A Final Message From 2009-2010 CSI-SLC President Richard Baxter

This Year's Accomplishments

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

As this is officially my last day as President of our Salt Lake Chapter of CSI, I thought I would drop you all a message thanking you for making this such a successful year.

Our accomplishments included the following:

• At the end of last year, we had an election to fill all our board positions.

• Last summer, I dusted off our bylaws and assured that they were up to date. With that as a basis, and after conducting a little research, I created a list of duties expected of the various board members, committee chairs, and committee members. I delivered that to all our members along with a questionnaire asking each of you what roles you might want to fill. Although only few people responded, from that questionnaire we discovered Shane Severson's design skills and Alison Anderson's willingness to assist with a Symposium. Both of them subsequently contributed greatly to our successes this year.

• In September, we had a BIM and IDP Forum where we set out to hopefully gain back some money that was paid as a result from having regretfully cancelled last year's symposium. We did that by planning a substantial kick-off meeting at the already-paid-for Utah Cultural Celebration Center. We invited a panel to discuss and explain IDP and BIM. Many architects attended and we succeeding in earning back just about everything we had paid the previous year.

• Libby Crapo and Tonya Dodge helped out with a booth at AIA's conference this year. We made some inroads into our relationship with AIA.

• In October, Mark Curtis hosted a successful student competition at the Cathedral of the Madeleine. Sponsors paid for food and prizes, making it an event that was appreciated by everyone involved. Our hope now is to find other CSI members willing to take on this task.

• Also in October, Janet Quinn began the first of a year's worth of well-attended chapter meetings. We held our program at Swaner EcoCenter, where we learned about the ins and outs of a platinum LEED building.

• In November, we met at the JSMB and attracted many non-members to an informative and somewhat entertaining synopsis of the City Creek project.

• In December, we began what we hope may become a new tradition for our chapter. We planned our holiday program in conjunction with a service project. After spending an hour bagging frozen French fries, we enjoyed a nice lunch at the new Food Bank building. We have our Directors, Cortney Roundy and Dave Keesler, to thank for the preparations for that event.

• January brought us a collaborative meeting with the DBIA, again thanks to Dave Keesler and Janet Quinn. This well-attended meeting at Layton Construction helped us to understand better what Design Build contractors expect of specs and architects.

• By the end of February, we witnessed the nearly final transformation of our chapter website into a highly functional and useful tool that should be a blessing to our chapter for years to come. Shane Severson deserves full credit for the design of our website. Since most of you missed our Awards meeting, you should be aware that Shane earned a Regional Award as a result of his website work and our website has caught the attention of national CSI leaders. Shane's efforts also increased and improved our presence in the architectural community and allowed for the possibility of gaining sponsorship funds for the chapter via advertising space on the website. Hundreds of local architects now receive our mailings and since they must use our website to sign up for meetings, it is currently one of the best ways to get you company logo out there in our market.

• February also gave us a successful Symposium. In addition to the website work, Shane Severson spent many long hours providing invites, signage designs, and programs for the Symposium. I spent a lot of time pursuing speakers and making sure that seminars were AIA accredited. Alison Anderson put a lot of time into organizing the layout, collecting exhibitor info, and arranging for food. We also had numerous sponsors and speakers that contributed to its success. We gained 9 members after the symposium.

• In March, we returned to our standard meeting location at the JSMB to hear an informative presentation on BIM and estimating.

• We held a little orientation meeting and breakfast in early April that was intended for our new members, but ended up attracting a number of nonmembers who just wanted to know more about us. Libby Crapo and Jim Rohbock helped out with that.

• Jim Rohbock and I attended our Regional Conference in April and I attended the National CSI conference in May. Both were excellent events and I found a few speakers that we'll want to consider for next year's programs or symposium.

• We also toured the new QuartzDyne facility in April, gaining some insight into the work associated with oil drill work.

• In May, we toured another interesting facility, Codale Electric.

• Finally, this month we topped off the year with a Barbeque in a little-known (to me anyway) side canyon in Millcreek Canyon. It was fun to see people's families for the first time ever while enjoying good food. Special thanks to Jim Rohbock for bringing some firewood. No special thanks to the weather for making things difficult.

The rain made it impossible for us to hand out awards at the barbeque in a manner that each recipient deserved.  I originally intended to go easy on the awards.  None of us serve in CSI for the praise or the credit.  But I realized that after completing such a successful year, I simply HAD to do something to show appreciation.  Thus, the following awards are sitting in the trunk of my car awaiting distribution at the next available opportunity:

National CSI Award, Framed:

• Richard Baxter  (for having served as president.  Apparently the suggestion to buy me a year's family pass at Lagoon didn't take.)

Regional Award, Framed:

• Shane Severson (For his work on our website)

Chapter Service Awards, Framed:

• Jim Rohbock (For selflessly serving as President Elect)

• Janet Quinn (For selflessly serving as Programs Chair)

• Dave Keesler (For selflessly serving as a Director)

• Cortney Roundy (For selflessly serving as a Director)

• Sean Bernat (For selflessly serving as Electronic Media Chair)

• Paul Riddle (For selflessly serving as Vice President)

Chapter Certificate of Appreciation Award - Framed :

• Alison Anderson (In appreciation for service as Symposium Chair)

Chapter Continuous Service Award - Framed :

• Libby Crapo (As Membership Chair, for selflessly serving for over 5 years)

President's Certificate Award - Framed:

• Shane Severson (My personal thank you for exceptional service to the chapter.)

Chapter Commendation Award, Framed:

• Mark Curtis (Special commendation for years of selfless service to the Chapter.)
• Norm Clark (Special commendation for years of selfless service to the Chapter as a student affiliate.)

Chapter Distinguished Service Award, Framed:

• Jim Butler (Special recognition for many years of selfless service to the Chapter as a Treasurer.)

Chapter Certificate of Appreciation Award - Unframed certificates:

• Kay Holley (For loyally helping out with programs)
• Jake Alder (For helping assure the success of the Symposium)
• George Karch (For helping assure the success of the Symposium)
• Tonya Dodge (For willfully helping out at the AIA convention)
• Julia Farmer (For helping with Symposium and with awards)

I have full confidence that we can continue to improve our organization and increase its value for everyone involved under the leadership of our new President, Jim Rohbock.

Now, just to give a few final words of advice as I complete my presidency:

• Serve. CSI is about serving. I have first-hand knowledge that you will benefit from it more than anyone you serve. Service is how people know that you care. If you don't care, why are you here? Contact Jim and ask him where he needs your help.

• Communicate. To affectively serve in CSI you MUST keep the lines of communication open. Communication is simply time + contact with another person. The more time you spend contacting other people, the better you will communicate. Take the time as needed each week to contact the people you are serving with. Discuss your next move and theirs.

• Organize: Everything goes best when we put our greatest efforts into first establishing a foundation. No one would want a load of wall materials to arrive on the jobsite only to find that there isn't enough foundation on which to build the walls. Organize well at the beginning and everything else will fall into place as you go.Set your goals now.

I'm looking forward to the coming year.  Let's make it the best ever!

Thanks again to all of you for a truly remarkable year. 

Richard Baxter

Soon-to-be Past President of the Salt Lake Chapter of CSI