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I just went to ISSFA.ORG and ISSFA.Net and ISSFA.net has tons of other stuff on it. So, I went to Isanow.org and looks like they did not pay their bill and website closed.
Sorry, After all the drama that was going on there I stopped following them and have been out of the loop on this. Share the wealth that is stored in your brain !!Hi Amir,
In a past life I was technical director of ISSFA, which changed its name to ISFA in order to address the fabricator instead of 1 type of decorative surfacing.
Russ Lee is no longer executive VP and an old friend co/worker, associate of mine named Chuck Sawyer was appointed to that position.
I would suspect under Chuck’s leadership there will be changes (all positive).
I was asked by Chuck if I could help with the mandatory 5 year review of the ISFA solid surfacing standard. I am currently in the orient working, deeply involved in a myriad of projects and have been here for the last 5 months, but communicated to Chuck/ISFA I would assist as time permits.
I hope this helps clear up any misconceptions that ISFA does not exist anymore.
Have a splendid day!
I think Russ did a good job getting IS(S)FA back on the right road. It was crumbling from what I could see.
I know Chuck a little bit and I think very highly of him. With dedication and a supportive board it is likely that ISFA will grow and thrive. I hope so.Tom ,
I hope no one misunderstood my post or took it in the wrong way. I think a lot of Russ Lee, who is a very astute, knowledgeable and capable person decorative surfacing wise and I wish him all the best in what ever bigger and better challenges he is onto.
I think Russ did great things for ISFA. I met him in China last year at a trade show in GZ. Unfortunately he had Evan (Mr. I know everything about China) stuck up his butt crack, so I could not help him. I feel really bad about that. Russ is a very good guy, that listened to the wrong people.IMHO the ISFA crumble came from and began with Oxley. And I mean, hell who insists to be called by his last name?..’Call me the Oxley”. Reminded of the ‘Donald”. Bwah, hah, hah, hah, hah.
Oxley appeared like an angel of light, then got up on the stump and sold the board members a bill of goods, like the devil incarnate. And they bought it, hook, line and sinker. He looked at my contract, and copied it, being he never thought of anything original in his entire life IMO.ISFA was good to the word, and paid it out completely.ISFA really honest and caring guys for the most part. They paid my contract too. BTW I wouldn’t look for ISFA to be contacting Mr Kaisen Oxley (another intense sarcasm warning) for advice anytime soon.
Tom, I really dislike that Oxley guy. What a waste of human flesh! You have no idea of the BS he pulled.But please don’t get me started on that. It is all history, it is water under the bridge, cannot be undone and not worth it, or of any value for anyone to rehash!Like Russ, I have moved on to bigger and better ventures. If there were several of me I would be the ‘Venture Brothers!”
BTW I know you are one of the only ones on here that gets that joke!Yea, something is wrong with the website, it’s been like that for months. Not sure what is going on. Lots of changes happening all the time. There is never really any direction or guidance. Magazine in nice though.
If you google the “The International Surface Fabricators Association”, google says the “site may be compromised”. Based on the “Xylene” or something like that, that I see in the google results, I’m thinking there are some hidden bad links on the home page that ISFA needs to take care of.
The problem with ISFA is that the organization has become irrelevant. The people there are good folks, but the industry has radically changed, and the market factors that brought ISSFA into existence no longer apply.
Some ideas have a shelf life. They work fantastic for a time. But if you find yourself spending all your efforts trying to convince people that the idea really is important, it might be time to wonder.
ISSFA didn’t come about because someone marketed an idea, it came about because fabricators had real, specific, pressing needs. It was the need that caused us to see the value and coalesce, in a grass roots fashion. It’s sort of telling that almost every past president of ISSFA and ISFA cease to be active in the organization once their term is done.
You know what sad, ISSFA worked. They leveled the playing field for all fabricators and made it possible for everyone to be able to purchase the products they choose.
The problem, they are still trying to solve problems that don’t exist. They are training your competition on the member’s dime without offering any real certification for existing members that have any meaning in our industry.
It’s hard to complain about ISSFA because it has had such a huge impact on the industry but it is really time to either change focus or close up shop. Either way, it had real meaning and we all owe a great deal to the founders.
Lenny and Tom I not only second your thoughts on Oxley but third and fourth them.. Also feel Len is correct.
Tom,
I miss my Venture Bro’s. They remind me of ‘Johnny Quest” from back in the day in a way. I used to love that toon as a young person. I never missed one episode! One day I knew I would be in some strange land, on some crazy adventure. I used to “feel” the same thing in geography class.
I used to think.”.Oh, Ecuador, New Guinea..headhunters..I want to see that…Kewl!”
Be careful what you ask for Tom, someday you just may get it!
ISSFA was started from the sweat off solid surface faricators backs. Once
stone fabricators were allowed to join in, they just took over and solid surface
seemed to take a back seat.That is when I bailed out.
I made many good friends while there. I was proud when Phil DeCaro nominated
me for membership. Joanna Duggan tried to recruit me in the very beginning but
I wasn’t the type to join organizations until they had some type of reputation
established.
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