SPECTRUM

Newsletter of the Puget Sound Chapter CSI

Dick Owen, CSI

The fact is, in today's highly competitive environment your expertise, track record, and experience by themselves may not be enough to be distinguish you from the many other voices vying for the same attention. More than ever we're living in a society that has truly "heard it all before" regardless of what you're marketing or selling.  

 

Our February program, "Putting Your Best Foot Forward," will be presented by Vanna Novak, a nationally recognized keynote speaker and seminar leader on persuasive presentation skills and skills to build quality work relationships. Based in Seattle, she is president & owner of Speak to Persuade and has been in the business of speaking and training for over 20 years. Her background includes having served as a director of employee relations for the Puget Sound Chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association, university adjunct faculty member, and two-time gubernatorial appointee in Washington State. She has been a featured guest on both radio and television and has a client roster that includes:  Alaska Airlines, Boeing, Court TV, the Disney Corporation, ESPN, Expedia, Firestone, Microsoft, Nintendo and Nordstrom to name a few.

 

She will offer tips on how to stand out for the right reasons, be heard, and increase your chances to get buy-in. Join us and learn how to put your best foot forward! See you then.

 $35 members, $40 non-members, $25 students

Lunch 11:30am, Program 12-1pm 

After Midnight Monday, February 10, tickets will cost an additional $10  

Vicki Long, CSI

Already month number two of 2014 - and the month that we can demonstrate our love and appreciation to those nearest and dearest to our hearts.

But how good are you at demonstrating your appreciation to others through the rest of the year? A heartfelt 'Thank you' goes a long way in maintaining and encouraging all relationships - personal and professional. A few words of appreciation are not only very welcome but they inspire those on the receiving end to want to continue doing those things that are rewarded - even with a few kind words. So let's all get out there with an attitude of gratitude and we'll all feel good!

Speaking of gratitude, I'm so thankful for all of the committee chairs who have spent time, effort, and energy keeping the chapter rolling. Dick Owen does a great job of getting smart and entertaining guest speakers, as well as handling the Silent Auction details. Melissa Balestri not only organized the September tour meeting, she also has put together a great seminar schedule. Anna Anderson is making some good progress on getting interest in increasing membership - and she'd love all of you to bring a guest to the next meeting! David Huffman and his ProSpec Committee have promised another great keynote speaker for our April 22 date. And Kelly Laleman is working on a new format for our website - you're going to love it!  

A heartfelt THANK YOU to all of the committee members and our Board Members for showing up and participating on a regular basis. Andrew, Ann and Leah most certainly help keep us all on task and moving forward.

Don't forget that the February meeting is lunch - the second of three. "Putting Your Best Foot Forward" by Vanna Novak should be of interest to all of us. We tend forget that we must sell ourselves in order to get others interested in our services or products. We're all in the business of selling!

SEMINAR 1: 1:15-2:15pm

Construction Sealants - Installations & Their Liabilities

Speaker: Wayne Belcher, Principal and Building Science Specialist at UNIPRO

Cost: $10 members

$20 non-members

Students are free

1 AIA LU

Wayne Belcher of United Professional Caulking and Restoration, Inc. will teach you to identify problems that poor sealant installation creates in commercial and restoration projects, and will help you understand sealant composition, mechanism of action, performance characteristics. He will discuss how to avoid the three most widely experienced joint failures types and which key elements should be addressed in your joint sealants specification section. Wayne has over 30 years of experience in the sealant and waterproofing industry in the Northwest, and specializes in building façade sealant detailing. 

SEMINAR 2: 2:20-3:20pm

Alternative Procurement in the State of Washington

Speaker: Robynne Thaxton Parkinson, Principal of Thaxton Parkinson PLLC.

Cost: $10 members

$20 non-members

Students are free 

1 AIA LU

Last year the State of Washington made significant changes to alternative procurement statues for design-build and the GC/CM. Attorney Robynne Parkinson will discuss these changes as well as new case law affecting the construction industry, both in the State of Washington and nationally. Robynne Parkinson, Principal of Thaxton Parkinson PLLC, has over 24 years of experience and was named a Washington "Super Lawyer" from 2010-2013. She is on the Design-Build Institute of America National Board of Directors Executive Committee, the co-chair of the National DBIA Legal Committee, and the co-chair of the Legislation Committee for the DBIA NW Region.

Duane Jonlin, Energy Code and Energy Conservation Advisor for the City of Seattle, spoke about navigating the newest state and local codes, and highlighted the major changes in this most recent cycle.  

Beyond this, he shared ideas to improve code requirements in the future, both for usability and better energy performance. Duane also pointed out that our members represent many different types of professionals; thus we, independently from CSI, have potential to generate well-rounded ideas for future code updates.  

Bring your ideas to Duane and the City of Seattle! 

Is Your Inner Writer Struggling to Get Out? We Can Help.

2014 is ushering in some very noticeable changes in our newsletter and our website.

The PSC CSI Communications Committee is dedicated to informing and educating our members with interesting and oftentimes entertaining content. We want to publish relevant issues and pieces from a variety of disciplines that you care about.

That is where you, dear reader come in - we're now seeking contributions from our diverse pool of readers that have news or interesting anecdotes relating to any of the wide range of jobs and skills PSC CSI members have. Lastly, we want to encourage dialogue among our members, share projects and CSI related developments in Washington state.

