Our History

2009: Holding Down the Fort

Coming out of 2008 with no elected board member replacements for the outgoing members, AUGI extended the terms of retiring board members until we could hold another round of elections.  2009 promised to be a year of dynamic change, but also a year of stability in the programs that members have come to know and love.

The beer mugs we passed out at AU 2008 were plastic with a “chilling liquid” that might help cool your beverage cold.  The Venetian would not allow us to have glass beer mugs.  If you received a beer mug during the AUGI Annual meeting during AU 2008, care should be taken to not freeze the mug, if you haven't already done so. There were growing reports of the mugs cracking or shattering after they have been frozen and then allowed to thaw at room temperature.    According to the manufacturer, this should not happen if the mugs are turned upside down when placing them in the freezer, but many of you may have encountered troubles.  We are hoping to return to glass mugs for 2009.

AUGI continued to publish AUGI HotNews with no interruption in services. We continued to have the full stable of writers working to provide the consistent high level articles that members have come to depend upon. We unifying the separate issues into one global issue packed with every article for all industries.  The AUGI Wish List continued and we sent out a special edition of AUGI HotNews spotlighting the results in May. 

AUGI World transitioned to a digital publication in February due to rising mailing costs so we improved distribution to more members.

We introduced AUGI AEC Edge mid-year under the watchful eye and hard work of Steve Stafford and Extension Media.  It is dedicated to those that work in Architecture, Engineering, Civil and Construction industries as they work in the facilities and built environment.

AUGI CAD Camp was stopped after the 2008 season.  We entered contract negotiations with a provider to develop the spring season of CAD Camp in North America, but it did not pan out.

A Special Election was held after AUGI conducted a survey about the Board of Directors election process to gather input so that we could make the proper progress and decisions.  The Elections Committee reviewed the input and made recommendations to the Board of Directors on how we should proceed.  The Board reduced the Board size to 6 persons.  Nominations opened and all nominations were in by May 24, 2009. The Nomination and Elections committee will review the nominations and defined the names of those nominees that were included on the ballot.  We gathered nominations, interviewed the nominees, developed a slate of candidates and provided a forum for members to interact with them.  Elections resulted in two members being elected to complete the terms that would have started in January 2009.

The Board created the AUGI Career Center – A major upgrade and expansion on our Career Corner Forum.  Now we have a full feature job board and career center.  Post your resume, search jobs, and find employment. 

In September, we completed successful negotiations to reintroduce AUGI CAD Camps in 2010.  Teaming up with AMI/Burns to create a 28 event season for 2010 was a major return to normalcy for AUGI. 

Our Social Media use has expanded to Twitter.  We have a few accounts…  AUGI; AUGIatAU; BLAUGI; AUGIForums and AUGICADCamp.  Search them out and start following.  We have a Facebook group and also a LinkedIn group.  Take a look at all these groups and sites.

Web Traffic was up 35% from 2008 with 11.5 million pageviews in 2009. About 300,000 of those returned to the site over 100 times and two thirds of those have returned over 200 times.  27% of our visitors return to the site again in the same day.  

AUGI ended 2009 stronger than it entered it.  We expanded the Board to 10 members with a successful election at the end of the year.  We ended on a high note with AU 2009 seeing over 60% of the presenters being AUGI members and about 54% of the attendees also being AUGI members.  And we were able to provide glass beer mugs.

Membership grows by 19% to 172,000 by the close of the year.

The following served on the board for 2009:
President: Mark W. Kiker
SR Vice President:  Richard Binning
Vice President: Peter Jamtgaard (appointed)
Secretary:  Bill Adams
Treasurer:  John Morgan
Board Member:  Dario Passariello
Board Member:  Chris Lindner (Temp Extended Term)
Board Member:  Steve Stafford (Temp Extended Term)