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Executive Director's Message
by Bob Lowe
My opening remarks are two-fold: 1) please read this newsletter today because tomorrow never seems to come; 2) forward this newsletter to others in your company! This is an exciting and unprecedented month for CSIA! Registration for the 2010 Executive Conference, April 29 - May 1 in Seattle, is now open. And what a Conference we have planned! Preliminary programs will be in the mail this week, but you can see it for yourself now. We're also very proud to introduce the online CSIA Connected Community. This project has been many months in the making and we're excited to unveil it to you now. Much of the content of this business networking site will be driven by you, our members. You'll also find many of the resources and documents formerly housed on the Members Only section of the controlsys.org website. Speaking of controlsys.org, that's gone through some changes as well. The name remains the same, but the site has a bold new look and fine-tuned content . Plus, you can access the CSIA Connected Community and a blog from "yours truly" directly from the home page.
A webinar by Mark Voigtmann on scrutinizing automation contracts will be held Wednesday, Feb. 24 at 2 p.m. EST. See the article in this newsletter for details. Over the last several months I've accumulated a list of webinar topics and will schedule them with a target of one per month. Some will have business topics and others will have technical topics, so you can decide who in your company is bested suited for each one. Webinars are an inexpensive way to educate yourself and your team. Think of them as an extension of the annual conference.
It's been a very busy few months leading up to the launch of these valuable member services. We're very proud to share them with you now and welcome your feedback. |
| New CSIA Website debuts!
CSIA announces a brand new website, complete with a CSIA "connected" community
CSIA's new website and Connected Community site are a rich source of information for CSIA members, prospective members and the industry clients integrators serve. The goal is to advance the integrator profession by increasing awareness of the profession and the value of retaining a certified control system integrator.
The CSIA Community section provides a central meeting place for members of the association. Visit here often to connect with other integrators who share common interests, learn about best practices, gain inside knowledge of the certification process, and find tools to help distinguish your firm and certification during the procurement process.
Please let us know what we can do to make the site more dynamic, interesting and useful for you and your clients. And, be sure to stop by the CSIA Community and create your profile, including complete demographic information. The more ways you connect with others in the CSIA community, the more value you will get out of the network and the association.
The Executive Council, tech team and marketing committee are to
be applauded for their contributions of time and expertise to create and launch the new site. Please take special note of the industry partners - Graybar, Rockwell Automation, Anixter and Siemens - that are sponsoring the site. CSIA leaders and staff thank all of the above for their generosity.
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2010 CSIA Executive Conference
Register today!
Plans for the CSIA 2010 Annual Executive Conference, April 29 - May 1 in Seattle, are all set! The preliminary program brochure is completed and will be mailed this week. The CSIA Executive Conference is the largest event of its kind for top managers in the CSI industry. The educational and networking opportunities are unparalleled. The cost of attending is a wise investment in your company.
The presentations will be available online in April so that you can preview them and make an informed decision on the breakout sessions that you want to attend. It is also advisable to print a copy of the presentations you will attend and bring them with you for note taking. Posted presentations may not be finalized, but will be close to final. The final presentations will be posted on our website after the conference.
We're confident that you'll be pleased and excited about the educational opportunities so be sure to attend and bring your management team. The networking opportunities are equally valuable.
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| Member Mentors Needed
The Membership Committee is still in need of five additional new member mentors. There are two requirements: 1) an understanding and appreciation of CSIA membership and 2) a commitment of two hours every three months to call the new members assigned to you.
The program is predesigned so just follow the script. It's easy and painless and the new members will appreciate your call to assist them in getting value from their membership.
The next month for making contact is March so please volunteer during February. Don't assume that someone else will do it. Email Joe Martin at jtmartin@martincsi.com.
Thank you to the following members who are our current mentors: Bob Adams, Craig Pair, Dan Purvis, Dave Bishop, Duane Corcoran, Eric Schaefer, Frank Riordan, Glenn Birket, Jim Campbell, Karl Swanson, Paul Galeski, Ray Bachelor, Sam Hoff, Tom Carico and Tom Walther.
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Marketing Committee Update 
an update by John Justus, Committee Chair
As you may have read in the August 2009 newsletter, the Marketing Committee has been focusing on getting CSIA information into the hands of the many clients of our integrator members.
