Starting on July 1st this year, I became the new President for the Northeast Region at CSI. In the few months since, I’ve seen and heard quite a lot. I’ve certainly been able to look at things a bit differently than when I was a Chapter President, or even when I was the Region’s Vice President a couple years back.
I thought it might be a reasonable time and chance to offer up several opinion and observations from my first 4 ½ months in this position. These are my thoughts, and not official positions of CSI. That said, in no specific order:
- Construction specifications are still very important, maybe more important, today in 2023 within the AEC community. The problem and challenge with that seems to be that specification writers (ones that are experienced and qualified) seem to be in pretty short supply. With the level and quality (and quantity) of drawings being “challenging”, along with the apparent shortage of experienced construction managers and project managers– the need for well-written and well-conceived project specifications is imperative.
- There is a wide chasm out there between successful and vibrant CSI chapters, and those that are really struggling. I see that in the Northeast Region, but also I know of it elsewhere from talking to many other Region Presidents across the country. In trying to assist, it really is not a 1-size-fits-all mentality. Many of us have heard of or faced some chapters that are in a real tough spot and may not exist 6 months from now, but for each of those chapters CSI does have an excellent chapter (which is not always large) nearby.
- Chapter success is determined by so many factors: size of chapter/population to draw from, number on the Board, quality of the Board, quality of the local President, level of engagement with local AEC community (including those that are NOT CSI members), age of the Board (this is a complicated subject), vibrancy of the local economy/ job market, and many more considerations. And I suppose there is something to be said for “success breeds success”.
- While the concern exists that CSI in general needs to attract and retain more younger (less than 35 years old?) members- and have them be “active”- there are some success stories out there. I’ve heard of some chapters with solid ongoing relationships with local colleges. I also attended the recent CSI National Conference in Minneapolis, and I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of Under-40’s there present.
The last item I will mention is one that you probably understand if you are reading this article: there are many, many AEC professionals out there who really do care about CSI and they actively volunteer and work towards its local and general success. I have met many, at my local New Hampshire and Boston chapters, and all over the Northeast region. If we can foster that further, then CSI will have a solid and relevant future.
