Welcome Aboard the FM Pipeline!
As a registered member of our team, you will have access to all the stuff we crank out at your disposal, though we hope you don’t send it through one! Remember, The FM Pipeline team is a group of activated volunteers who support the furtherance and expansion of The Facilithon, the 3-part SkillsUSA competition in Facilities Management.
So, when you think high School, think Facilithon. As a chapter, you’re primarily promoter of The Facilithon and a stakeholder in The FM Pipeline team. Your only responsibility is keeping a keen eye on your own Facilithon while we continue to make more of it for you. Summing up here, your chapter has an ad-hoc Facilithon Team, who is regarded outwardly as Facilithon-Your Town or if multiple chapters join, Facilithon-Your State. Your Facilithon team is supported by FM Pipeline team, Facilithon’s creator and publisher.
Facilithon Organizational Structure
Most likely, you’re here to bring The Facilithon to your town; your state. In many instances, there are multiple chapters in a state who like Facilithon. If this is the case, you’re really in luck, because you can then be part of Facilithon-Your State, sharing resources, geography and outcomes. The FM Pipeline team already has a successful multi-city partnership model humming right along, Facilithon Wisconsin. It works really well, given that each chapter puts forth volunteers centrally yet receives a local outcome.
Given SkillsUSA’s track record of graduates working close to home, your team’s efforts will pay off where you want them, locally. This is true for each of multi-state chapters, so working together is indeed to everyone’s best interest, large or small. If you have 5 chapters in a state, you’ve got 5 co-directors; each responsible for their region, correlating with their local outcome.
If you’re a chapter a very long distance from a SkillsUSA state conference, you may think that Facilithon isn’t worth the work and drive- think again, your outcome is local, the students are only at your state conference for a day or two, the other 363, are right where you are. We prefer you promote the Facilithon prior to a state conference launch, yet each large state has their own methods. Some states have local, district and regional events, some only 1 type and a handful of states only have a Fall conference and State conference in March/April. We will help negotiate those frameworks toward your chapter’s and SkillsUSA’s Facilithon success. Your first year will either have a small contingent or just be a toe-wetting year, proposing Facilithon for the next or future years. In your second year, you’ll have learned the SkillsUSA landscape, so your chapter will be way ahead of the curve, either way.
There’s a reason we start at the state conference- you need to walk before you run. We’ve done it all, and have learned that a half-baked launch is worse than none at all. This is a long-term gig, so slow and patient work will pay off for many, many years ahead. As chapter champion, you are expected to travel to that state conference to help and enjoy the fruits of your labor promoting the career path and The Facilithon.
Incidentally, our event is classified as a Occupational-based competition, which any Skills or Leadership-event participant can do. SkillsUSA’s unique 3rd classification, it doesn’t conflict per SkillsUSA rules with their Skills or Leadership-oriented events. SkillsUSA students can compete in only one skills, leadership or occupational event, yet The Facilithon, is one of only a handful of occupational events.
Chapter Enrollment
As a Chapter Champion, your first objective is to share the Facilithon message with your board and create an ad-hoc Facilithon team to run it. The Facilithon Team (committee) is granted the same rights as any other, traditionally provided for in standard chapter bylaw sets. Make a board presentation as or with your champion and move to create the ad-hoc Facilithon team. Provide your board the Facilithon FAQ’s along with sharing the FM Pipeline Exec Committee presentation.
Upon the board approving the team, its time to connect with your SkillsUSA state director and assistant directors, who are your springboard to participation on a state level. Our co-directors know most State directors and will help facilitate (like that term, don’t ya?) this liaison with you.
Share our Chapter Meeting powerpoint presentation for the entire chapter to understand and enjoy. By the end of that presentation, many in your chapter will be ready to spend a day at a regional or state conference and some will be interested in sharing that road to that day as a volunteer. At the tail end of your presentation, tell members to get out their phones and book that day to judge, then and there. tell them to fill out their “I’m interested” cards for you to collect after the meeting, so you know where they want to help.
The Road to The Facilithon
Chapter Navigator & Roadmap
The most of your time will be spent at district and regional competitions promoting Facilities Management and The Facilithon, whereas most teams’ initial Facilithon will be at your state leadership conference. In actual practice, the greatest outcome occurs at the district and regional events. The state conference is but the icing on the cake, followed by the awards ceremony. It’s alright, though, as you’ll have the opportunity to communicate with students and give Facilithon action figures-wiggly guys, to instructors, which is incredibly fun and really validating. You’re going to leave the events tired, with a huge smile.