In that regard, those of you who are CSIA Certified will see a letter soon asking for your help in getting the message about how being CSIA Certified can separate you from the field. CSIA created a brochure describing the benefits to the client of using a Certified member. This brochure had been previously published but has now been made available to our members. We request that you help distribute it to as many of your prospective or current clients as you can. We even created a simple cover letter for your use to send out along with the brochures.
This is a direct way for you as a member to get a message directly to your own clients. CSIA continues to market through channels such as magazines and the website, yet, we felt there was a void in getting directly to the end customers.
We hope for a great response from the Certified community in helping fill this void and getting a message to the end clients about the value of working with CSIA and CSIA Certified members.
Keep your eyes open for the mailing and other upcoming activities!
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CSIA Webinar 
The First Ten Important (Indeed Indispensable) Things To Scrutinize in Every Automation Contract
Wednesday, Feb. 24
2:00 pm ET / 11:00 am PT
The contract documents have just arrived. There they lie, three inches thick on your desk. The project seemed like a good idea when you wrote your proposal, but now what? Do you actually try to read the whole thing or just shrug your shoulders and sign on the dotted line? In a free half-hour webinar (the first in a series of four for CSIA members oriented toward managing legal risk) CSIA general counsel Mark Voigtmann and his automation law colleague Brian Clifford explain The First Ten (Important, Indeed Indispensable) Things To Scrutinize in Every Automation Contract.
A reminder and log-in information will be emailed to you a few days before the program.
Mark Voigtmann is the leader of the automation practice at Baker & Daniels, a law firm in Indianapolis, Chicago, Washington D.C. and Beijing. He can be reached at 317.237.1265 or Mark.Voigtmann@bakerdaniels.com
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Nelson Joins CSIA 
Ann Massie Nelson has joined the Control System Integrators Association as the communications/web manager. Nelson will be responsible for CSIA's public relations and social media initiative, including the new CSIA Connected Community website.
An experienced writer and editor, Nelson has written about a wide range of subjects, including energy, environmental and consumer issues, law, insurance, and financial and professional services.
She holds a bachelor's and master's degrees in life sciences communications from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
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Audit Criteria Published
CSIA members' clients (end-users) have often asked what the criteria in the audit for CSIA Certification are, but the criteria were not made public . . . until now. Why would end-users want to know the criteria? For the certification to be meaningful to them as they select integrators, they want to know what the integrator had to do in their business to pass the audit for certification. For instance, was the audit about technical ability, business practices, or both.? To help inform clients about the CSIA Certification process, the audit criteria are now listed on our website under Certified Member Program. We encourage you to share them with your clients. Find them online (requires log-in to Community site). |
Making the News 
Industry publications offer opportunities to publish
Automation magazines are an excellent way for members of the control system integration industry to share information and showcase their expertise. CSIA members have the opportunity to submit articles or contribute content for articles written by the magazines' editorial staff.
To increase awareness of these opportunities, our newsletter will now include the topics that will be covered by Control, Automation World and Control Engineering. Control Design and InTech will be added in later editions.
Take advantage of the opportunity to advance the profession and gain publicity for your company!
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Control Engineering
The cover story for the June issue of Control Engineering is "Safety Integration from an Integrators Perspective." Contact Vance Van Doren at controleng@msn.com to contribute to this article.
On an ongoing basis, describe an automation project from an integrator's perspective for their Integrator Update section. Include about 1,000 words plus a picture of the process in action. These can be submitted at any time.
Contact Vance or see the full editorial calendar for upcoming topics to which our integrator members can contribute content.
Featured topics
June - Safety integration from an integrator's perspective
July - System integrator career study (survey)
December - Integrating disparate and isolated control systems
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Automation World
On an ongoing basis, CSIA members may submit articles that are informative (not promotional) in nature and/or that provide an example of a recent project/situation/success story. Your article would run on a department page called Integrator View. The articles should be 600-625 words and submitted as a Microsoft Word document. No pictures or graphics are needed (unless a chart or graph is available that helps explain the topic).
The theme for the May issue is "Safety." If you're interested in submitting an "Integrator View" article, the deadline is April 1.
Featured topics
May - Safety
June - Information management
July - Operations management
September - Workflow, business processes
November - Reliability (asset availability)
December - Workforce
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ControlCSIA members are invited to contribute to a cover story written by the Control magazine staff. Integrators and end users are the preferred sources. See the Control editorial calendar for topics.
If you are interested in becoming a source, contact Walt Boyes wboyes@putman.net several months in advance.
