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2024 Chapters Regional Conference (CRC) Recap!


When I spent time with the amazing volunteers in ASHRAE Region X last year, I encouraged them to do their best to send as many people as they could to our Chapters Regional Conference (CRC). And wow, they did not disappoint. We had a 40% increase in attendance this year over our "normal" numbers, and ended up with what I believe was the highest attendance at a CRC in our Region's history. To the 14 Chapters in Arizona, California, Hawaii, and Nevada: WELL DONE! I am so proud of you all, and consider myself very lucky to be involved with such a passionate, caring, motivating group of volunteers.


We had the pleasure of having several Society guests join us in Tempe. Ken Fulk (Society Vice President), Devin Abellon, P.E. (Society Vice President), Jeff Littleton (Executive Vice President), Carrie Brown (Director at Large), Heather Schopplein, PE, DBIA, CM-Lean (Director at Large), and Don Brandt, Fellow ASHRAE, Life Member, CEM (Past Society Vice President) -- thank you all for taking the time to be with us and for all of your encouragement and support. We were also honored to have two additional DRCs attend: my dear friends Mahroo Eftekhari (Region XIV DRC, all the way from Loughborough, England) and Jonathan Smith PE, CEM, LEED AP (Region IX DRC, coming from Kansas City). You two are amazing people and I am so glad that you were with me!


A small group of us started the CRC off at 5:15 AM with a nice, easy stroll to the top of Camelback Mountain. And by "easy stroll" I mean 1,300 feet of elevation gain in 2.5 miles with a "brisk" midday temperature of 112 degrees F. While the hiking team recovered from their adventure, another group of attendees went on a technical tour of the Mullett Arena ice rink, getting to spend some time in a slightly cooler environment.



The Welcome Party and Tradeshow was a huge success, and having a fun spy-themed game gave us a really nice opportunity to mingle and catch up with our old friends, as well as make some new ones. We have some amazing volunteers that spend a lot of time putting events like this together, but we couldn't do it without the financial support of our wonderful sponsors, Russell Sigler, Inc, Trane, Varitec Solutions, MPSW, Daikin Industries, Ltd., Greenfield Dynamics, Reliable Controls, Salt River Project, Air & Hydronic Specialties, Energy Solutions & Service, Fulton, IES Ltd. and the ASHRAE Tucson Chapter - thank you all so much for your help!


During our first Business Meeting, we heard from each of our Chapters about their highlights, challenges, and goals for the coming year. We had some really fantastic Chapter Presidents last year, and saw a ton of success -- and our current Presidents are very clearly ready to continue to raise the bar, inspiring not only their local Chapter members, but also others in our Region, including me. Cody Sinke, MBA, Moana Reynau, Joshua McDonough, PE, MBA, Dave Zaski, Anthony Zanotti, Nick Fiorito, Michelle Shadpour, Andrew Arballo II, Benito Ferreyra, Matt Killough, Rafi Karim, PE, John Bowman, Kevin Le, and Blake Willmes -- you are all awesome and I'm so happy to be on your team this year!


Our second Business Meeting included Regional Leadership Reports, successful discussion and voting on 5 motions, much-appreciated approval of our 2024-2025 Regional Budget, and a preview of next year's CRC, which will be a joint CRC with my good friend Jonathan Smith PE, CEM, LEED AP and his rowdy bunch from Region IX, hosted by the ASHRAE Golden Gate Chapter in San Francisco. Shoutout to Brian Chacon and Berenice Saucedo (El Paso Chapter) for all the hard work they've already put into what I am sure will be a CRC for the history books!


Devin Abellon did a fantastic job giving ASHRAE Society President, M. Dennis Knight's presentation on his Presidential Theme this year: Workforce Development. We are already seeing movement in our Region on this front and will continue to "shout it from the rooftops" as we know the importance of bringing in and training up the next generation of this industry. We also hosted an Industry Roundtable with local engineers to get feedback from them on how ASHRAE can assist with attracting folks to our industry, and then training them to be successful and valuable members of it.


We saw stellar turnout in every single one of our Workshops this year. It was really cool to see that each workshop I attended (and I spent time in every one) had well over 20 people in attendance. Noteworthy here is that we had added two brand new workshops (Refrigeration and Honors & Awards) to our lineup, making our total workshop count 12! Shoutouts to Don Brandt, our newly appointed Regional Refrigeration Chair, and Karine Leblanc, our newly appointed Regional Honors & Awards Chair for their efforts in putting together engaging presentations and leading these new workshops.


It is not normal at all to have Workshops be standing room only, but that is exactly what happens when epic Chapter volunteer participation meets a Regional Leadership team unparalleled in their enthusiasm and dedication to their roles. Colin Laisure-Pool, PE, LEED AP, CEM, Jacob Brausch, David Roberts, C.E.M., Elyse (Johnson) McBride, PE, Sean Skiles, Karine Leblanc ❤️ ➕ 🧠, Don Brandt, Fellow ASHRAE, Life Member, CEM, Nikola Kravik, Tracey Jumper, CCP, Larry Hodgins, Robert Kunkel, Omar Rojas, Elise Backstrom, P.E., PMP, Marites Calad, Cindy Moreno, and Elise Kiland, PE -- thank you all so much for giving 100% to our members. I am so glad to have you by my side!


Also new this year, we had a Women in ASHRAE (WIA) Breakfast, which had fantastic attendance and highlighted the growing involvement we see from females in our Region. And during our lunch on Sunday, Karine Leblanc gave a great presentation on leadership, discussing why strong leaders are important, and how to be the type of leader that people are excited to follow


Normally, our CRCs have a themed Awards Banquet and everyone dresses up accordingly. But this year, the ASHRAE Central Arizona Chapter integrated the James Bond spy theme throughout the entire CRC. It was very well executed and made the event a ton of fun. And of course, at our outstanding Awards Banquet everyone was dressed to the nines, sporting James Bond style black tie attire and formal dresses. With near 100% participation, the room was full of some of the best dressed folks Tempe, Arizona has ever seen!


There were so many volunteers to recognize for their hard work this past year. Our Region is blessed with an abundance of absolute rock stars, making selection difficult at times. I do want to mention a few outstanding members, folks who inspire me to continue to push the boundaries, raise the bar, and go just one more mile. New this year, we presented medals to 14 individuals form each Chapter, selected by the Chapter Presidents as their Chapter's MVPs.


Kendal Smith, from the Tri County Chapter, received the Golden Gavel Award for top Chapter President. Jay Blatchford and his Sierra Delta Chapter team received the "Chapter of the Year" award.



And our Region's highest honor, the Director's Cup, was given to Kellie Huff, who absolutely knocked it out of the park as our CRC General Chair. Kellie, you are an amazing person and I am so thankful for your dedication to this organization, and for your friendship. Thank you, Kellie, for everything.



Thank you,

Buzz

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