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Submitted by ASPE Region 2 D... on Fri, 08/13/2010 - 09:02

Region 2 Newsletter

August 13, 2010
 
 
Board of Director’s Meeting Recap…
This past month, the Board of Director’s met at the ASPE Headquarters in Chicago during which the Board reviewed all of the proposed Bylaw Amendments in detail. Your comments from the Presidents meeting were presented to the Board and just to let you know, many other Regions had similar comments. The final version of the bylaws will be posted soon for your review and vote at the Business Meeting in Philadelphia. 
 
We also talked about the upcoming Convention in Philadelphia and I have to say that Society is planning a great event. As you have read in PS&D and in the Pipeline, the World Toilet Organization (WTO) will be joining us. Jack Sim, the founder of the WTO will be addressing us after the Business Meeting. In addition, former Philadelphia Eagle Vince Papale who had a movie titled Invincible made about his life will also be speaking to us after the Business Meeting.
 
I had mentioned in the past that Society was going to offer the Chapters some type of sponsorship opportunity for the Convention. After some discussion, the Board has decided to not initiate this program and therefore sponsorships will not be available this year. 
 
During the meeting, each Board member gives an update on their activities and their needs to help move the Society in a positive direction. During the updates, the Education Committee stated that they would like to have additional input from the Chapters. The Committee is looking for your ideas on future webinars. If you think a webinar on a particular subject would be of interest to the members, please let myself, Bill Hughes or Diane Wingard know. The Education Committee would also like to remind you to turn in your speaker evaluations right after each technical session your Chapter presents. It is much easier to fill out the form while the event is still fresh in your mind instead of waiting till the end of the year to submit all of the reports at once.
 
Bill Hughes is looking for someone or a group of authors to write about High Rise Plumbing Systems and Health Care Facilities. If you have experience in either of these two types of facilities and would like to share your knowledge with the members and everyone else who reads our publications, please let myself or Bill know. We would be grateful for your help and your contributions will be recognized in the book for all to see.
 
ICC would like ASPE to co-sponsor their new Irrigation/Green/Reclaim Standard and needs volunteers to work on the Committee. If this is of interest to you, please let me know. Our Society VP Legislative, Greg Farmer has volunteered to be the Chair of the Committee and Region 4 Director Matt Bell will be joining Greg on the Committee. If you would like to help out, please let me know.

 

The Society is now offering continuing education units (CEUs) and professional development hours (PDHs) for participation in our educational programs. To earn CEU/PDH credits, participants must earn a grade of 90 percent or higher on a test that covers the material presented in the technical program. Those who successfully pass the test can use ASPE's CEU/PDH validation system to instantly be issued an e-mail containing their credit certificate. Please refer to the Educational Programs & Tools tab on the ASPE website for more information on this program.
 
The Society has some great books for sale. These books are full of technical information that will help guide you through the design of all types of systems. Some Chapters have even used these books as reference for expanded seminars that they offer to their members. If your Chapter would like to use one of these books for a seminar, books can be purchased from the Society at a 30% discount but there is a (10) book minimum. The Chapters can then choose to pass along the savings to their members or make a profit on the book, whichever suites your needs. I think this is a great idea to use ASPE technical books as a reference for a seminar. 
 
Convention and Engineered Plumbing Exposition…
As the Convention and Engineered Plumbing Exposition draws nearer, the amount of work for the Society to put on this great event increases. 
 
Our Executive Director, Stan Wolfson has secured very inexpensive room rates at the downtown Marriott, Marriott Courtyard, Loews, and Hampton Inn hotels. The Housing Bureau has already opened and they are taking reservations right now, so please do not delay in making your reservations. The Marriott is the Convention hotel and there are a limited number of rooms available so please make sure you make your reservations for all of your Delegates and everyone else from your Chapter who will be attending this great event.  
 
Registration has also begun for the Convention and Engineered Plumbing Exposition so please take advantage of the discounts offered for early registration. You and all of the attendees from your Chapter can save a lot of money by registering early so I would encourage you to register as soon as possible.
 
AS I mentioned earlier, ASPE has announced that the 2010 World Toilet Organization (WTO) Summit will be held in conjunction with the ASPE Convention. ASPE is partnering with the International Code Council to oversee this event and this is the first time that this summit will be held in the United States. The WTO will be presenting a special track on international sanitation topics so please refer to the Convention brochure for more information on these sessions.
 
Have a great day!
 
Mitch Clemente, CPD
Region 2 Director