SkillsUSA is all about volunteers and to this end, they will occasionally ask for help. Filling in as an event judge endears you to your SkillsUSA assistant director, who runs all conferences you attend. While the event you substitute for may be foreign, there’s always another there who knows it well and allows you to do a good job serving. In fact, your presence as a volunteer is a requirement of our program and serves the cause better than sole tasking, as these experiences serve to broaden and diversify your liaison, in the SkillsUSA environment.
You ARE NOT required to attend every conference. Be sure to attend as many as your team can, however, to maintain presence and engagement in your geographic area. Big states oft have multiple chapters and to that end, joining other volunteer chapters is your answer. When you have partners in other regions, Facilithon-Your State becomes the representative of The FM Pipeline Team, soon to be a 501C3 nonprofit organization. We will help coordinate scheduling and mitigate potential conflicts, as a good franchise model does. It’s our responsibility as the FM Pipeline Team, being SkillsUSA’s national liaison.
In February or early March of your first Facilithon “run year”, you will also share another presentation/call to action with your chapter, asking members to sign up as a 1 day judge for Facilithon’s launch at your upcoming State conference. It’s best looked at like a golf outing, but your members are actually good at it! Members understand this convention, making engagement en-masse really easy and exciting. Next, tell them to book 4PM-7PM at a local watering hole for the pre-event mixer a day or two ahead of time, where judges get sample materials and mingle. This event, by the way, is really great too, as you’ll connect with these quiet FM’s and elders prior to their day as a Judge.
As Chapter champion, one’s role that day is to bring in and instruct the judges working alongside your Event Manager who coordinates the times, rooms and tallies the score sets. You will need 2 judges, 1 test proctor and an event manager to serve 2-3 students per hour. Depending on your participant list, you’ll find yourself in need of multiple shifts of said judges, all coordinated by chapter champions and event managers.
Want to Elevate your Game?
If you find what the FM Pipeline team does intriguing, you may be formally listed as a contributing team member by contacting co-directors Carolyn McGary (wonderwomanmcgary@gmail.com) or Jim Zirbel (facilithon@gmail.com). The FM Pipeline team creates the standards for SkillsUSA, marketing materials and well, just about anything you can imagine, including Facilithon Action Figures (this part has been an absolute blast for all of us). Our team job is fun, intriguing and super-creative, as we’re creating stuff that never existed before for a program that’s truly ground floor material.
Before we forget, thanks for joining us! We wish you the best of success your first upcoming year with SkillsUSA! Its a wonderful, exhilarating ride.
Facilithon First-Time Team Task Summary
Year One
Share with your Board to create a Facilithon team – Board PPT & summary are on our website
Choose your Chapter Champion—Great Communicator & Event Manager— Good Organizer
Join us – Sign up for weekly buddy calls and get documents and presentations via www.fmpipeline.org
Upon Exec Blessing— Let Chapter know! run FM Team’s Chapter PPT at chapter meeting
Recruit your team – Call chapter elders and Quiet FM’s” you don’t see anymore. They’ll LOVE this.
Meet your State SkillsUSA Leadership- Share the Facilithon message & our mission. We’ll help.
Research your SkillsUSA Website for local, district, regional & state competition dates & locations
Enlist other IFMA chapters in your state (you can share this, each chapter gets a local outcome)
Volunteer with SkillsUSA in your state Attend as many District and Regional events that you can
Year Two
Communicate with SkillsUSA about The Facilithon launch State conference is best for first run
Promote your upcoming Program
Attend local, district, regional & state competition dates & locations
Use 1 in 30 materials, including leaflets, PPT & Facilithon Action Figures!
Opportunity to talk during lunch or awards event– 5 min W/our Talking Points
State Director Emails- 3 Progressive Facilithon Emails customized for teachers
Prepare for A GREAT STATE CONFERENCE!
Enlist judges & test proctors at chapter meetings – Use our chapter engagement PPT presentation
Pre-Event Judges Mixer – for judges to understand their job
Judge the Facilithon Be certain to have extra, extra volunteers, to cover for a sick judge, to support SkillsUSA’s craziest of days and to man your booth on the SkillsUSA floor. Make a life-size Wiggly guy for photo-bombs with interested parties to receive via text or email. Take tons of photos for your chapter wrap-up presentation. Schedule a post-op mixer for those who attended the event, getting feedback and basking in the limelight.
Share a chapter wrap-up presentation with those photos and testimonials from judges to share the beauty of what you just did. You will likely have people who only judged the first year get so impassioned toward succeeding your leadership in a year or two, a great demonstration of how organic and fertile this ground is. Get them all worked up for your next year!