Message From the CEO July 2022

By Jose Rivera

We made it! The CSIA Executive Conference returned to life June 27-30, 2022, in Denver.

Conference Was a Success!

This culminated a long and arduous planning effort fully loaded with COVID-19-driven uncertainties. Preparations for conferences starts early with the venue selection, ideally two years ahead of the event. Theme and content guidelines start just a few weeks after the conclusion of the prior conference.

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We do this while the memories and feedback are fresh on our minds. COVID-19 forced us to work on multiple scenarios while reducing the financial exposure for CSIA. We started the process before the massive Omicron wave at the end of 2021.

The city of Denver later imposed a vaccination mandate for events like ours, which was dropped before the conference and the pandemic had moved in the right direction. The later-than-usual schedule helped us avoid the Omicron surge, but it conflicted with family vacation plans for several members.

In the end we were ecstatic with an attendance of 525, which was very close to the record of 534 (2019 Asheville and 2014 San Diego). It certainly exceeded expectations. Thank you for your participation and for making the conference a success.

The conference delivered on the traditional “high school reunion” feel, and the nice weather allowed us to enjoy a great conference opener at Coors Field, outdoor lunches and a walking microbrewery tour of Denver.

We also experimented with new things. Speed networking proved to be a success, and we plan to include in the 2023 program, ideally during the first day as was suggested by many.

NOLA Here We Come!

Our efforts are now moving to New Orleans for the 2023 CSIA Executive Conference (May 15-19). As we will be moving the schedule back to the Spring, we now have less than 12 months to plan and execute.

Action Required: Set up Your New Account

In the months ahead, we will also be working on critical infrastructure projects for CSIA. We are migrating to a new AMS (association management system) as we speak.

Because of security concerns, we can’t simply automatically transfer the records of members.

Please take a few minutes and set up your account.

Website Redesigns

We will also be working toward a full redesign of the CSIA website. We will take our time to do it right, and we may reach out to you for input on specific items.

In case you haven’t recently visited the CSIA Industrial Automation Exchange, please do so as we have upgraded it recently with an enhanced user experience, more robust features and a fresh look.

Mark Your Calendar for This Happy Hour!

As we have done over many years, we plan to participate at the Rockwell Automation Fair (McCormick Place Convention Center, Chicago, November 15-16). Please come and visit our booth. We also plan to host a CSIA Happy Hour on November 15 in conjunction with the fair. More details will be shared once we get closer to the event.

If you are interested in sponsoring the Happy Hour, please contact Lisa Richter to make the arrangements.

Enjoy the remaining summer months (for those of us on the Northern hemisphere), and I look forward to catching up at an industry event or our multiple committee meetings.

Jose Rivera is CEO of Control System Integrators Association. He can be reached at ceo@controlsys.org.