LGSEALGSEALight Gauge Steel Engineers AssociationLight Gauge Steel Engineers Association

(www.lgsea.com)(www.lgsea.com)

Ben Schafer, President LGSEA

Annual Meeting – October 2006

CFSEICFSEICold-Formed Steel Engineers InstituteCold-Formed Steel Engineers Institute

(www.cfsei.com)(www.cfsei.com)

Ben Schafer, President CFSEI

Annual Meeting – October 2006

CFSEI BoardCFSEI Board

• Dave Dunbar

• Jeff Ellis, Vice Pres.

• Jeff Klaiman

• Dick Layding

• Wei Pei, Past Pres.

• Ben Schafer, Pres.

• Tim Waite some of last year’s board at Long Beach

CFSEI Board Focus AreasCFSEI Board Focus Areas

• Dave Dunbar• Jeff Ellis• Jeff Klaiman• Dick Layding• Wei Pei• Ben Schafer• Tim Waite

• FL Chapter• Website• Marketing• Newsletter, Online Ed• SEA Outreach• Tech Notes• Strategic Planning &

Chapter Development

CFSEI Strategic PlanningCFSEI Strategic Planning

• August 15th and 16th, 2006

• CFSEI Board +

Don Allen (CFSEI Secretary)

Jay Larson (AISI-COFS Liason),

Larry Williams (SFA),Liza Bowles – facilitator

• Two full days of serious work!

CFSEI Strategic PlanningCFSEI Strategic Planning

• Goals: – focus mission,– establish vision, – improve and stabilize operation, – develop a specific plan for coming year and

future.

• a word about strategic planning...

notnot strategic planning strategic planning

Mission and visionMission and vision

• The mission of the CFSEI is: “To enable and encourage aid engineers in the efficient structural design of safe and cost effective cold-formed steel (CFS) framed structures.” (Modified)

• The vision of the CFSEI is: “The CFSEI is recognized as the preeminent worldwide technical resource for cold-formed steel framing design.” (NEW!)

NameName

• The name of the organization should reflect the mission and vision

• The Board voted for a change prior to the meeting, the stickler was, what name?

• The answer, after many hours of discussion: SFEC: the Steel Framing Engineers Council.. no.. that did not make things any better we kept working...

CFSEICFSEI

Light Gauge Steel Engineers AssociationCold-Formed Steel Engineers Institute

An evolution of our name

“Light Gauge” vs. “Cold-Formed”reflects the modern language of standards and the technical engineering literature, also brings us in closer alignment with partner organizations.

“Association” vs. “Institute” (vs. Council)reflects the changed nature of the organization since aligning with SFA. “Institute” best denotes the organization’s intended vision. (removes confusion with SEA’s since we are not a state SEA)

CFSEI Strategic PlanningCFSEI Strategic Planning

• Goals: – focus mission,– establish vision, – improve and stabilize operation, – develop a specific plan for coming year and

future.

• a word about strategic planning...

operating procedure changes

Operating Procedure ChangesOperating Procedure Changes

• focus the mission of CFSEI on engineers,• establish a vision for CFSEI,• evolve the name to the Cold-Formed Steel

Engineers Institute (CFSEI),• with appropriate safeguards, make it easier for a

SFA member to affiliate with CFSEI,• provide a named Board-level liaison to the local

chapters, and• improve continuity on the CFSEI Board.

(approved by SFA Operating Team September 2006)

Affiliate membersAffiliate members

• A new “Affiliate Member” category has been created for non-engineer SFA members who want to affiliate with CFSEI.

• Allows local SFA members to align with local CFSEI, highly desired for some individuals.

• Helps CFSEI establish a larger base of participants and volunteers.

• Affiliate Members may not serve on the Board, and may not serve as a committee chairperson.

Board-level Chapter LiaisonBoard-level Chapter Liaison

• To better reflect the importance of chapters a permanent Board-level position for a chapter liaison has been added to the operating procedures.

• President appoints a Board member to serve in this role.

• Signals to the local chapters that they have a permanent stake in the CFSEI Board and a direct link to the Board.

• Increasing the interaction between the national-level CFSEI activities and the local-level CFSEI chapter activities is an important need.

Continuity on the CFSEI BoardContinuity on the CFSEI Board

• The current structure of complete re-election of the Board and its officers creates problems in continuity. We have already experienced challenges this year.

• Board terms changed to two-years and elections staggered so only half the board is new in a given year.

• The Vice President takes over for the President, and then the President serves as the Immediate Past Pres.

• The Vice President is elected by the Board members.• Safeguards against Board stagnation and other problems

include:(1) board members may serve only 2 consecutive terms, (2) board members may only serve 4 terms in their life, (3) an independent nominating committee establishes the lists of candidates for the board, that are then voted upon by the general membership.

Operating Plan for Fall 2006 Operating Plan for Fall 2006

1. Produce technical documents that aid and enable engineers…

2. Create and promote the CFSEI brand3. Increase relevance to chapter activities and local

membership needs4. Provide timely and competent response to technical

inquiries on CFS5. Provide forums for exchange of information and ideas

related to CFS6. Partner with aligned organizations7. Help focus research spending on the needs of engineers8. Develop awareness of CFS through the formal

education system

Produce technical documents that Produce technical documents that aid and enable engineers…aid and enable engineers…

• The lifeblood of the CFSEI is the production of technical documents.

• Timely production of Technical Notes (and Design Guides) has been a challenge for the organization, we have a new plan...

• Development of CFSEI Design Guides that parallel the COFS standards is considered an important step for CFSEI to create a productive alignment with the COFS.

• Finally, a key component to the success of producing CFSEI technical documents is having an impeccable technical review process.

