The First Facility Management Blog

InfoComm International, the trade association representing the professional audiovisual industry, announced the opening of its European headquarters in the United Kingdom. 

“InfoComm International is a global organization for the professional AV industry, with membership activities, tradeshows, and training opportunities worldwide,” said Terry Friesenborg, InfoComm senior vice president, international development. “With more than 17% of InfoComm members located outside of North America and the largest segment of that group working in Europe, establishing an office in the UK that can provide additional services and support to the greater European AV community is essential.”   

InfoComm has hired additional staff to meet the growing needs of the European membership. Christopher Lavelle, CTS, has been named UK Regional Manager. Lavelle studied sound engineering, computer networking, and web development in South Africa. He most recently worked for PSAV, serving as director of event technology for the Maybourne Hotel Group. This provided Lavelle with a broad spectrum of event technology experience, ranging from luxury brand product launches to press events for film releases. He started his career at PSAV Presentation Services London as an event technology specialist at the Sheraton Park Lane Hotel and also served as event technology operations manager at Claridge’s Hotel.

Sarah Carless has been named European programme coordinator. She comes from an extensive computer data networking background, working with leading manufacturers such as 3Com & Siemens Network Systems Ltd. Caress spent the past five years working for an interactive telephony company as a production executive, developing and implementing interactive telephony products. She gained a broad knowledge in sound assisting her father, an Emmy award winner and Bafta nominated location sound recordist.

In addition, Godwin Demicoli, CTS has been promoted to regional director, Europe. Demicoli has been a European representative with InfoComm since 2004. He is responsible for overseeing member activity throughout Europe. He will continue to work from an office in Germany.

InfoComm International’s European Headquarters is located at 2 Victoria Square, Victoria Street, St Albans, Herts, AL1 3TF United Kingdom. InfoComm will continue to maintain regional offices serving Asia, Australia, and Latin America. The international headquarters is located in the United States, in Fairfax, VA.

Established in 1939, InfoComm has 5,000 members, including manufacturers, systems integrators, dealers and distributors, independent consultants, programmers, rental and staging companies, end users, and multimedia professionals from more than 70 countries. InfoComm International is a resource for AV market research and news. InfoComm International is the founder of InfoComm, the largest annual conference and exhibition for AV buyers and sellers worldwide. InfoComm also produces trade shows in Europe, Asia, China, and India.

For everyone who has ever had an evaluation or performance review just remember, it could have been worse. These are actual [maybe] quotes taken from United States Federal Government employee performance evaluations:

1. “Since my last report, this employee has reached rock-bottom and has started to dig.”
2. “I would not allow this employee to breed.”
3. “This employee is really not so much of a has-been, but more of definite won’t be.”
4. “Works well when under constant supervision and cornered like a rat in a trap.”
5. “When she opens her mouth, it seems that it is only to change feet.”
7. “This young lady has delusions of adequacy.”
8. “He sets low personal standards and then consistently fails to achieve them.”
9. “This employee is depriving a village somewhere of its idiot.”
10. “This employee should go far, and the sooner he starts, the better.”
11. “Got a full six-pack, but lacks the plastic thingy to hold it all together.”
12. “A gross ignoramus — 144 times worse than an ordinary ignoramus.”
13. “He doesn’t have ulcers, but he’s a carrier.”
14. “I would like to go hunting with him sometime.”
15. “He’s been working with glue too much.”
16. “He would argue with a signpost.”
17. “He brings a lot of joy whenever he leaves the room.”
18. “When his IQ reaches 50, he should sell.”
19. “If you see two people talking and one looks bored, he’s the other one.”
20. “A photographic memory but with the lens cover glued on.”
21. “A prime candidate for natural de-selection.”
22. “Donated his brain to science before he was done using it.”
23. “Gates are down, the lights are flashing, but the train isn’t coming.”
24. “He’s got two brain cells, one is lost and the other is out looking for it.”
25. “If he were any more stupid, he’d have to be watered twice a week.”
26. “If you give him a penny for his thoughts, you’d get change.”
27. “If you stand close enough to him, you can hear the ocean.”
28. “It’s hard to believe he beat out 1,000,000 other sperm.”
29. “Some drink from the fountain of knowledge; he only gargled.”
30. “Takes him two hours to watch ‘60-minutes’.”
31. “The wheel is turning, but the hamster is dead.”

Many thanks again to Peter SJF Bance and his Friday Funny mailing list for this submission.

The International Facility Management Association (IFMA) announced earlier this week its 2008 class of IFMA Fellows. Bruce Kenneth Forbes of ARCHIBUS; Jon Eldon Martens, CFM®, CFMJ, of Sonoma County, CA, General Services; W. Kirtley Miller Jr., CFM, of Himes Associates; and Michael K. Schley of FM:Systems will receive the honor of IFMA Fellowship during the association’s Awards of Excellence banquet on October 17 in Dallas, TX.

Established in 1992 to recognize members dedicated to IFMA and the facility management profession, the fellowship program creates a core of respected leaders who act as advisors to and ambassadors of the association. Being named an IFMA Fellow is the highest honor the association can bestow on a member. To date, 75 other facility professionals have received the distinction.

“Everything about this group of IFMA Fellows is extraordinary, from their passion to their constant commitment to the profession and IFMA,” said John McGee, MBA, chairman of the IFMA board of directors. “Perhaps the most important and enjoyable task I’ll have at World Workplace will be announcing this group of fellows at the Awards of Excellence banquet.”

With more than 100 years of combined facility management experience, the 2008 class of IFMA Fellows represents multiple industries and backgrounds.

Bruce Kenneth Forbes, founder, president and CEO of ARCHIBUS, holds master’s degrees in architecture and computer science from Harvard and Cornell, where he has also held research and teaching positions. Forbes’ vision for the future of the industry led to the creation of the world’s first Computer Aided Facility Management solution in 1976. He has also held positions on the IFMA executive committee and board of directors.

Jon Eldon Martens is the facilities operations division manager for Sonoma County, CA, General Services and the founder and president of JEMCOR, a facility management education and consulting firm. He is a lecturer and instructor at the University of California – Berkeley Haas School of Business. Working with IFMA and UC Berkeley, Martens was one of the founders of the association’s Recognized Certificate Program.

W. Kirtley Miller Jr. is a program/project consultant at Himes Associates and program manager for the facility management certificate program at George Mason University. Miller worked as the manager of real estate for Verizon in Arlington, VA, when the company lost 650,000 square feet of office space during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He led the planning team that provided emergency work locations for 2,300 displaced employees and created a long range plan for permanent work locations. Miller has also served as a regional vice president on the IFMA board of directors.

Michael K. Schley is the founder and CEO of FM:Systems, a software company that helped pioneer facility management systems. As chair of the Task Force on CAD Layer Guidelines and the IFMA Task Group on Area Measurement Standards, his leadership has resulted in two essential standards critical to the profession. Schley holds a master’s degree in architecture and has served as a guest lecturer at numerous academic institutions, including Cornell, Michigan State and Brigham Young universities.

To learn more about the IFMA Fellows program, or for a complete list of fellows, visit www.ifma.org/about_ifma/ifma_fellows.cfm.