News from ASPE National- September 2008


 

    ASPE / Design Cost data Magazine BEST BID CONTEST:

  If you have not entered yet, please see: http://dcd.com/bestestimateform.html

    CHAPTER INFORMATION PAGE UPDATED: http://www.aspenational.org/Chapters.htm

  If you don’t see changes you requested please let us know. We are working on a way to put your newsletters “live” on the national site…stay tuned.

 

    NEW NATIONAL WEBSITE PAGES:

  Coming soon, estimating academies page (send us upcoming events you have scheduled, webinars page- which will highlight upcoming educational programs (like the one below)

 

    NEW MEMBER BENEFITS: http://www.aspenational.org/Benefits.htm

  We have a new plan for professional liability insurance through Lloyd’s of London and also historic construction data from Design Cost Data

 

    SHOP ONLINE? THEN PLEASE HELP ASPE RAISE A FEW BUCKS

  The Society is listed with “Goodsearch” search engine. All you need to do is go to this page: http://www.goodsearch.com/ and type in  American Society of Professional Estimators as your charity, then go to this page: http://www.goodsearch.com/goodshop.aspx  and fire away. The Society gets a nice commission from money you spend with many online stores (like Home Depot, Amazon, Hotels.com, Circuit City, Apple and many many more)

    BIM STORMS:

  If you have heard of these and have interest in hearing more or participating please visit:    http://www.onuma.com/services/BimStorm.php

 

    McGraw-Hill BIM STUDY:

  ASPE joined with AIA, CSI, AGC, AACE, ASCE and other associations to sponsor the study. A copy of the report will be available later this fall.

 

    MEMBER ROSTER/BUYERS GUIDE:

  We are closing out the buyers guide section Sept 25th, any member wanting an advisement or listing must contact me soon. 877-273-5679.

 

    ASPE in the Industry:

October 6-9- MC2 Users conference- Memphis

November 10-12 – CURT Convention

November 13-14 – OnCenter users Conference

November – 17-20 – SAGE/Timberline users Conference

November 18 – Industry Awareness committee at NIBS /building SMART Alliance BIM Meeting – Washington DC

December 9-11- Ecobuild/FEDCon- Washington DC

 

    ESTIMATOR FORUMS: http://commercialestimators.com/forums/

  Sponsored by ASPE and donated by  www.SmartBidNet.com this forum is designed for members to ask and answer questions posted on the site.

 

    CHAPTERS IN DEVELOPMENT:

  Hats off to our core groups in: Long Island, Richmond, Norfolk, North and South Carolinas, Jacksonville, SW Florida, West Palm beach, Mississippi, Oklahoma, San Antonio & Austin, Santa Maria and Hawaii for their efforts in establishing new ASPE chapters.

 

    ASPE is “Linked IN”

  Many of you are already part of this service, we set up a group at: http://www.linkedin.com/home?myGroups=&trk=hb_side_grps

  You may want to start a group for your chapter as Pittsburgh has done.

 

    FROM OUR PARTNERS THE BX NET / IBEE:

 

  ARE YOU LOOKING FOR RELIABLE BIDDING INFORMATION ABOUT PROJECTS IN OTHER STATES OR REGIONS OF THE UNITED STATES?

 

  HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET IT FREE OF CHARGE? IF SO, WE ARE LOOKING FOR YOU!

 

  For the first time, Builders Exchanges located throughout the United States, have joined together to create a full-service online plan room service with the same level of service they provide to their local construction industry. Our new product is designed to provide one-stop access by subscribers who are looking for bidding opportunities outside of their local area. We need Beta Testers to help us complete the programming to formally launch this exciting new service. We are seeking test partners who are willing to commit the necessary time and attention to fully test the functionality of this site. If you are willing to be our “guinea pig” for thirty days, we will give you complete access to our new site, including bidding information with searching and tracking functions; online plans, specs and addenda AT NO CHARGE.

 

  We plan to start Beta Testing on or about September 15, 2008 and conclude the testing on October 31, 2008. During the test period, Beta Testers will be asked to note their observations on a simple form provided by The Storm. Following the Test Period, Beta Testers will be required to submit their forms to our development team and participate in a telephone interview to discuss your findings. If you are interested in participating in the Beta Test of The Storm online construction news service,

please contact our office or respond by e-mail to: info@bxnetwork.org. We will contact you within 24-hours to discuss your participation.

 

      Virtual Construction from the General Contractor’s Perspective- webinar

presented by VICO- September 19- Noon – 2 pm ET

  May be of interest to some members:

 

Virtual Design and Construction is significantly impacting the world of construction. Whether you call it 5D BIM, constructability, or virtual construction, the technologies and processes have shown dramatic improvements in the speed, cost, and quality of facility planning, design, construction, operations, and maintenance.

The PCL family of companies is the largest contracting organization in Canada and the 8th largest in the US with annual construction volume of more than $5 billion (CDC). PCL has been an active proponent of VDC for three years, realizing significant project success.

For this Fridays with Vico webinar, we turn the microphone over to Ed Hoagland, PCL’s modeling manager, for a unique learning experience. Ed will present how Virtual Construction is practiced at PCL, using project case studies and best practices to punctuate the efficiency impact. We’ll conclude with an open Q&A session.

 

Webinar Details

The Fridays with Vico webinars are a free, educational series geared at general contractors and owners. Our topics range from BIM trends, to case studies and best practices, to new concepts for the industry.

Title
Virtual Construction with the PCL Family of Companies

Date and Time
Friday, September 19th 12Noon - 2pm ET

Host
Holly Allison, VP of Marketing, Vico Software

Presenter
Ed Hoagland, Modeling Manager, PCL

View the Archived Webinar

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Conceptual Estimating Webinar

Orchestrating BIM the Vico Way
   Webinar


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>> BIM Projects
>> Virtual Construction Comics


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