Message from DRC August 2018

Senior Moments

As I start my second year as your Director and Regional Chair, I realize how much have happened both good and bad to our region. We went from high achievements by many of our members and chapters to the personal tragedies with hurricanes, floods and earthquakes. But through it all, we flourish and grow. I am especially grateful for the time and resources that our members have expended in making Region VIII the number one region in society and, again, I look forward to an exciting 2018-19 ASHRAE year.If you aren’t active, please become an active participant. We can only get better if everyone who is a member, associate member or student member volunteers their time and resources to making our organization more meaningful to all of our members.

ANNUAL MEETING UPDATES

The society held their annual meeting in Houston from June 19th to June 27th and here are the highlights:

First of all, the Houston Chapter did an outstanding job in putting on a first class meeting. Everyone came away with a different prospective of Houston, Texas and Region VIII. Kudo goes out to Steve Redding and his team. Maybe it won’t take another 35+ years to come back to the city. Next up for the region in 2020 is Austin.
The Leadership Academy had some 65 participants in Atlanta in May. We had 11 participants (by far the greatest number of regional attendees) and I would have loved to see all 15 chapters have at least one participant next year.
ASHRAE headquarters building has been sold and plans are to begin looking at options for new digs. The existing building will be occupied for the next two years while either a new building can be built elsewhere or an existing building will be bought.
The Grassroots Government Advocacy Committee (GGAC) officially changed its name to the Government Affairs Committee (GAC).

REGIONAL HONORS & AWARDS

Some of our Region VIII members received awards during the Plenary Session at the Annual meeting. Many Kudos and thanks from our Region for all that they have done for ASHRAE:

ASHRAE Hall of Fame
Damon Gowan-Houston Chapter
Lincoln Bouillon Award
Oscar Eduardo Ricaño Consejo, Ing-Monterrey Chapter
Lou Flagg Historical Award
Bruce Flaniken, P.E.-Houston Chapter
Student Activities Award
Yumei Mata Hi-Monterrey Chapter
Distinguished Service Award
Joseph A. Kamaz-Houston Chapter
Distinguished 50-year Members
Bill Harrison-Arkansas Chapter
Richard O. Hunton-Houston Chapter
James L. Schulze-Dallas Chapter
Leo Stambaugh-Dallas Chapte

REGIONAL NEWS

Taylor Rose, Member from the Alamo Chapter was the awarded candidate to spend time shadowing me and Randy Schrecengost as the Region’s LeaDR in Houston.
Leadership Academy is off and running and we have been allotted 5 spots for candidates for 1.5 days in Atlanta first weekend in March 2019. The Regional Development Committee will be in touch with the selected chapter presidents to nominate candidates.
Research contributions have again broken records in Region VIII with over $500K donated and we have shown that we are, by far, the best region in RP donations. I appreciate everyone who has contributed and, hopefully, we will continue the tradition in 2018-19
Cancun is the destination for our 2019 CRC. Please note that the dates have changed. It is now April 11-13, 2019. Look for more information soon.

CHAPTER HIGHLIGHTS

Members Council established NW Arkansas as the new chapter for Region VIII. It has been 16 years since we had a new chapter. Congratulations to all who have worked so hard to make this happen. We are planning on an induction ceremony in September to welcome in the chapter to our Region.
The Houston Community College is the new Student Branch for the Houston Chapter