Recently in Events Category

We just got back from the 2008 NPMA Western Regional Seminar in Long Beach, CA.  The seminar was held aboard the historic Queen Mary.  The event featured a number of great programs on the latest developments in the property industry including:

• The newly released FAR 45 updates
• The impact of DOD's cancellation of the 4161 manual
• ASTM Standards and the E53 Committee on Property Management Systems
• UID Compliance
• Performing property management self-assessments

The event was also a great opportunity for many companies and agencies to come together and share best practices and knowledge.  Organizations represented at the conference included Boeing, Northrup Grumman, Stanford University,  DCMA, and GSA.

One of the highlights of the event was the "Who Killed the Auditor" Murder Mystery Dinner performed by Skip Adolph of Sunflower Systems and Lorril Stephens of ATK.  The Grand Salon of the historic ocean liner was the perfect backdrop for this interactive, property-themed detective story.

We're looking forward to attending upcoming property events, including the NOVA Chapter Seminar in Fairfax, VA on March 31-April 1, the Northwest Chapter Seminar in Anchorage, Alaska on April 28-29 and the Central Region Seminar in Denver, Colorado on May 8-9.

The Northern Virginia Chapter of the NPMA will be hosting its Third Annual NOVA Chapter Contract Property Seminar on Monday, March 31 through Tuesday, April 1, 2008 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Fairfax, Virginia. The annual NOVA Seminar brings together government and industry leaders and practitioners to discuss the latest challenges in property management in a highly interactive environment.

The Chapter has a great program planned. Participants will be able to listen and learn from a long list of excellent speakers and panel members, participate in roundtable working groups, network with the Nation's best and greatest property leaders, policy setters and decision makers. Gather the latest property information from industry vendors throughout the seminar and at an exciting reception. Find out who the industry's Divas and Divos are while enjoying food and lots of fun at the vendor reception. For those from outside the DC area, the seminar is also a great opportunity to visit and explore the Nation's capital during the National Cherry Blossom Festival. The fantastic speakers will be covering the latest information in the property industry including: Developments in the world of unique identification (UID), realities of implementing the new FAR Part 45 and related clauses, interrelationship between contract management and property management, technology and property management, DCMA organization and initiatives, enterprise asset management, managing IT assets and ASTM standards for property management.

This year's speakers include: Sarah Ball (DoD), Kim Bowley (ManTech International Corporation), Titsa Bronstein (JHU/APL), Jim Dieter (Sunflower Systems), Kim Embrey (EPA), Elaine Frenette (DCMA), Karen Gossnell (JHU/APL), Jerry Hanley (DOE), Lyle Hestermann (Raytheon), Pat Jacklets (Northrop Grumman), Frank Kos (CSC), Brandon Kriner (Sunflower Systems), Cecil Robbins (DCMA), Tom Ruckdaschel (DoD), Eric Saindon (DCMA), Barbara Sheppard (DCMA), Mike Showers (NASA), Rick Shultz (JHU/APL), LeAntha Sumpter (DoD), Richard Sylvester (DoD), Mike Uster (ManTech International Corporation), Raam Vichare (Eastern Region VP, NPMA), Lynne Weiss (IAITAM) and Marcia Whitson (VP of Certification, NPMA).

A great opportunity is also available the day after the seminar (Wednesday, April 2) to learn about ASTM Standards. Whether you are new to property or you are a career professional, understanding and implementing the Standards is a way to maximize your role in your organization. The Introduction to ASTM Standards class includes an overview of the standards process, applications and implementation models, and all the current If you would like to learn more about how you can participate in and register for this year's NPMA Chapter Seminar and the ASTM Standards class visit www.npma.org/ams/seminars .

The NOVA Chapter would especially like to thank this years' Diamond-Level Sponsors: ManTech International Corporation, Sunflower Systems, and Triple Canopy.

The NOVA Chapter of the NPMA is hosting the third annual Contract Property Seminar on March 31 and April 1, 2008 in Fairfax, VA.

Topics to be discussed include:

• Developments in the world of UID
• Realities of implementing the new FAR 45 and related clauses
• Relationship between property management and contract management
• Technology and property management
• DCMA organization and initiatives
• Enterprise Asset Management
• Managing IT Assets
• ASTM Standards for Property Management

Industry leaders from NPMA, the Department of Defense, Civilian Agencies, DCMA, and government contractors will be presenting and participating in panel discussions on the latest issues and opportunities facing the contract property industry.  Detailed conference information is available on the seminar flyer linked above.

The 2nd Annual Asset Management Expo has come to a successful conclusion here in Atlanta.  There were a number of great topics discussed today.  Lisa Collins, an IT asset disposal expert from Global Investment Recovery, Inc. who delivered a great presentation on the challenges needs of IT asset disposal.  IT assets must be disposed of with great care- many monitors and computer parts contain materials such as mercury and lead that pose a threat to our environment.  Furthermore, information on hard drives or other devices that store memory can fall into the wrong hands if these devices are not properly destroyed.

We also heard a great panel discussion about some of the challenges and opportunities of selecting and implementing a new property system from AssetSmart's Robert Kaehler, Sunflower Systems' Jeffrey Polyak and IBM's Mary Bunzel. 

It was great to see so many participants at this conference from so many companies and organizations that span the asset management spectrum. 

We've just finished up a great first day of the Asset Management Conference & Expo here in Atlanta, GA.  The focus of the conference so far has been about the use of technology to facilitate Enterprise Asset Management.  RFID, in particular, has been a hot topic today.  We've heard from RFID experts from IBM and MIT, and also many professionals from the supply chain and logistics industries who are using this technology to improve their processes.

The property management profession is beginning to explore ways to bring the benefits of RFID into the personal property arena.  Particularly, there is an emerging shift in focus from simply collecting as much asset data as possible to collecting the data that managers need to make decisions and track progress against metrics.  It is no longer sufficient just to manage the asset portfolio; the asset portfolio itself must be connected to mission objectives.  RFID can facilitate this trend by moving beyond simply answering "what stuff do I have" to answering "is my stuff where I need it to be when I need it to be there?"

More to come after the second day of the conference tomorrow.

The first major property management event of 2008 is just a few days away.  The Asset Management Conference & Expo is taking place at the Sheraton Atlanta Hotel on January 22-23, 2008. 

Topics to be covered include:

• Asset Visibility and Tracking
• Equipment Life-Cycle Management
• Asset Reliability
• Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul
• Information Sharing Between Enterprise Applications
• Technologies such as EAM, CMMS, mobile computing, active and passive RFID, bar coding and data collection

You can find a complete conference agenda and list of speakers at this link.

Look for daily conference wrap-ups from Atlanta here on AssetCentric on January 22nd and 23rd.