Now that you have settled down after the holiday season, caught up with work and perhaps relaxing at home, to keep yourself warm, you may want to catch up with the activities of Construction Specification Institute of New Jersey.

Neil our Electronic Newsletter Editor is trying hard to keep everyone informed of the activities of the Institute and Chapter through our monthly electronic publications. Please read and send comments.

Our January joint meeting with AIA Jersey Shore at Red Bank, NJ was a super success with about 70 attendees. The topic Division 1- General Requirements- Contemporary Issues and Concerns was able to draw a great crowd. The meeting was a panel discussion facilitated by Douglas P. Casper. The panelists comprised of Louis A. DiGeronimo, AIA providing an Architect’s view, Helen Gucwa representing Owner’s view, Michael A. J. Wolz representing Contractor’s view and Timothy F. Hegarty, Esq. providing insights to legal issues.

Our upcoming February 18th program is "The Lake Champlain Crown Point Bridge"; designed and presented by noted Structural Engineer, Ted Zoli, VP and Technical Director (Bridges) for HNTB Corporation. It will be held at Princeton University's "Prospect House, Library Room".

Our next program on March 24, 2010 is a joint meeting of CSI New Jersey Chapter with AIA Newark Suburban Chapter.  Our guest speaker will be Mr. Matthew Holst, AIA, LEED AP, an Associate Design Architect for Fletcher Thompson.  Mr. Holst's topic will be "Designing with BIM".

Our April 15, 2010 program is a joint meeting with AIA League at the Bergen Community College. We will encourage outgoing students to join the event. There will be a Construction Jeopardy, conducted by Linton Stables, President of CSI Metropolitan Chapter who has offered his services in light of our attempt to collaborate between the Chapters of the Region.

Since the National Convention held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia on May 11-14, 2010 is a drivable distance, we are planning to arrange a chartered bus service for our members. We will have stops at some train stations which will allow flexibility to our membership. Please let us know if you are interested and plan on attending.

June 3, 2010 shall be our Awards night and a day to honor and thank all those who make this organization what it is. Please mark your calendar for this very special event. We will also introduce our new Board to be lead by Jim Repka. Please contact me if you are interested in getting involved with the FY2011 Board.

Please reach out to me or any of our Board Members and Committee Chairs if you would like to be involved with any of our Chapter activities. I urge you to attend our monthly meetings. It is held on the day of our meetings at 3:30 pm at the location of the monthly event. We rotate the location of our program events based on the demography of our membership hoping to get the best participation.

This is a voluntary organization- feedback from membership gives our Board members and me the energy and enthusiasm to do more. So please be in touch with us!

Please communicate with us -in whichever form that works best for you.

Together, we can achieve more.