President’s Message: November 2023
ACEC Florida President Tom Hayden, PE
To the ACEC Florida Community,
As we near the end of the year, I wanted to take a minute to share with our members all the exciting things we have planned for 2024. Our Staff works tirelessly to coordinate events around the State for our member firms, and we are starting off the year with a number of exciting events!
On January 9-10, 2024, we will have our 2024 Professional Engineers Legislative Days in Tallahassee. For those who have not attended this before, it is a once-a-year event held during the legislative session that allows our members to interact with politicians in their Region to discuss issues affecting our profession. The event starts with an orientation, where our ACEC Florida Staff and a keynote legislative speaker instruct our members on how to conduct their meetings with their legislators and which political appointments have been made in their Region. After orientation, the conference attendees and this year’s FELI class will then walk to the Capitol to attend an opening reception with key legislators throughout the State, followed by a welcome reception hosted by the Big Bend FES Chapter. The following day, the attendees will break into smaller groups to meet with their respective local elected officials from the Florida House and Senate. This is a very important event that both ACEC Florida and FES jointly host, as it is critical to meet our elected officials to discuss the importance of what our industry does for the State of Florida. I challenge all of our members to attend, as it is an integral part of the lobbying efforts that our Society performs throughout the State of Florida. This event is beneficial for senior and junior staff, as the elected officials appreciate the feedback from all of their constituents.
On Friday, February 23, 2024, we’ll have our 2024 ACEC Florida Engineering Excellence Awards Banquet at the Loews Royal Pacific Resort in Orlando. This is a very prestigious event where we announce the 2024 Engineering Excellence Award Winners. The purpose of this event is to recognize design teams who delivered exceptional products to our clients of various sectors throughout our State. Each of the award-winning design teams will be recognized for their achievements, and the top project will be presented with the “Grand Conceptor” award. In addition, each award-winning project will be submitted to ACEC National for consideration for the national award categories. We welcome and encourage both the Prime and Sub-Consultants to attend this event and bring their staff so that each member of the Design Team will be recognized for their exceptional achievement in making their outstanding projects a success.
We will also hold our Geotechnical and Materials Engineering Committee’s (GMEC) Annual Conference on April 3-5, 2024, at the Marriott Jacksonville Downtown. This is an Annual Conference for the geotechnical engineering member firms in our Section, where we will host several important PDH presentations from both private and public sector presenters, discussing geotechnical issues facing our industry and innovative geotechnical design practices. As a geotechnical engineer, I admit I’m very biased in my opinion of this Conference, but I think it is an exceptional conference for all engineers. If you are a geotechnical engineer, I challenge you to attend this Conference and bring your younger staff to the event so they can interact with colleagues from around the State of Florida.
In closing, there are ample opportunities to get involved in ACEC Florida, and we want to hear from you. If you have an idea for a future event that you would like to see, we want to hear from you. YOU are the reason we host the events we do, and we couldn’t do it without your support. If you have an idea as to an event you would like to see in the future, please email me personally, as I’d be happy to discuss it with you and put you in contact with one of our committees so that we can work together to make your vision a reality!
Sincerely,
Tom Hayden, P.E.
Vice President / Senior Geotechnical Engineer
Environmental and Geotechnical Specialists (EGS)
Tom.Hayden@egs-us.com | www.egs-us.com
