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Central Ohio IFMA Chapter members were urged March 13 to broaden their horizons, to "step out of the real world into the virtual world" if they intend to be successful facility managers in the information age of today and the future.
The challenge came from Tom Logston, director of property services with National Realty Services, who spoke at the March program on Facility Management for the Information Age: Making Sense of Who We are by Enriching What We Inhabit. Approximately 30 members and their guests attended the program at St. John Center, 640 S. Ohio Ave.
Logston, a long-time Chapter member and former Chapter president, cited a time-worn cliché of "thinking outside the box," as he discussed the necessity for facility managers and those in aligned fields to deal with his three worlds: the natural, man/woman made, and virtual. He stated:
"We need to create a new philosophy in this information age. We have to think about what we do and broaden our horizons. We have to rethink what we are all about. We have a bigger challenge than most because we maintain the box. We are the anchor. What we maintain is essential for people who step out of the box."
He said the three worlds have so much in common that facility managers need to quantify what they do as well as develop a "new language" to deal with that being quantified. Logsdon also said facility managers need to be imaginative and intuitive to make good decisions and to deal with the information that inundates the real world, create and manage context to maintain a self-identity, and sustain reality.
The St. John Center is the organization the Chapter has been supporting for several years through its Adopt-A-Family program. The Center recently received 28 office chairs from Ashland Chemical Co.
Mark Haberman, co-chair of the Community Service Committee, reported the chapter has provided over $1 million in supplies, equipment, and labor to help with repairing and maintaining the Center, and is heavily involved in helping to renovate and furnish a near-by Youth Center that is expected to be in operation in a month or two.
He said new wooden flooring and tile obtained through the Chapter has been installed in the activity room and kitchen at the Youth Center. The Chapter also is providing furnishings for the Center and expects to make a cash donation to be used for programs and activities there. Monies raised through this year's activities will be used to update the Senior Center that is adjacent to the youth facility.
Next month's program will be at the Fawcett Center, 2400 Olentangy River Rd., from 7:30-9:30 a.m. April 17. The hours have been changed to accommodate the speaker, Joseph A. Rey-Barreau, who will discuss lighting design priorities. Rey-Barreau will present 10 essential design concepts, the foundation from which all lighting design decisions should be made.
Rey-Barreau is an architect, lighting consultant and educator. He has been involved in over 1,000 projects either as lighting designer, consultant, and/or architect. He has taught at the University of Kentucky Dept. of Interior Design since 1980 where he has received numerous teaching awards.