Articles

September 2014 - President's Message

It’s hard to believe that summer has come and gone already.  I personally am feeling very fortunate for the amount of rain that we have had this summer, along with the somewhat milder temperatures.  Regardless, I am still ready for the Fall to get here.  Along with the change of season, the Dallas Branch will also be experiencing some change with our monthly meetings.  By now, most of you are aware that the Addison Marriott is currently undergoing some renovations, and therefore is unable to accommodate our group for our September meeting.  This renovation is a result of the hotel being purchased by another party.  Our current contract with the Addison Marriott expires at the end of this year, and we have been working with the new management for several months to negotiate a contract to hold our monthly meetings that their hotel for all of 2015.  While the new management was willing to accept the terms of our current contract for the remainder of this year, they were not able to hold our current rate for the luncheon, nor were they able to continue to offer us free parking in 2015.  The result was a cost increase exceeding 20%, which we cannot absorb without significantly raising the cost of the luncheon.  The Board has been doing its due diligence to locate another hotel within the vicinity of the Addison Marriott that could accommodate our group for approximately the same price point.  This was no small task, as the Addison Marriott has given us a bargain for the last five years.  However, the Crowne Plaza Dallas Near Galleria-Addison (where we met last month) has given us slightly higher, but comparable rates, along with free parking.  Their staff has been very accommodating to help us get through the months when the Addison Marriott was unavailable.  For all of these reasons, the Dallas Branch has officially signed a contract to meet at the Crowne Plaza in 2015.  In an effort to avoid bouncing back and forth between the Addison Marriott and the Crowne Plaza over the next couple of months, we have cancelled our contract with the Addison Marriott for the remainder of 2014 and signed a contract with the Crowne Plaza to start meeting there from this point forward.  Thank you all for your patience and understanding as we have worked through all of this.     

We are excited to hear from John Aniol and Bryan Tyson with Thorton Tomasetti on the Minnesota Vikings Roof.  We all remember the collapse of the roof due to a heavy snow storm in 2010, and it will be interesting to hear more about the collapse and the plans for the future.  We will also be having two technical sessions as always.  Refer to the newsletter for the topics and times.
 
See you September 8, 2014 at the Crowne Plaza Dallas!

Kristin Green, PE, ISI ENV-SP
President
ASCE Dallas Branch, 2013-2014