Greetings Memphis Chapter CSI!!
BUILDIT/2017 was our meeting event for April. Very large kudos go out to Jeffrey Parnell, Mike Zielinski, Julie Fleming and Susan Evans. They were the committee I appointed to plan and execute the BuildIt products show and the Gulf States Region Conference. The BuildIt show was undoubtedly taken to a higher level. The venue, the Columns, was without a doubt the most elegant space CSI Memphis has ever held the products show. The keynote speaker was Marlon Blackwell, FAIA who I had the pleasure of having lunch with prior to his presentation. His presentation featured many of his works including those he designed for Shelby Farms. If you haven’t been to Shelby Farms to experience his work first hand I recommend that you visit.
The Gulf States Region Conference was held at the Springhill Suites and in the adjacent historic Kress Building. In fact most of the events, with the exception of the Awards Banquet, took place in the Kress Building. The conference was well attended having opportunities for continuing education, board level region business and networking. In particular I was excited to see my old pal Louis Medcalf, FCSI who attended and taught a class on Multiple Work Packages. We also had some time to play music-you will recall we had a band called Critical Path…but I digress. The Conference was as successful as the BuildIt show so you can imagine my elation that BOTH events went off splendidly!! A very special thank you to those who attended, participated and volunteered to make these events happen is such a successful way!
This month we are publishing the article What Architects Can Learn from The Beatles written by Bill Schmalz, CSI, CCCA, FAIA who is a principal with Perkins and Will in Los Angeles. While not your typical technically related I think you will find it an enjoyable read.
This month’s chapter meeting features Brian Bullard, AIA with UrbanArch who will present the Renovation of the Winchester (Scimitar) Building into the Hotel Napoleon. This was an excellent renovation of a historic downtown property. Let me encourage you to attend!!
Finally I want to thank everyone who attended our events last month. I especially want to thank our sponsors who are noted at the end of this issue.