Thanks Never Seem to be Enough

Contributed by Eric D. Lussier & Cherise Lakeside

Part I: Written by Cherise Lakeside - Co-Founder - Let's Fix Construction

In honor of Thanksgiving week, we thought we would take a breather from our typical posts and stop for a moment to share our gratitude.

August 15, 2018 marked the two year anniversary of Let’s Fix Construction.  This passion project to bring the various disciplines together for positive, forward thinking solutions in AEC has been an adventure that neither one of us could have anticipated.

For me personally, this effort has been a growth experience that has continually surprised, empowered and motivated me to do even more to make a difference.  I couldn’t begin to quantify the value of what I have learned or the amazing people that I have met along this LFC journey. 

What did we do this year and what am I thankful for?

• We continued with our Podcast, which was really out of the box for me.  While it has been a bit slow going to get it off the ground, I am thankful for:
  • The support and encouragement of our listeners.
  • Informa Exhibitions - and especially the Dallas, TX crew - for their sponsorship which enabled us to purchase the equipment we needed to embark on this journey.  
  • Mel Allen for his amazing, beautiful voice and the giving of his time to be the voice of our intro and outro.
  • Milton Busker – OMG, he couldn’t have written a more perfect song (“Let’s”), which he so graciously agreed to let us use for our theme song at no charge. The dude is amazing.  If you haven’t heard him yet, check out his music with his band The Grim Work on Spotify.
• A huge debt of gratitude to our contributing bloggers who gift their time and effort to share their knowledge and expertise with all of our readers.
• Thank you to Prosoco for bringing us to the Las Vegas World of Concrete 2018 and the AIA Convention in New York for an LFC Workshop.
• Gigantic, humongous, big fat sloppy kisses to ClarkDietrich for sponsoring Year 2 of the LFC/ClarkDietrich party, Partners & Pints, at CONSTRUCT in Long Beach.  They went so far above and beyond to make it a great event for all of our CSI/CONSTRUCT compatriots that I am still pinching myself at our good fortune.  At the end of the day, they are much more our friends than they are our party sponsors and our gratitude is endless.
• Thank you to the FCICA (Flooring Contractors Association) for bringing us to Biloxi for a "Specs 101" presentation to manufacturers, flooring suppliers, subcontractors and others, as well as hosting part two via webinar.

• Thank you to the CSI South Central Region for hosting us to share knowledge about young professionals, social media and our Workshop in Frisco, TX.
• Thank you to CSI Southwest Region and Robin Snyder for bringing us back to Vegas for yet another LFC Workshop, Specifier/Rep Relationship and Specs 101 presentations.
• Thank you to Construction Specifications Canada (CSC - of which I am now a member) for our first trip out of the country to share our LFC Workshop with our CSC pals in Edmonton.  They were amazing and gracious hosts.  I can’t wait to go back. Perhaps Regina in 2019? 
• Thank you again to Informa and the CSI Education Advisory Council for the opportunity to present or facilitate multiple presentations and panels as well as Young Professionals Day at CONSTRUCT in Long Beach.
• Thank you to CSI Cincinnati and CSI Indianapolis for bringing us out for our LFC Workshop and your incredible and warm hospitality.
• Thank you to my employer, LSW Architects, for your unending support and understanding of the need to work in your unique ability and the pursuit of my passions.
• Thank you to all of our friends and family, both in and outside of CSI, who have encouraged us to continue this effort, supported us and assured us that the conversations and knowledge shared are making a difference.
• Last, but not least, I am thankful to my cohort/co-founder Eric Lussier for being my partner in crime in this effort and never batting an eye at my crazy ideas.  I can’t imagine having had this crazy experience with anybody else.

Words never seem to be enough.  Our heartfelt gratitude to our supporters is never-ending.  Thank you for joining us on this journey.

From me to you – A wish for a Thanksgiving full of love, peace, joy, happiness and total world domination.

~ Cherise (aka CSI Kraken, aka Peaches, aka Unicorn)

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Part II: Written by Eric D. Lussier - Co-Founder - Let's Fix Construction

As I had the opportunity to deliver the conclusion to another Let's Fix Construction workshop in Indianapolis just last week, I chose to do what I do best: speak on the fly and from the top of my head. So, as I stood there in front of almost 60 members and guests of the Indianapolis Chapter of The Construction Specifications Institute, I had to sincerely thank them.

As two thirds of those guests had arrived four hours earlier to also attend our 'She's a Specifier, He's a Product Rep' presentation earlier in the day, it struck me again how fortunate I’ve been to have accidentally co-created a construction industry voice with Cherise Lakeside and Let’s Fix Construction.

However, little may you know, or little may our workshop audiences know, that when one signs up for our workshop that you may have just as strong of a voice during the session as Cherise or I do. These voices come from all angles as well. While we ask for participation from every person at the table, any person could become a team captain and anyone else in the audience could have that proactive solution to our proposed industry concern that they chose to share with the room.

So, after the ninth table wrapped up with their proposed solutions and the peanut gallery had their chance to respond in Indy, it was my turn to. But since we weren’t recording the evening and we don’t work from a script, I wanted to try and reiterate my feelings that I conveyed then, to all of you as our collective audience, during this Thanksgiving week.

I appreciate YOUR time, YOUR attention, YOUR insights and YOUR willingness to share. Whether that is sharing your voice, your issues, your fixes, your conference room, your ear, your laugh or your smile, THANK YOU. Thanks for allowing us to take our voice public and to try and create this avenue to offer creative solutions, separate myths from facts and erase misconceptions about the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry.

Cherise, I cannot and would not do this without you and I cannot thank you enough for going along for this crazy ride. 

​And I know that you and I would not do this without all of YOU – our friends, our colleagues, our readers, our listeners, our contributors, our sponsors, and our workshop hosts. Your response and your energy over these last 27 months make us want to keep pushing, keep asking questions and keep bringing our passion and our message to the masses. And that we will continue to do. 

THANK YOU for helping us find our voice.

~ Eric D. (aka Squirrel)