2012 FALL SYMPOSIUM RECAP
The Southern California Section of AACE held its 2012 Fall Symposium on November 9-11 at the Hyatt Regency in sunny Palm Springs. The event was a huge success with over 60 attendees and six sponsoring companies. Sponsors included D.R.McNatty & Associates, ARES Software, EcoSys, O’Connor Construction Management, Project Time & Cost, and Nolan Morrison Consulting. Speakers included Don McNatty, Jim Zack, Mike Nosbisch, Maria Petrov and Ray Stratton, among others. Attendees included representation from over five different AACE sections including Section Presidents from Seattle, Las Vegas, South Central and Southern California sections.
Southern California Section Board Members in attendence (L to R): Tom Ross, Mark Von Leffern, Justin Peterson, John Matsumoto, Joshua Lavers, Marc Glasser, Jim Gerdes
The event was kicked off Friday afternoon with PSP and CCE/CCC certification overview workshops followed by a welcoming reception in the evening. Saturday included a general welcome session from Section President, Joshua Lavers, followed by the keynote address from Marlene Hyde, President of AACE International. The keynote address consisted of a State of the Association presentation followed by group Q&A and discussion of Association initiatives and upcoming plans. Following the keynote address were two tracks of technical presentations, eighteen presentations in all, lasting through Sunday. Saturday evening was highlighted by a Sponsors’ Reception featuring refreshments and light hors d'oeuvres, offering a good opportunity for networking and socializing. Sunday was capped by closing remarks and a raffle with prizes including study guides, reference manuals, iPod Shuffles and an iPod Nano.
“AACE is about much more than just cost engineering, at the Symposium there were a variety of presentations by industry professionals on subjects including cost estimating, scheduling, earned value, claims, risk analysis, construction audits and more. I attended a great presentation by Dan Faucier and Ken McBroom on how Pull Planning is being applied by McCarthy. This was an outstanding presentation for anyone involved in executing large construction projects in California.”
- Sponsor and Speaker: Don McNatty, PSP, FAACE
“As usual, the Southern California symposium was an excellent meeting. The presentations were top notch. The participants seemed very interested in the information being presented and actively involved in the discussions following each session.”
- Speaker: Jim Zack, CFCC, FAACE
“With the challenging market conditions that all of us have and continue to face in this economic recovery, I found the Fall Symposium to be an ideal environment to enhance and update my knowledgebase on estimating, scheduling and project control innovations. Additionally, I found it particularly enjoyable and enlightening to openly talk to a diverse group of AACE members regarding the progress and remaining challenges faced in their respective industries.”
- Attendee: Jerry B. Sheets
"The seminars and illustrations with real-world scenarios and the insights provided were extremely valuable and highly relevant for program managers and construction professionals."
- Attendee: Asitha Seneviratne
The Southern California Section would like to thank the Sponsors and Speakers who made the 2012 Fall Symposium a world-class event as well as all the attendees who participated and took time out of their busy schedules. Planning has already begun for the 2013 Fall Symposium with details forthcoming soon – stay tuned!
2012 Fall Symposium - Final Presentation Files
(Click on the presentation title to download a PDF copy of the slides)
Marlene Hyde, CCE, EVP - CH2M Hill
Keynote Address: State of the Association
Don McNatty, PSP, FAACE - D.R.McNatty & Associates
A Process for Reviewing Submitted Schedules
Neely Hemassi - EcoSys
Earned Value for the Rest of Us
Ken McBroom, PSP - McCarthy Building; Dan Fauchier, CMF - The ReAlignment Group, Ltd.
Pull Planning in Construction
Valerie Smith, CCA, MBA - Moss Adams LLP; Neil Murphy, CPE, PSP - O'Connor Construction, Inc.
Construction Auditing: Common Cost Control Pitfalls
Ryan Brady - Faithful+Gould
Public Private Partnership Case Study: Jim Pattison Outpatient Care & Surgery Centre
Jim Zack - Navigant Consulting
The Impact of Rework on Construction Projects & Some Practical Remedies
Ray Stratton - Management Technologies
Keeping Earned Value Management Simple
Brian Criss - DRMcNatty & Associates
Leading Change: Strategies and Considerations for Implementing New Software Applications
Chip Golde, ARES Corp.
ARES Prism G2 Software Spotlight
Ram Ramdass - O'Connor Construction Management
Qualitative Approach to Schedule Risk
Michael Nosbisch - Project Time & Cost
Earned Value Management in Construction
Neil Opfer - University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV)
Improving Construction Productivity
Dave Davies - Parsons Brinkerhoff
FTA Risk Assessment for Transit Capital Projects
Eric Costantino - DRMcNatty & Associates
Integrating Hard Dollar Cost Estimates with your Primavera P6 Schedule
Bill Maddex - Arup
Public Private Partnership Update
Maria Petrov - Marsh Risk Consulting
Construction Audits
Craig Sorenson - Nitro & Associates and Kathlynn Smith - Hunt Ortmann
Out of the Trenches and Into the Courtroom: An Overview of Federal & State False Claims Acts
Marc Glasser - Jacobs Engineering
Recertification Update and Overview