A Tale of three Cities

NovEditorNote

A Tale of Three Cities

No aristocrats or peasants in this story. Just hard-working inspectors willing to make education for their fellows enlightening, reasonably priced and fun. And like modern-day Paris and London, my recent visits to Atlanta, Kansas City and Kalamazoo were fun and productive.

The ASHI members in Atlanta hosted another great annual seminar. Shannon Cory, a current ASHI board of directors’ member, has to be given the lion’s share of credit for organizing and continuing to maintain what many call a mini-InspectionWorld—The Southeastern Home Inspectors Conference. I’m sure the rest of ASHI-Georgia leadership thanks Shannon for the dedication he’s given to their success . . . and will follow in his footsteps to continue the mission.

Hundreds of inspectors, exhibitors and speakers flocked to Atlanta for this end-of-summer extravaganza. ASHI HQ was well-represented by Russell Daniels and Mike Rostescu, who manned the ASHI booth. Many members renewed their dues while at the conference, and several new members signed up after speaking with Russell and Mike.

I was able to sit in on a few educational sessions and had the pleasure of giving away Kisses® to attendees who were able to correctly answer some of Bruce Barker’s tough questions during one of his sessions. We put out a lot of personal effort here at ASHI to accommodate our members!

Lenexa, Kansas, was the home of the Great Plains ASHI conference September 20-21. Miki Mertz, a former ASHI board of directors member, was the heart of this annual conference. Just like the ASHI Georgia conference, the vendors and inspectors were treated to great education. And of course, Kansas BBQ is renowned for its fantastic flavor … reason enough for me to go there. I was given the opportunity to speak at lunch, so among other things, I lauded the volunteerism that is necessary to make these conferences a success.

Third on my September chapter visits was the Great Lakes Chapter conference in Kalamazoo, Michigan on the 28th. Eric Barker, a current ASHI Board member, is the education chairman for the GLC and, with the help of Carol Batko, the executive director, the chapter has a long history of great education and camaraderie. The K-Zoo conference was no exception. Along with the Peer Review the day before the seminar, GLC has a hospitality suite afterward that evening, which allows inspectors to check out the photos and discuss the peer-review house problems in a relaxed setting.

In case you haven’t noticed, there is a common thread in this tale. The protagonists are all ASHI leaders, past and present. All willing to give their time and effort for no gain … other than to benefit other inspectors. I’m sure anyone visiting other chapters around the country would see the same quality education provided by dedicated people working for the betterment of our Society.

October was National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and another person who deserves credit for making many peoples’ lives easier is Kendra Eiermann. Kendra is the ASHI School Assistant who handles much of the day-to-day operation of TAS. But before us, she was the Senior Technical Support Specialist for the Y-Me National Breast Cancer Organization in Chicago. She provided 24/7 remote IT diagnoses and troubleshooting for a national network of volunteers. So she fits right in at ASHI Education, Inc. Kendra was awarded the 2008 Employee of the Year at Y-Me for her outstanding customer support.

So as you can see, ASHI is loaded with staff and volunteers who have a long and exemplary tradition of helping others. And unlike Dickens’ novel, there are no dark characters at ASHI.

Kendra

Frank Lesh

Interim Executive Director

American Society of Home Inspectors

Direct: (847)954-3182

www.ashi.org

Frankl@ashi.org