Reunion 2018

February 14, 2019

Reunion 2018

Note: Click on the images to see the full image

(Excerpt from President’s Message, December 11, 2018)

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.

More on the Reunion

(Excerpt from Out & About submitted by Jude Anders, and published in the Newsletter)

Reunion 2018 was a great time to reconnect with friends from Johnson Controls and make some new friends to boot.

I met Mara and Jim Beaumont for the first time. Mara works in Customer Service, one of our in-career members. She later helped get us connected to the JCI Involvement Event to raise awareness of the WSJ Society among current JCI employees – thanks Mara.

Paula and I shared a table at the JCI event with Roy and Billie Cloudsdale. Roy started his career in the UK leading the service operation there. I first met Roy when he was with World Services in Atlanta after a stint in Milwaukee. I often promoted World Services to customers. The World Services teams really knew how to use technology to run buildings better. It was good to reconnect with Roy and meet Billie. Roy is retired now. He and Billie live in Sharpsburg, Georgia, on their horse farm. How’s that for an interesting encore career for both of them?

Lou and Jackie Davit came to the reunion with long time friends, Dom and Michele Limpens. Dom came to JCI in Milwaukee from Brussels, Belgium in the 70’s to learn the sales and service business. His father, a friend of Fred Brengel, had a large HVAC business in Belgium. Dom and Lou met over tennis in Milwaukee. That started the relationship. Lou is Godfather to Dom and Michele’s daughter, Noelle. The families have visited each other several times over the years after Dom and Michele’s return to Belgium. It was our good fortune to have them here for our Reunion 2018.

Who might you have met? Check out the photos taken at Reunion 2018 in the Photo Gallery on WSJSociety.com.

It would be great to see you at the next reunion! … or maybe sooner at a luncheon …

Submitted by:

Jude Anders, Editor