Around the CoRner

I found a frog in a crawlspace. Not really the sort of thing one normally gloats over or immediately takes to the phone and Facebook to share. A passing remark is about
all you would expect, right?

However, when you change the context, the story has a reward you didn’t anticipate. I found a frog in a crawlspace in February in Northern Virginia with the outdoor temperature being 31 degrees, and the frog was ALIVE! Now, THAT’s unusual.

Here’s another “frog in a crawlspace” story, chapter
membership. What’s the big deal? Lots of folks belong to a chapter… So what? Actually, chapter membership is now held by only 40% of ASHI members, which means that 60% of ASHI members do not belong to any chapter. “Ribbit.”

Had I not been part of a chapter, I wouldn’t have had the personal support, one-on-one educational opportunities and amazing experiences that I’ve had. The chapter is where you build your local market for ASHI inspectors, where you get help from and give help to each other. Where you make those friends you will have for the rest of your life—the
guys and gals who understand exactly what you’re talking about. I want those things for every one of you because you deserve it.

Here’s a new way that we in the Northern Virginia (NOVA) chapter of ASHI are trying to build our membership: On February 23, 2016, NOVA ASHI held the first experimental webcast of our monthly chapter meeting. By way of GoToMeeting.com, we sent out an interactive video link so that people could join the meeting online. Our Chapter Relations Committee Chairman, B.K. Thompson, and I monitored and critiqued the technical aspects (as the NOVA ASHI Webcast Committee fumbled with the newly purchased equipment… me, worst of all) and we learned a lot. Soon, we’ll be sending out widespread invitations for next month’s meeting. There will be a special membership classification for those who are “Satellite Members” of NOVA ASHI, with a reduced membership fee and the ability to receive continuing education credits and discounts on chapter seminars. The NOVA ASHI Board of Directors is working out the complete list of requirements. Once the details are finalized, we will export a “How To” manual, along with CRC and CoR support, to other chapters. Eventually, everyone in ASHI will have an easy way to participate in a chapter. And even though those of you who’ll be participating in your local meetings from home can wear “comfortable clothing,” those who attend chapter meetings in person must still wear pants. Just sayin’.

Now, What’s YOUR Great Idea? Write me at
Speaker@ashi.org and share your ideas with the CoR.

~ Jim

James Funkhouser, Speaker, ASHI Council of Representatives, Speaker@ashi.org