·         Q: A netbook is a great idea.

 

·         Q: Had a life cycle cost analysis been done on the difference of owning vs. renting the headquarters building? What is the overall difference?

o   A: yes, overall difference is incredible. The board went through different scenarios. the bottom line is, it is a better benefit in the long term. Short term, it is slightly more. This is because of initial costs and upgrading. It’s going to break even and then be profitable in the next few years. Next year, ASPE will start making money on rental costs and still have money to expand. ASPE is now offering space at the headquarters for members to use the space to hold meetings, instead of hunting down meeting space when members are in the area. It is limited to how many you can bring (ex: you can't have a 50 person seminar), but we will also offer good and beverage options. Additionally, when you arrive at O’Hare, you can take the Courtyard Marriott shuttle and it will take you directly to the Courtyard Marriott which is next door to ASPE. Also, if you need to stay in the area, we have negotiated a rate with the hotel to offer a huge discount on hotel fees to make it worth your while to come to Chicago/O’Hare/ASPE"

 

·         Q: I won a netbook at the technical expo, and I use it all the time. It is perfect for taking to a job site or meetings, due to its small size. I love it!

 

·         Q: Would it be cheaper to provide flash drives with all the handouts, rather than a netbook? For those of us who travel with a computer.

o   A: Stan is answering this now.

 

·         Q: I would like to see us with the $950/person for the convention. With or without the netbooks. This raiser the level and expectations of the content. If we provide some exceptional fire protection design, inspection, knowledge base we will bring in a tremendous amount of fire protection contractors, inspectors, and interested parties. Pennsylvania is one of the states that will require fire protection residentially in 2011 so the interest level will be high in the local area.

o   A: We will be discussing this further at the April Board Mtg.

 

·         Q: We have been increasing our attendance by contractors and in our travels in our region we have seen an increase in the interest and the pursuit of the CPD designation. I like the increase in our registration as it is a great convention. Will we be provided in the near future advertisements and information that we can send out via email and newsletters to attract fire protection people, contractors, and designers?

o   A: Stan is answering this now

 

·         Q: ASPE Convention Cost for Attendees has increased to $775 for members correct? Is early registration rate different than this?

o   A: Early and late registration has always been different and that will remain the same. We are proposing registration be a little more but we are trying to hold it down as much as possible.

 

·         Q: Will ASPE sell the ASPE Book of Tables/Excel Spreadsheet CD with and without a hardback of the book? Or is this just a CD for $159

o   A: final pricing decisions have not been made.

 

·         Q: With Residential Fire sprinklers on their way, what are we doing to reach out to NFSA and AFSA and similar Fire Protection organizations to possibly expand our influence into this area? Is this outside of our charter focus?"

 

·         Q: If you eliminate travel will the BOD and ASPE staff pay their own way? Why is Julius not addressing my questions?

o   A: as Stan mentioned, we're keeping track of your questions/comments and they will be presented to the board (and if there's time at the end of the meeting)

 

·         Q: $950 early registration is unreasonable. Central Indiana chapter will not send 5 delegates; you will not get any non delegates from Indianapolis.

o   A: your comments will be presented to the board

 

·         Q: who will troubleshoot all of these netbooks? Will this be additional cost for our IT consultants? all of these will not work "out of the box" IE the badge scanners

o   A: Julius answered this in that the staff will be doing this.

 

·         Q: Illustrated code handbook numbers are not realistic, 500 copies is generous. most people have the commentary books published by the upc/ipc. I see the same disappointment you saw with the tables book. Not trying to be negative just want you to be realistic.

o   A: We think our book is by far the best one out there and the most up to date. We feel it will be very worthwhile. A lot of work has gone into this book to make it the best.

 

·         Q: why did we not pursue LEED certification on our building if we want to demonstrate our commitment to "green." This looks hypocritical as we are choosing to be "green" when we want to save money.

o   A: As you know a Green certification is NOT inexpensive. While that would be nice we spent only what we had budgeted to be able to get into the new building and a number of those items have made the building more energy efficient but not necessarily to the point of Green Certification.

 

·         Q: you need to offer a discounted xl file on the tables handbook for those who already purchased the book. I assume it will be included if you buy the book now?

o   A: arrangements will be made

 

·         Q: why not have it as an option for only those who need the notebook? those who have them could get a memory stick. I would rather use my laptop. most people have them would save you some cost.

o   A: We have discussed this and it is still a valid option. We will have more discussions on this at the April Board Mtg.

 

·         Q: Mailing cost? Could ASPE streamline mailing cost, if there are large companies have multiple staff ASPE members? Could ASPE do to mailings in bulk for ASPE design data books or magazines to same office address, to lessen the mailing cost? 

o   A: yes, there are options to do that, but in the end, it is not something we're considering because of the additional staff labor on ASPE's end."

 

·         Q: might want to add that we are also paying for food as part of the fee

 

·         Q: The netbook can be used for all future symposiums and conventions. Information can be sent via E-mail to put in your netbook prior to attending. Seems like a catchy approach.

o   A: We are hoping that will be the case.

 

·         Q: There still should be some paper handouts (limited) for those older people that do not want to deal with the computer idea. Just throwing that out there because there will be some people who will be against it.

o   A: we are aware, we've thought of this option. The netbook will be very user friendly, and the user will either touch the screen or move the mouse without having to know anything about computers. it's going to be much like a digital book and the user will be starting with the ""index""

 

·         Q: How many ASPE Chapters participated today?

o   A: pre-registration was 42, but today's attendance are 14, not including 3 chapters in attendance today. Also, there are multiple chapters with a few members viewing from one computer.

 

·         Q: Has the cost of netbooks been looked at compared with the cost of paper handouts?

 

·         Q: What types of sponsorship options will be available to the Chapters?

o   A: we have a few levels (diamond, platinum, etc.) but this year we are trying to get all the chapters involved with sponsorship, depending on your chapter size. ex: a small chapter can become a diamond sponsor"

 

·         Q: The website shows two Convention center hotels. Which one will be headquarters hotel?

o   A: The Marriott will be the main hotel.

 

·         Q: Has consideration been given to two registration options? - $1000 with netbook, and reduced cost if you bring your own laptop?

o   A: we have considered this and we will still be discussing this at our April Board Mtg."

 

·         Q: There are internet search engine companies that specialize in getting you linked to the people / buyers that are on the internet looking to buy something.

 

·         Q: We don't need a Keynote speaker. We had great attendance in 2008 and didn't have a speaker. Save the money!

o   A: all comments shared will be presented to the board

 

·         Q: If you charge $950 for the registration, it could drop attendance 30%. Do you want people at the convention or reduce the bottom line?

o   A: this is being addressed by Julius now."

 

·         Q: When I mentioned the registration was going up one of the affiliates said they were willing to pay $20 to get access to the floor as long as the engineers can keep the $595 for the seminars.

o   A: your comments will be presented to the board