personal regards,
Lane J. Beougher, CSI, CCS, CCCA, AIA, LEED-AP
Institute Director – Professional / Great Lakes Region
Vice-President
