Articles

President's Message January 2015

Happy New Year ASCE Dallas!  I can hardly believe that 2014 has ended and we are in 2015!  The first two months of the New Year are full of activities. In December, the Board had decided on some actions, and committees have been preparing the following events: 

1. Approved the 2014-2015 Branch Budget
2. Approved the 2015 Corporate Sponsorship program
3. Promoting the Dallas Branch 90th Anniversary/Scholarship Fundraiser Casino Night on Feb. 7th at Brookhaven Country Club
4. Recruiting volunteer judges for Future City competition on January 31st
5. Mentoring Girl Scouts for their Cookie Box Creations design contest
6. Planning education outreach events in anticipation of Engineers Week in February

PRICE CHANGE - As the 2014 year drew to a close, the Board evaluated the expenses in running the monthly meetings; mainly catering and A/V prices increased across the hotel industry.  In order to keep the meeting registration fees the same for the last several years, the leadership had tried several things.  We’ve moved hotels, negotiated with audio-visual contractors, included incentives for early registration, added more sponsorships to offset costs, and decreased our spending in other areas of the budget.

After reviewing the annual budget and expenses that come with a growing Branch, the Board made a tough decision to slightly increase the meeting registration prices. Late fee remains $10 after early registration on Wednesday.
• Members (TX Section Dallas Branch) - $30
• Non-members - $35
• Government employees - $25
• Retirees - $20
• Students - $15

SPONSORSHIP - By now, you’ve heard us talk about the new 2015 Sponsorship Program.  Lisa Woof and Phillip Packer are Fundraising co-chairs who will be contacting you about opportunities for supporting the ASCE Dallas Branch. Corporate sponsorship would provide the income for our General Fund for Branch operations and provide contributions to benefit the annual Scholarship Fund. ASCE Dallas Branch reaches over 7,500 people in the civil engineering industry in North Texas. Our sponsor levels can be found here.

90th ANNIVERSARY CASINO NIGHT - Join us as we commemorate 90 years of excellence as one of the oldest branches of ASCE!  We are glad to invite you to a celebratory night of casino games with hearty food and drinks at the beautiful Brookhaven Country Club on Saturday, February 7. Remember the proceeds to this one-time event go to the Scholarship Fund! For questions or more details about this event, please visit the event page.

JANUARY MEETING - The last few years, Texas has been experiencing a drought that has made Water a valued commodity.  Our North Texas area water supply agencies have averted a water crisis with extensive planning and restrictions for the millions of consumers in the Metroplex. Our neighbor further northwest of us, City of Wichita Falls, have had a water supply condition that was much worse than ours and led to some hard decisions for the city. For our January 12th meeting, we have invited Mr. David Sloan of Freese & Nichols to share about the City of Wichita Falls’ decision and subsequent Direct Potable Reuse project. 

Looking forward to seeing you in the New Year and at our January meeting!

Angela Matthews, P.E.
ASCE DALLAS BRANCH PRESIDENT