Jay Warmke, executive director of BICSI (www.bicsi.org) for the past 10 years, has resigned his position within the organization. �I asked the board not to renew my contract,� he said in an interview with Cabling Installation & Maintenance magazine. But Warmke has no plans to leave the organization. Rather, his intention is to take a different, yet-to-be-created position within BICSI, in which he can concentrate his efforts solely on the organization�s efforts in Europe.
On December 19, BICSI�s board of directors appointed Al Feaster as new executive director. The appointment takes effect February 1. Most recently, Feaster has served as BICSI�s Region 3 director. He will resign that position at BICSI's next scheduled board meeting.
The new administration within BICSI will have to approve the new position, and hire Warmke into it, before he begins his European-specific duties. Warmke said he does not anticipate any problems gaining such approval.
Warmke said he expects to spend a couple months at BICSI�s Tampa, FL headquarters early next year, seeing Feaster through a transition period before establishing a residence near Paris, France to begin his new job.
�Europe is the biggest challenge BICSI has been facing,� Warmke said. �It needs a champion.� He added that a recent six-week visit confirmed for him that the region cannot be treated as a single entity. �It is a mosaic,� he said.
A majority of the membership in BICSI�s Region 6 are from the United Kingdom, and Warmke believes that language represents a substantial challenge in the organization�s European efforts. He says that plans for European success include translating manuals into Portuguese, Italian, French, Spanish, and German. Additionally, BICSI will add country-specific addenda to manuals, focusing on local codes and practices.
Also on Warmke�s agenda are half-day seminars in European countries, presented in each country�s native language. Organization of the seminars and the country-specific addenda to manuals will rest upon the volunteer efforts of BICSI members�just like they do in the United States and other regions.
On his tenure as executive director, Warmke quipped, �I believe in term limits, even if it�s my own term.� He has spent the last 10 years as BICSI�s executive director, and spent the previous five years as its assistant executive director.
�When I joined BICSI, there were only two employees in a cramped office,� he recalled. �Fifteen years later, we have a world-class training facility and administrative office in Tampa, FL, and offices in Australia, Brazil, Europe, and Japan. I�m proud of our growth and the professional recognition that BICSI has brought to its members and to the infrastructure industry.�
�Jay has served BICSI and the industry well with his clear vision of harmonizing standards and practices," said BICSI board president Richard Powell. "Al Feaster has that same strong vision and is uniquely qualified to lead BICSI in the years ahead."
Feaster said, "I've always enjoyed challenges and new development. After years of involvement with BICSI, I look forward to expanding our educational programs to the telecommunications industry worldwide, and to segments of the construction industry as well."