You also can submit a feature article, which is a case study on a project. Feature articles are to be fully prepared articles ready for publication and consist of about 1,800 words. Deadlines are one month in advance. For example, submit a feature article by March 1 on the topics of "Supervisory Control "or "Flow" for the April issue. Submit an article by April 1 on the topics of "PC-based Control, Advance Control Techniques" or "Drives and Motor Controls" for the May issue. Contact Dan Hebert at dahebert@cox.net for information.
Featured topics
April - The mobile automation professional
May - Process safety
June - Sustainability; 18th annual salary survey
July - Staffing and knowledge management
August - Wireless field networks
September - Lifecycle simulation models
October - Security
November - Asset/Condition monitoring
December - 20th annual Control Top 50
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| Newly Certified and Recertified Members |
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The Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) is pleased to announce that the following member companies have recently earned "Certified Member" distinction:
- Hollander Techniek, Apeldoorn, Netherlands, Evert Bluemink
- Malisko Engineering, Inc., St. Louis, Mo., Steve Malyszko
- Thermo Systems, LLC, East Windsor, N.J., David Musto
Recertified
- Ai Control Systems, Inc., Reading, PA, Tom Albright
- Alfautomazione, Milano, Italy, Mauro Arigossi
- Control & Power Systems, Inc., Fairfield, N.J., Dov Shevich
- Data Science Automation, McMurray, Pa., Richard M. Brueggman
- Patti Engineering, Auburn Hills, Mich., Sam Hoff
- Superior Controls, Inc., Seabrook, N.H., Mark LaRoche
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| Welcome to the Newest CSIA Members |
- Cimation - Houston, Houston, TX; represented by David Pergande
- Electrochem Solutions Inc., Clarence, NY; represented by Diana Robbins
- Murray Controls, Inc., Piedmont, S.C.; represented by Ernest Murray - Associate member
- PACIV, Indianapolis, IN; represented by Shawn Perkins, PE
- ProComSol, Ltd., Lakewood, Ohio; represented by Mike Fersky -Partner
- Prolucid Technologies, Inc., Toronto, ON; represented by Bob Leigh
- QSI Corporation, Salt Lake City, UT; represented by Glen Johnson
- VIPA USA, Inc., Alpharetta, GA; represented by Thomas Kosse
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- STICorp's Charles Horth is featured in Modern Materials Handling
- Phoenix Contact expands its Smart Managed Compact Switch Line
- MatrikonOPC and OMNI Flow Computers, Inc. deliver Secure Data Connectivity
- MatrikonOPC announces Supra Controls as a Gold Level Partner.
- Yaskawa Launches Social Media
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Partner Survey
Results Comng
The survey of our Partner members is nearly complete. We need a few more returns before the results are compiled and published on our website sometime in February. The outcome will enable our Integrator members to better understand Partners' views and practices relative to their integrators.
A survey on how our integrator members do their marketing is also underway and will be distributed to our integrator members in a few weeks.
Regional Meetings?
A regional CSIA meeting is being considered and we would like your feedback on whether you would attend if it was within a couple hours of your location.
This would be a one-day event held either at a member's office or a hotel. Existing members and prospective members from the region would be invited to attend. There would be presentations on topics such as reasons to be a CSIA member (this would be a refresher for current members), Best Practices, certification, a Partner member explaining why they favor CSIA member integrators, the overall insurance program, legal topics like contracts and bonding, and so forth.
The initial location would probably be in the Carolina's, although that is flexible.
indicating whether you would attend if it was at a location near you, even if it's a NO. Include any ideas or suggestions you have.
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ARC Forum
CSIA Executive Director Bob Lowe will be attending the ARC Forum, Feb. 8-11. The purpose is to meet executives from a variety of industries and promote CSIA. Of particular interest is promoting CSIA Certification to end-user executives. Additionally, there will be many presentations relevant to the CSI industry. Lowe will submit a report on the Forum and its programs following the event.
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Quick Tip:
Excel Conversion
Here is a link for a Microsoft interactive utility that provides a conversion from Excel 2003 commands to Excel 2007. Here's another one for Word that shows you where your favorite Word 2003 commands are located in the new Word 2007 interface. They're easy to use and will save you time (and hair!).
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Sullenberger Flight Simulation
Here is a most realistic simulation of the Sullenberger flight landing in the Hudson River. Aviation types, especially TDs, will really appreciate this one! Watch also the second video at the end of the first. | |
