Hello Housatonians,
The Chapter leadership convened in August to shore up the programs for the fall and the continuance to keep our chapter going for another 50 years! I won’t be around to see it but I have been a part of this chapter for 31 years. Why did I join? I was a newly registered architect and wanted to network with other professionals. (Was network even a term in 1987?)
CSI afforded me the opportunity to interact with the layers of the construction industry. The design team of architects and engineers, the product technical and sales representatives, and contractors who brought the project to completion. The drawings were the visual component of the design but the contract language and specifications were a part of the project which lawyers could hang their hat upon.
Very little time was spent on specifications in my formal architectural education. CSI would now provide an opportunity to remedy that deficiency. Monthly meetings allowed for social interaction with peers and brought knowledge on topics of interest. Region conventions expanded that realm and brought members and their spouses to locales in the northeast to explore. Those friendships fostered travel throughout the country and experience that allowed for greater working knowledge of projects I could have only read about.
As I experienced the growth of my career through a chapter meeting to the big stage of national conventions, we are excited about our September site visit. This visit to a microgrid in Bridgeport provides the opportunity, once again, to interact with the designers, product representatives and contractors on a given project. Could we have thought of this idea of a stand-alone power source which could interact with the large electrical grid of the region?
Join us this September and throughout the year as we continue to learn about our profession.
Best regards, Bill
William Selski, CSI, CDT, RA; President, CSI Housatonic Chapter