Create and promote the CFSEI brandCreate and promote the CFSEI brand

• The change from LGSEA as a standalone organization to a council of the SFA, combined with the new name for the organization: CFSEI, creates an important opportunity to establish the CFSEI brand and help the organization achieve its vision.

Increase relevance to chapter activities Increase relevance to chapter activities and local membership needsand local membership needs

• The CFSEI needs to provide value to its membership, particularly those groups that align themselves formally with the CFSEI at the local level. Greater communication between the national and local levels of CFSEI is needed.

• The CFSEI will– Provide structure and support to the chapters, including

• model operating procedures/ bylaws,• website with the national CFSEI, and• programs for the local chapters.

– Work with chapters to help find chapter funding, including– Provide a national partner for local education efforts, including– Listen and respond to local needs, through – Provide a national partner for local research needs.– Move annual meeting to a local chapter

Provide timely and competent response Provide timely and competent response to technical inquiries on CFSto technical inquiries on CFS

• The CFSEI’s goal is to be a primary resource for engineers, providing timely and competent response to technical inquiries is fundamental to this goal.

• Four areas have been identified to meet this goal:– frequently asked questions (i.e., FAQs) on the website,– searchable technical documents on the website, – properly monitored discussion forum on the website, and– telephone question hotline.

• The identified areas show a bias towards the CFSEI website. The goal is to create such a content rich and easily searchable website that most engineers will be able to “serve themselves”.

Provide forums for exchange of Provide forums for exchange of information and ideas related to CFSinformation and ideas related to CFS

• online website discussion forum,

• newsletter column on technical exchange,• chapter meetings,• annual meeting, and • outreach to related technical organizations

and conferences.

Partner with aligned organizationsPartner with aligned organizations

• SFA• AISI-COFS

including COFS-CFSEI committee• AISI-COS

• In the long-term, a non-exhaustive non-prioritized list of organizations that the CFSEI intends to effectively partner with includes: ASCE-SEI-CFS, CCFSS, SSRC, BSSC, NCSEA, CA WA HI and other SEA’s, WTCA, ASTM, CSI (ARCOM), AIA, ICC ES, and others.

Help focus research spending on Help focus research spending on the needs of engineersthe needs of engineers

• The Technology Development Committee of the CFSEI is the SFA’s primary vehicle for collecting and prioritizing the research needs of the steel framing industry.

• CFSEI participation in the Technology Development Committee is the key means of achieving the goal of focusing research spending on the needs of engineers.

• The research needs and prioritization process is an open one, but the CFSEI needs to do a better job of communicating to its members the large potential impact that they can have in the process.

• The CFSEI Board needs to become a more effective advocate at the SFA Operating Team level in securing funding for the research.

Develop awareness of CFS through the Develop awareness of CFS through the formal education systemformal education system

• The challenges for increasing CFS awareness at two-year colleges, as well as at the B.S. and M.S. levels are many.

• However, resources have been developed, such as those by the Center for Cold-Formed Steel Structures, and effective partnerships may be established that would create progress on this objective.

• Further, the model used by some other organizations which give away design manuals and books at seminars held at colleges is perceived to be particularly effective for increasing awareness in the college-level engineer.

• Secure external help in developing a long-term plan.

Eight key strategies...Eight key strategies...

1. Produce technical documents that aid and enable engineers…

2. Create and promote the CFSEI brand3. Increase relevance to chapter activities and local

membership needs4. Provide timely and competent response to technical

inquiries on CFS5. Provide forums for exchange of information and ideas

related to CFS6. Partner with aligned organizations7. Help focus research spending on the needs of engineers8. Develop awareness of CFS through the formal

education system

ImplementationImplementation

• For each strategy a detailed implementation plan has been drawn up.

• The plan was approved by the Board and implementation is now underway.

• Based on this plan CFSEI has requested a significant increase in funding from SFA and the Board is working to secure those funds!

• Example of the implementation plan...

3. Increase relevance to chapter activities and local membership needs

Develop model operating procedures/bylaws Waite 15-Mar-07 meeting of chapter presidents (travel costs) - -

Create a model local chapter website page(s) on national CFSEI website Ellis 15-Mar-07 find chapter interested in having a presence on the national CFSEI webpage Allen/Waite 1-Jan-07 work with chapter to determine appropriate content on the page Allen/Ellis 1-Feb-07 develop a model web page, solicit feedback from chapter and users Ellis/Kuria 1-Mar-07 publicize result to other chapters Waite 15-Mar-07

Create a formal Board-level representative for Chapters Allen - change CFSEI Operating Procedures Schafer complete CFSEI Board approval Board by 25-Aug-06 SFA Operating Team approval Ellis/Allen by 7-Sep-06 Appoint representative (Waite selected) Schafer 8-Sep-06

Publicize Technical Development Committee activities to the Chapters(this committee provides a direct means for chapters and members to impact research prioritization, communicating the committees activities to the local level will be increased) press release Larson yearly website splash / email teaser Larson/Kuria yearly

Create a new CFSEI chapter in Florida Brief, written, plan of attack (with estimated budget) Dunbar 1-Oct-06 METALCON meeting Allen 14-Oct-06 COFS/CCFSS Specialty Conference kickoff meeting Allen 24-Oct-06 Chapter Activities calendar Budget finalization: quarterly meetings: 1st two: $3000; next two: $2000 Dunbar 1-Jan-07 Bylaws and operating procedures Dunbar/Waite 1-Jun-07

(plus more details...)

CFSEICFSEI

• Has a worthy mission and vision

• Expect and demand more of CFSEI!

• Needs your participation

• Moving forward with direction!