Industry Forum Celebrates 50 years!
It all began in 1974 when the Chapter President read in the Orange County CSI Chapter Newsletter that they had made a profit of $5,000 on their most recent Products Show. The board was given this information, and it was voted to hold our own Products Show.
Tom Shea and Larry Arnold were appointed as co-chairs and they did a great job. It was named the Products Fair because, at that time, the Institute was downplaying and discouraging chapters also having product shows, evidently because they thought it would detract from the Institute’s Annual Product Show. It was decided to name the Portland Chapter event the Products Fair. As it turned out, many more chapters started product shows, and it didn’t seem to adversely affect the Institute’s Product Show. In 1974, the Institute had 400 booths, and in 1999 it total number of booths rose to 1,100. The Portland Chapter Products Fair always made a profit except for one year that it broke even.
In 1999, the Products Fair was renamed the Products and Services Fair, and it was co-sponsored by IIDA, AIA, AGC, and IFMA.
The Products Fair was the largest fundraiser for the chapter for many years but attendance and revenue started to decline in the years preceding the change. The last Products and Services Fair occurred in May of 2004.
In 2008-2010, Chapter leaders called together a meeting of past presidents, board members, and active members to discuss changing the format, and out of that meeting the Industry Forum was born. It has since been replaced with the Industry Forum event.
As with almost everything else the Industry Forum was suspended for 2020 and 2021. We came back in 2022 with Marlon Blackwell Architects at a new location, The Redd on Salmon. It was such a wonderful evening to be back together and moving forward! As of 2024 the Industry Forum is alive and well and we are putting the final touches on the event coming up in June! We are excited to be featuring Maurice Cox this year to share about Community regeneration in urban settings. Find out more, register to attend or sponsor and join us for a Portland CSI tradition that turns 50 years old this year! https://www.portlandcsi.org/events/industryforum2024
Cheers, Kourtney Strong Portland CSI Chapter President ‘22-’24
