A Good Time Was Had by All

December 11, 2018

Reunion

The 2018 reunion of our Society came together very well and appeared enjoyable to all those attending. As always the JCI Corporate Headquarters in Glendale WI. proved to be an excellent location on a beautiful fall day. The Amenities room provided a great naturally lit space for socializing with others not seen lately, both before the program, as we enjoyed morning beverages and snacks, as well as, after over a pasta buffet lunch.

After a brief overview of the status of our 500 member, WSJ Society (Newsletter, Finances, and Website) by myself and Jude Anders, we heard from our sponsor Don Albinger. He gave us quite a bit of insight into how the work world, both inside JCI and our buildings industry, is changed from what we as retiree’s experienced. A session of Q&A allowed everyone to better understand those changes. The pace of change and the breath of new competitors made most of us glad to be on our side of the retirement hurdle. So we offered Don a hearty welcome to come join us on our side.

He also gave a presentation on the new GLAS see through thermostat, that you can remotely manage from a smartphone or talk to it directly with your voice. It learns your occupancy pattern and can have your space comfortable on arrival, along with telling you both indoor air quality and outdoor levels as well as the weather forecast via a Wi-Fi connection. He raffled one off, and our member John Meyer won it. John now owes us a story on how much he was able to do with it.

We also heard from Sudhi Sinha about JCI’s work with Data Analytics. This science ties together all the data now available for a building or large complex, to not only control comfort and air quality, but save energy and money, as well as keep all equipment well serviced. Beyond those technical aspects they are using the data to make people feel more welcome, safe, and secure in their building. Today’s computing capabilities to tie all this together to achieve meaningful results is amazing.

After departing JCI in Glendale, we met at the new Stackner Cabaret in downtown Milwaukee for a matinee show of “Songs for Nobodies”. More details were in the last registration newsletter. Wow – could that woman sing! Dinner and drinks capped off a great day.

A hearty Thank You to many. Don Albinger and Janet House for being our sponsor, host and coordinator for the mid-day activities at JCI. Our WSJ Society board members, most notably our Program Committee – Jim Pasterczyk and Janice Peters, our Treasure- Brian Bould, and Web master- Jude Anders. Their help made it all work.

Johnson Controls Involvement Fair

With the help of our still employed member, Mara Beaumont attending the reunion, we were able to get an invite to JCI’s Involvement Fair. This is an event where community groups set up a table in the 507 cafeteria at lunch hour, to show employees several opportunities to be involved in the local community. This was a great way to remind current employees that our WSJ Society still exists as a way to continue friendships established during a JCI career. Whether retired or still working, it’s a way to socialize and stay connected to folks you work(ed) with.

Greg Pascucci, Jude Anders, and I talked to 40-50 people there. Many were familiar faces and some were new. We welcome you all to visit our WSJSociety.com website, read our newsletters, look over our membership list for familiar names, and join us at one of our quarterly lunches to check us out further.

Hope to see you at our next Luncheon – Thursday, January 17th.

Gene Strehlow