Happy New Year and greetings to SEAoT Houston Gulf Coast Members and Friends, and welcome to the first newsletter of 2017. It seems like just yesterday I was closing out our November meeting and pledging big things (including timely communication) for SEAoT in 2017. And another new year’s resolution falls by the way side as I am reminded it is newsletter time again.
Let me re-introduce myself – I am Rick Miles, PE, with Walter P Moore. This year, I am honored to serve as President for the Houston/Gulf Coast Chapter. I have been a SEAoT member since 2005, and transferred from the Austin Chapter to the Houston/Gulf Coast chapter in 2011 when I relocated to join Walter P Moore. As a Principal with the Diagnostics Group, my practice ranges from structural evaluation of historic buildings to commissioning of the building envelope for new construction projects. I look forward to leading the Houston/Gulf Coast Chapter in 2017 as we try to grow chapter involvement and member benefits while continuing to provide quality and varied programming for our members.
The other members of the Board this year are:
Vice President:
Chris Hill PE, LEED AP BD+C, Cardno Haynes Whaley
Secretary (to be confirmed):
Dan Barbuto, PE, Pie Consulting
Treasurer:
Jonathan Warshaw, PE, Walker Restoration
Past President:
Tan Tran, PE, Cardno Haynes Whaley
Special thanks are also due to several others, but I wish to recognize Jennifer Ju who compiles our newsletter and Stacy Chu who manages our chapter website (www.seaothouston.org).
Participation in chapter meetings has been declining, and the new board is committed to increasing participation so that chapter meetings continue to be vibrant events for networking and sharing stories. How can this be accomplished?
Better Communication – we have had difficulty getting the newsletter out in a timely manner, and this month is no exception. While the newsletter will continue, we hope to augment the communication with the chapter website, direct emailing, and other social-media methods. Let us know how you find out about the meetings!
More events – in addition to the regular chapter meetings, I hope we can grow the number of our young engineer events and add some lunch-time presentations. Maybe add some tours or technical seminars. We’d like to hear any ideas you may have.
Better programing – while we are proud that we have been able to continuously deliver quality presentations of various topics, it is a daunting task to find new presenters and topics. Likewise, we are constantly looking for new vendors/sponsors to support our meeting socials. Please let us know about any topics you would like to see.
Tie-in to SEAoT – another legislative session is underway, and no doubt there will be legislation directed at our profession. We need to do a better job of sharing these issues with our membership. SEAoT and NCSEA are just some of the organizations fighting for our interests.
Creating more value for our members – we need to hear what you expect from your chapter. What value can we provide to you? PDHs and networking are the obvious answer, but we need to hear what is missing.
Several have offered to help contribute with these tasks, and we will be calling on you for your assistance. We are all busy, but with your help and involvement we can build a better chapter. I look forward to your comments and suggestions to making our meetings even more interesting and making your membership more beneficial to you.
See you at our monthly meetings!