Our deadline is the 15th of the month before a newsletter is released. If you have a project or story you would like to share with your colleagues please contact Kelly Laleman. 

Many of us learn to do things better by making mistakes. However, learning can be both expensive and embarrassing. Take this screaming cheap opportunity to both teach and learn. See if you can find any errors in the specification in this article on Fabric Wrapped Panels.    

Please share a couple minutes of your time and teach us how YOU would make this spec more clear, concise and correct. Is an important piece of performance criteria missing?  Please include a short description of why the changes are important. Check back next month and see the compilation of corrections and probably learn something.  If you don't learn something you can still revel in your own brilliance. If you have a "challenging" spec that you would like used for this article please submit it. Project names should be removed.

Submit Corrections to our PSC CSI office by Monday, February 17 and we'll include anonymous excerpts from the responses we receive.

Northwest Region Conference 2014 

Building Bridges To The Future                   

May 8th-10th, 2014
Downtown Portland Hilton

The Portland Chapter welcomes you to Oregon as host of the 2014 CSI NW Region   Conference. Our agenda is packed with amazing presentations sure to enlighten and entertain.Please click here to view the conference schedule.

The following are some of the presentation highlights:   Architectural Models: How do they do that? Learn about the new innovation's in architectural model building, the incorporation of today's electronic data to develop physical models of a project.   Charley Danner is part of the creative group at ZGF Architects. As a staff member of the in-house Model Shop, he creates works of art, also called models, which complement the wondrous visions of the architectural design team. Charley produces projects using an array of equipment, including CAD software, laser cutters, and 3D printers.    Optimizing Building Performance through Commissioning: Commissioning and building verification are essential for quality construction and operation in new and existing buildings. It assures owners that building systems are installed and functioning properly. Plus it's cost-effective, providing energy savings as well as non-energy benefits.   Nick Marcyan, CxA, CCP, Commissioning Authority at Interface Engineering, will provide an overview of the commissioning process, what to look for in an agent, and how commissioning can improve building performance.

The Living Building: "A Visionary Path to a Restorative Future"

Learn about the two rules of LBC and Scale Jumping and where does your project fit in the program? And what is required for a 'Living' Certification?

Visit the Portland Chapter website for more information or to register early. 

You should plan to attend the Portland Chapter's premier event the "Industry Forum" Thursday evening. Free ticket provided with full registration to conference and CEU credits available for both events.

You do not have to be a member of CSI to attend - our educational seminars & networking opportunities are for everyone. 

Watch for the CSI Portland Chapter newsletter, "The Predicator", for details on speakers.

How Did We Get Here? Membership

In the LinkedIn CSI Leaders group, Joy Davis recently began a series of discussions under the heading #CSIStats. The goal, as expressed in the first post of the series, is "helping CSI leaders understand where CSI stands by sharing facts about the Institute ... to help you start and  participate in discussions about who CSI is and where the Institute should go in the future."

Each discussion has started with a few membership statistics about who members are and what they do, followed by links for recommended reading, and a question to start a discussion.

As often happens, each discussion has had a brief flurry of responses, then died. Part of the problem, which affects everything we do, is the limited number of participants. Because this is a locked LinkedIn group, discussion necessarily is limited to members of the group, who number 503. Still, these are by definition leaders of CSI, so it's not a bad place to have a discussion, though it would be good to seek input from the general membership. That is being done through the Institute website, where the posts are available to all. To date, they have garnered a total of three comments. (Contrary to popular belief, posting something to a website does little to get the word out, as few people visit websites except when looking for specific information.) Read More... 

Mr. Troy W Barrows, CSI, Nor-Pac Seating Company Inc.

Mr. Matthew Mitchell, CSI-S

RENEWING MEMBERS

Mr. Robert Bechtel, CSI, Bechtel Ind. Coating & Supply, 20 years

Mr. Marc C. Chavez, CSI, CCS, CCCA, AIA, SCIP, ZGF Architects LLP, 17 years

Ms. Lottie Eskilsson, CSI, AIA, Eskilsson Architecture, 14 years

Mr. Scott L. Finlinson, CSI, LEED AP, USGBC, USG Building Systems, 23 years

Mr James E. Harrison, PE, PE, CSI, CCS, Hargis Engineers Inc, 28 years

Mr. Scott Martin, CSI, CDT, Tremco Inc. Vulkem Paraseal, 19 years

Mr. Mark R. Morden, CSI, CDT, Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc., 16 years

Mr. Ronald V. Rochon, CSI, Miller/Hull Partnership, LLP, 10 years

Mrs. Mary Ann Shepherd, CSI-EP, ZGF Architects, LLP, 2 years

Mr. Erl D. Thorgalsen, CSI, RTB Company, 15 years

Mr. Adriaan van der Capellen, CSI, Polycoat Products, 1 year

Mr. David Walter, CSI, Coastal Specified Products, 2 years

Mr. Chuck Young, CSI, Division9, Inc., 2 years

LAPSED MEMBERS

Ms. Lindsay Michelle Keener, CSI-S

Mr. Norm Mourer, CSI

Mr. Larry Saxon, CSI, CDT

February 2014 

Volume 53 Issue 8