Did you see the total solar eclipse? It’s an event that occurs very rarely in a lifetime, and the next one isn’t expected for another 20 years. I trust everyone got their ISO-approved viewing glasses and were able to witness it. Totality depended on where you live and the weather in that area. I didn’t get my money’s worth out of the glasses here in Georgia. We were in the 80 percent band, but there was too much cloud cover. Anyone need a slightly used pair of glasses for 2044?
On the bright side, you won’t need ISO-approved glasses for any of ASPE’s upcoming events (see how I made that transition there?). This is a busy time for ASPE, at both the Society level and the Chapter level. Let me enumerate some of those events here.
Board of Directors Meeting
The Society Board of Directors will meet for our April Board meeting in Columbus, Ohio. Part of the reason for that meeting location is to visit the facilities for the 2024 ASPE Convention & Expo (more on that later). As always, we have a full agenda for the meeting. I’ll recap highlights of it in my May column on ASPE Pipeline.
Certified in Plumbing Design
The 2024 Certified in Plumbing Design (CPD) exam is being conducted online this month. Also, if you need to recertify your CPD credential this year, the deadline to complete that is April 30. You can do this online by logging into your Education Dashboard on ASPE Education.
MedGas Workshop
The next ASPE MedGas Workshop will be held at the Harry Warren facility in Orlando on April 18–21. Subsequent workshops will be at the Viega facility in Broomfield, Colorado on June 13–16, Bradford White in Grand Rapids, Michigan on September 26–29, and MediTrac in Exton, Pennsylvania on November 7–10. You can find links to register for these workshops at aspe.org/medgas-workshop.
ASPE Chapters
May will be a busy time for many ASPE Chapters, especially those that will hold elections for their new Chapter Officers. It’s also the time for Chapters to be finalizing their Annual Reports, which are due by June 30. This year, we’d like all Chapters to meet that deadline. It’s a Convention year, and each Chapter’s delegate approvals depend on submitting the Annual Report for review by the Society Board.
In June, ASPE Chapters, the Society Board of Directors, and ASPE Staff will convene around the country for the annual Region Meetings. Region 1 will meet in Washington, D.C., on June 14–15. Region 2 will be in Dayton, Ohio on June 14–15. The Region 3 meeting will be at sea on June 7–9. Region 4 will be in Phoenix on June 7–9, and Region 5 will be in Tulsa on June 7–9. Those meetings are a great opportunity for sharing information from Chapter to Chapter and from Chapters to the Society. Plan to take advantage of them.
ASPE Governance
Reminder: if you are interested in running for a Society Board position, submit your application by June 17. The deadline to submit proposed ASPE Bylaws changes is June 21. Both of those should be sent to Executive Director/CEO Billy Smith, FASPE, at [email protected].
July 1 is the start of ASPE’s fiscal year and also when newly elected Chapter Officers take office. Be sure to look for a new document from the Society. It’s a step-by-step guide titled How to Transition a Chapter Board of Directors.
The Society Board of Directors will be at ASPE’s headquarters in Rosemont, Illinois at the end of July for our third quarterly meeting. That will be our last face-to-face meeting prior to the Convention, so it will have a lengthy agenda for the Board and Staff to navigate. The Society Board will conduct two more calls, one in August and one in September, in advance of our big event in October.
2024 ASPE Convention & Expo
Of course, that event is the 2024 ASPE Convention & Expo in Columbus, Ohio. The Board of Directors will meet October 17–18, the Business Meeting is October 19–20, the Expo is October 21–22, and the Technical Education Program is October 22–23. Don’t forget the Sunday Night Party Presented by NIBCO Inc., which will be held at Center of Science and Industry (COSI). Registration and housing are now open online. Visit expo.aspe.org for details. It’s an event you should not miss.
I’ll sign off for now. I know this article was long on calendar events and short on story, for which I apologize. I’ll try to work through my writer’s block for the May edition. Thanks for stopping by this month.
