The 2021 ASPE Tech Symposium will be the place to be in September. It is time to get your CEUs and continue your career in excellence. There is no time like the present to learn more and to reconnect with your ASPE Family. It is a great time to take another day off and enjoy San Diego. It is a very tourist-friendly area and a great family destination.
The San Diego Marriott Mission Valley has great travel appeal. The hotel is located near Mission Beach, and it’s just a hop on the trolley to explore Mission Bay, Old Town, and the Downtown San Diego Gaslamp Quarter. The hotel has a great pool area where your spouse and kids can hang out while you are in class!
The Technical Education Program schedule is set and available at aspe.org/2021-tech-symposium/sessions. We will have an excellent Product Show on Thursday and Friday. You will be able to see new products and hear directly from the manufacturers about their new innovations.
Social events at this Symposium will be fun as well. We have a Welcome Party sponsored by Charlotte Pipe on Friday night and an AYP networking event at Park & Rec on Saturday night. As I mentioned before, you can hop on the trolley and be in downtown San Diego in minutes. This will be a great time for fun.
ASPE Board Update
The Board of Directors met face to face on July 24–25 in Chicago. It was the first face-to-face meeting we’ve had in more than a year. It was a great meeting. It was wonderful to see the group work together. We went through the 200-page Board book, the financials, and issue documents. The discussions were thoughtful, well rounded, and exceptional. It was good to see everyone working for our members. It was great to see some ASPE Staff who provided updates on the Symposium, membership, and finances.
The focus for us at this time is to work with each other to make the Symposium a success, provide support for our Chapters and members, continue our relationships with our partners, and provide more training and education for our members.
We as a Board are dedicated to keeping ASPE strong! The July Board meeting was exciting because we are members who are excited about ASPE.
Let’s not forget that 2022 is a Convention year, so if you want to run for a Board position, start thinking about it now. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me or anyone on the Board. I will be happy to answer any questions you might have.
ASPE Committee Update
Our committees are working hard and moving ASPE forward.
Education Committee
Under Vice President, Education Jim Zebrowski, PE, CPD, FASPE, and Chair Chris Phillips, CPD, GPD, the subgroups of the Education Committee are as follows:
- Tech Symposium, to select the technical sessions for the Symposium
- Convention & Expo, to select technical sessions for the Convention
- Education Outreach, to reach out to colleges, high schools, and elementary schools
- Membership Education, to create webinars and workshops
- RLE/CEU Provider Program, both of which have provided thousands of CEUs this year!
Credentialing Committee
The Credentialing Committee is adding questions to the CPDT and CPD exams. We hope to increase the question pool by 30 percent. Credentialing is a hot topic online. This is where we as a Society help employers know who has met a standard of education in the plumbing engineering field.
Legislative Committee
The Legislative Committee, led by Vice President, Legislative, Brianne Hall, PE, CPD, LEED AP BD+C, GGP, is run very effectively. As a member this should be a committee that interests you most. We have the opportunity to expand and continue wonderful work.
Finance Committee
The Finance Committee is keeping its eye on our budget. We currently are doing well financially. The modifications we put in place to control spending in the past year have been highly successful. Our focus is on member outreach and quality. The Finance Committee consists of me, Vice President, Technical, Vinny Falkowski, PE, PMP, CCM, Treasurer Blair Minyard, PE, CPD, CDT, and one appointed member, Jim Zebrowski. Staff is represented by Senior Manager of Finances & Administration, Eitan Gauchman, and Executive Director/CEO Billy Smith, FASPE.
Membership Committee
The Membership Committee will be challenged this term, but Vice President, Membership, Jason McDonald, CPD, is not a wallflower by any stretch of the imagination. He is full of ideas and passion. Chair Nicole Parker, CPD, is outstanding, and I suspect they will meet our growth and retention goals.
Long-Range Planning
The Long- Range Planning Committee is always in action. They will be providing a planning report for the ASPE Board that will reflect the members’ needs and interests.
Technical & Research Committee
The T&R Committee is working hard on our handbooks. Volume 1 is being revised this year, and if you would like to be involved in Volume 2 next year, contact Director of Communications & Publications, Gretchen Pienta. The T&R Committee always does a great job and is one of the smoothest-run committees ever.
Special Interest Groups
ASPE Young Professionals (AYP) is led by Nicholas Hipp, CPD, and they are working hard on the 2021 AYP Leadership Academy to be held during the 2021 ASPE Tech Symposium. The Women of ASPE (WOA) continues to support our members. From its inception, leadership at the Chapter level has more than doubled, from 50 to 125 women serving as Chapter leaders. Great job ladies! Nothing supports ASPE more than making our Chapters stronger.
ASPE Chapter Update
Most Chapters have turned in their annual reports. Thank you, Chapters, for getting these completed. For those of you still lacking a few items, please get this information entered as soon as possible. This is the final stage of rechartering our Chapters.
Your Society Board is reviewing the Chapter reports, identifying the Chapter Award of Merit winners, and rechartering Chapters.
Hopefully the upgrades to the online reporting system have helped the process. I thank Region 5 Director Brian Hutton, CPD, for being the gracious coordinator of improving this system.
We are hearing from multiple fronts that most Chapters are heading back to face-to-face or hybrid meetings. I am sure this will be welcomed by one and all. As always, Chapters should adjust as they must for their area and the needs of our members. It is great to hear, though, that people are working back into a modified normal.
Wrap Up
ASPE Pipeline continues to grow and get clicks. It is being met with positive feedback, and we always are looking for new content. If you would like to contribute, please reach out to Gretchen Pienta.
Two Board action groups were appointed: MTAG and HTAG. These groups are set up to work on actions and goals for marketing and the healthcare credential initiative respectively.
All of the members of the Board are excited, and we, just like all of you, get even more passionate when we get to see each other in person. I look ever so much to seeing all of you in San Diego.
The Board will stay focused on you, our members, and the business of ASPE. I am excited and thrilled to be working with this Board for each of you. ASPE is my family, and I am passionate to keep us as the voice of the plumbing engineering industry. I thank all of you for this opportunity to grow and strengthen this magnificent Society. You are a group of amazing people.
