My fellow Texas Channel ISA Section members,
As we begin a new year, the Texas Channel Section board is hard at work serving you, our members! Although the pandemic has had a strong negative impact on just about every aspect of our lives, ISA events and activities included, we believe that 2022 will see this chapter in human existence ending. With that hope, we are actively working to get our section “back to normal”, that is to say, back to having regular and routine social activities that bring our members together.
Firstly, it is an honor to serve as your new section president. I have been a member of the TCS Board for over 5 years, and in that time, I have come to see the great value that ISA brings to not only the Texas Channel, but the world in general. As a way of introducing myself, I began in oil and gas in 1994 as a no-nothing helper. Soon, I worked my way into an apprenticeship program, ultimately becoming an electrician in the year 2000. Having attended night school for 4 years, I didn’t see the harm in continuing to further my education. For the next 3 years I studied the National Electrical Code, Cisco Computer Networking (CCNA) and ISA NCCER. This diverse mix of courses led me further into technician roles (as a contractor), and later into project planning roles and outage scheduling as a member of various project teams. In 2007 I took a leap of faith and joined an engineering firm in Channelview where I worked as a planner/designer and climbed the ladder to project manager and construction manager. In 2008, I successfully earned a Texas Master Electrician License, which was shortly followed by licenses in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oregon. In 2017, I decided it was time I gave back to the society by joining the ISA Texas Channel Section’s board of directors.
In my short 5 years on the board, I have come to realize that the Texas Channel Section is more than just a section – it’s a special community of dedicated practitioners that truly work day-in and day-out to make the world a better place. I look forward to working with the membership to provide resources, events, and social activities to better the industry and each of its members.
Our goal for 2022 is to bring back in-person activities, but we will also work to plan virtual events as well. Here are a few items to look forward to this year:
- Texas Channel Instrumentation Showcase at the Pasadena Convention Center April 14
- Cornhole (Bags) Tournaments
- Golf Tournament
- Networking happy hours
- Technical Presentations
Remember, ISA Connect is the best way to communicate, volunteer, and get information on events, and other resources including reaching out to other members.
Also – and most importantly, did you know that you can add a non-profit to your Amazon account through Amazon Smile? If you add this feature, it will not increase the cost of the items you purchase, but it will result in a contribution being made to our section. Please visit this website once you have signed into Amazon and search for "ISA Texas Channel Section" – select us as your chosen charity. It will show the location as Deer Park. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/chpf/change/ref=smi_se_rspo_change_cycsc
Please feel free to reach out to me anytime at travis.poe@patoncontrols.com. As your 2022 ISA TCS President, I value and appreciate your feedback, and would very much like to hear any concerns you might have.
Let’s all work together to make 2022 a great and prosperous year for ISA!