National Specifier's Conference

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Author Message Margaret G. Chewning FCSI CCS Senior Member Username: presbspec Post Number: 56 Registered: 01-2003 Posted on Sunday, June 26, 2005 - 09:36 am:    Well I'm finally back and unpacked from Florida. I want to take this opportunity to thank Mark Kalin, John Regener and the other leaders of SCIP for putting together this conference. I for one learned a lot of new information and had a lot of fun while networking with my friends and colleagues. Altho' I know we have lots of conferences that we can attend during the year between CSI, AIA and the multible other organization we all belong to, but this I hope will become an annual event. One I'll include in my schedule whenever possible. Thanks Guys and Gals Margaret G. Chewning FCSI CCS CCCA SpexResources, LLC David Axt, AIA, CCS, CSI Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 474 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Monday, June 27, 2005 - 01:09 pm:    Margaret, This is the first that I have heard of the NSC. What is it all about? Thanks! Marc C Chavez Senior Member Username: mchavez Post Number: 115 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Monday, June 27, 2005 - 01:35 pm:    I probably would have gone to this show and NOT gone to CSI if I had known about it earlier. By the time I saw anything (a SCIP email I believe) it was too late and my budget can afford only so much. Maybe next time. Margaret G. Chewning FCSI CCS Senior Member Username: presbspec Post Number: 57 Registered: 01-2003 Posted on Monday, June 27, 2005 - 02:02 pm:    First of all NSC was not and is not a substitute for CSI! This was a first time for this conference and occurred in conjunction with ECO-build. Both are great events of value with different focuses. As a SCIP member I wanted to attend to learn some specific information dealing with LEED listed in the program that I needed for a specific project. I will not hesitate to participate in both in the future. Ronald L. Geren, RA, CSI, CCS, CCCA Senior Member Username: specman Post Number: 169 Registered: 03-2003 Posted on Monday, June 27, 2005 - 02:13 pm:    I didn't hear about the NSC until I was at the CSI Show & Convention. Like Marc, it's a little difficult for me to attend both, plus the CSI Regional Conference. How was the NSC advertised? David E Lorenzini Senior Member Username: deloren Post Number: 54 Registered: 04-2000 Posted on Monday, June 27, 2005 - 08:38 pm:    I'm not sure how it was advertised, other than the email notices I received, but it was posted on the SCIP home page for several months. You can check out the scope of the conference at: http://www.ecobuildamerica.com/. The show organizers were originally involved with AEC Systems. They plan two conferences a year. The next one in December in Washington DC, and the following one in Chicago in June 2006. The specifications portion of the event was sponsored SCIP, which planned the sessions and selected the speakers. It is anticipated that the December show will include at least one day of advanced specifications. Tom Heineman RA, FCSI, SCIP Senior Member Username: tom_heineman Post Number: 53 Registered: 06-2002 Posted on Monday, June 27, 2005 - 11:02 pm:    Some impressions of the National Specifiers’ Conference. Not a good name, by the way. It was not national, except for the good presenters that SCIP has brought in from all over. And the numbers were not great, but those there in the too-large room huddled up more and more as they warmed to the subjects, until – toward the end – a dandy discussion group was underway in the front rows. It was as good a seminar as you will ever find among CSI / SCIP / specifer people. The speakers / panelists were expert, and spoke without notes. Each engaged attendees with full eye contact and a willingness to be interrupted. Michael Chambers did a lot of the emceeing, and he is tops in the art. Dennis Hall was there, and his mines of knowledge go way beyond MasterFormat and chicken cookery. I had never heard David Metzger present. He held a session in the Ecobuild part of the program that drew many. And that was a gem - showing how a lowly specifier can make things happen in an out-of-the-ordinary project that no quantity of CAD drawings can. Mark Kalin and David Lorenzini speak softly, but convey much from depths of experience. And there were others. This woke me up to the potential that CSI has in using experienced, articulate specifiers to convert small groups of passive participants into trading / challenging / learning sessions. But the groups must be small, prepared speeches banned, the leaders ready to go with audience response, and the seats arranged for sharing, not spectators in the distant back. I suspect 100 is about the limit. After that you need mikes, and soft voiced women get crowded out. (Not Sheryl and Margaret at Orlando! They not only enunciate most clearly thank you, but are prepared to go above 40 decibels if a pushy male dares try to talk over them.) This was a good prototype and a wake-up call – like January's Tampa construction administration conference. It warrants development. The pending SCIP / CSI working agreement may be off to a good start. Mitch Miller,AIA ,CSI,CCS Senior Member Username: m2architek Post Number: 50 Registered: 02-2004 Posted on Tuesday, June 28, 2005 - 08:35 am:    I wish that I would have known of this event. There was no adveretising that reached my desk, in any form. Ronald L. Geren, RA, CSI, CCS, CCCA Senior Member Username: specman Post Number: 170 Registered: 03-2003 Posted on Tuesday, June 28, 2005 - 12:05 pm:    Tom (and others): With SCIP and CSI starting to work together, is it possible that this NSC event could be held jointly (before or after) the CSI Show & Convention? For some people, like me, it it easier to justify a couple of extra days than an entire separate trip. Also, by doing so, there may be a higher attendance by specifiers at both events. Amy C. Kilburn, AIA, CSI, CCS New member Username: cruise_girl Post Number: 1 Registered: 01-2005 Posted on Tuesday, July 05, 2005 - 07:34 pm:    Very curious. If I didn't log onto 4specs.com, I probably wouldn't have known about "NSC" until 2040. At least if I were relying upon CSI, that is. But then, I understand the inherent conflict between "ecobuild" and CSI's Show/Convention. So, yes, I find this event extraordinarily interesting. And might have attended if I weren't stuck home helping to run my CSI Chapter's Golf Outing. Now reading the glowing reports, especially Tom Heineman's, I sense I've missed the premier event of the year for specifiers. But then, would I have been welcome? I'm an in-house specifier for a large firm in New England. Would SCIP want me there? No, not just a rhetorical question! Dave Metzger Senior Member Username: davemetzger Post Number: 119 Registered: 07-2001 Posted on Tuesday, July 05, 2005 - 08:06 pm:    Amy: You would absolutely have been welcomed. Attendance was in no way limited to SCIP members, and in fact a good proportion of the participants were in-house specifiers. Richard L Matteo, AIA, CSI, CCS Senior Member Username: rlmat Post Number: 104 Registered: 10-2003 Posted on Tuesday, July 05, 2005 - 08:44 pm:    I haven't seen anything from John Regener on this yet, but If you would like I'll ask him about it when I see him this Saturday. Amy, how are things back on the East Coast? Amy C. Kilburn, AIA, CSI, CCS Junior Member Username: cruise_girl Post Number: 2 Registered: 01-2005 Posted on Wednesday, July 06, 2005 - 10:57 am:    Rlmat: It's been a long time! Certainly I'd be interested in John Regener's comments. Re: East Coast. The Red Sox are World Champions. What more info could you possibly need?!? Richard L Matteo, AIA, CSI, CCS Senior Member Username: rlmat Post Number: 105 Registered: 10-2003 Posted on Wednesday, July 06, 2005 - 11:05 am:    Amy, It sure has been a long time - 5 years since I left CT. I will see John Saturday - The Orange County Chapter is celebrating their 40th anniversary at the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, CA in a replica of the East Room of the White House. In the meantime you can reach me by e-mail at rmatteo@tbparchitecture.com