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March 23-26, 2013. NDA ? Nope, not Notre Dame Academy. This NDA is the National Demolition Association. The running joke on these guys is that, for people involved in the “construction business”, they’re awfully destructive… and that they never saw a building their wrecking balls didn’t like. Actually they are a little-understood fraternity. Their penchant for blowing stuff up? Actually controlled explosions (or any other kind) account for only 1% of their operations. Destroyers of heritage sites? Actually they work awfully hard to make sure that condemned buildings topple the other way, so as to minimize damage to viable structures next to them. Landfill-hogs? Nope, these days it’s all about recycling. Unsophisticated brutes? Not so much; “A safe and successful demolition project requires an extensive working knowledge of both construction and the law”. And speaking of demolition, there are a whole lot of other misconceptions that this industry would like to “demolish”…
March 22, 2013. Each spring, the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) holds a four-day conference devoted to planned programs of scholarly papers, roundtable discussions, workshops, and panel sessions on a wide range of issues in research and teaching, and on Asian affairs in general. Keynoter Dr. Aoki Tamotsu, Director General of The National Art Center, Tokyo, was a Former Commissioner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japan, and was awarded a Medal with Purple Ribbon in 2000 by the Government of Japan. A cultural anthropologist, Dr. Aoki taught at Osaka University, The University of Tokyo, and the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies. He conducted extended anthropological fieldwork in Southeast Asia, China, and Europe. He was once ordained as a Thai Buddhist monk in Bangkok. So his view of Asian Studies was from a pretty high elevation…
February 19-21, 2013. APEX Expo would like you to see it as the Premier electronics industry conference and exhibition. This could be the largest technical conference for the electronics industry in the world. The conference presented new research and innovations from experts in the fields of electronics assembly, test and board fabrication and design. Professional development courses provided comprehensive updates on pressing industry concerns. 400 exhibitors were showing equipment, materials and services for printed boards and electronics manufacturing, plus printed electronics. On the show floor, delegates could view cutting-edge products and services in the New Product Corridor, and get support on cleaning and contamination monitoring at the Printed Board Assembly Cleaning and Contamination Testing Center. A keynote from the Chief Engineer for Solar Exploration on the Mars Curiosity mission proved that, even if there isn’t life on Mars, there’s life IN Mars as a discussion topic…
January 29-31, 2013. 440 exhibitors and nearly 10,000 delegates descended on the San Diego Convention Center for DistribuTECH 2013, seeking examples of new utility technologies. Exhibitors and presenters at DistribuTECH were on hand to enlighten the curious. Innovative utilities (and vendors to utilities) were determined to show that for every energy challenge there was an array of potential solutions. A major session highlighted the specific challenges facing California, including its target of 33% renewables penetration by 2020. Grid operators apparently face a massive challenge in achieving this, increasing the need for peak power and regulating resources. California also has a target to reduce carbon emissions to 1990s levels by 2020, something that can only happen if renewables are coupled with greater energy efficiency. Technology, we heard, has caused many of the energy challenges we face — but technology can and must also be the solution. You’re gonna need energy…
January 29-31, 2013. Apparently more than 150,000 Military and Civilian Government Personnel live and/or work within 35 miles of the West 2013 show location. Co-sponsored by AFCEA International and the U.S. Naval Institute, West 2013 is the largest event on the West Coast for communications, electronics, intelligence, information systems, imaging, military weapon systems, aviation, shipbuilding, and more. Delegates get an opportunity to engage the military and industry leaders who are designating warfighting strategies and operational platforms. The PlugFest meeting space was a dynamic area on the exhibit floor that highlighted the Rapid Integration Innovation Process (RI2P), and demonstrated to government decision-makers the best practices when sourcing open standard solutions. Industry, academia, and government all had an opportunity to showcase their collaborative efforts, and exchange views. Views? So where’s the viewfinder on this thing…?
February 7-9, 2013. Join the Club! CMAA stands for the Club Managers’ Association of America. CMAA has close to 7,000 members across all classifications. Manager members operate more than 3,000 country, golf, athletic, city, faculty, military, town and yacht clubs. CMAA’s World Conference and the Club Business Expo is the Association’s big event of the year. Audiences of up to 5,000 typically attend this event. The World Conference fulfills CMAA’s mission to provide a variety of relevant education opportunities that reflect the latest trends in the club industry. These include Pre-Conference Workshops, seminars, management clinics, round-table discussions and student programs. The Association works with a team of committed, competent and highly regarded educators in the hospitality and club industry, to ensure that CMAA members benefit from an optimal academic experience. Excuse me, sir, but are you a member…?
January 4-6, 2013. The American Economic Association (AEA) gets its members from business and professional groups. The main focus is the encouragement of economic research, especially the historical and statistical study of “the actual conditions of industrial life”. Membership is around 18,000, over half of whom are academics; about 15% are employed in business and industry, and the remainder work largely for federal, state, and local government, or other not-for-profit organizations. Once composed primarily of college and university teachers of economics, the association now attracts an increasing number of members from business and professional groups. AEA, in conjunction with over 50 associations in related disciplines, holds its three-day meeting to present papers on general economic subjects. About 500 scholarly sessions are held each year. “The actual conditions of industrial life” these days are not all positive, so there was lots to talk about…
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