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Post President's Message Archive - Fall 2004 Building MomentumRecord Turnouts + Membership Growth + Strategic Realignment = A Formula for Success MISSION DRIVEN With over 1,400 members, the Washington DC Post (Chapter) is the largest post in the Society of American Military Engineers, and both our membership and attendance at our monthly programs continues to grow! 124 members joined the Washington DC Post this past month, and 237 new members joined the Washington DC Post in the last two months! That is a sure indicator that we are successfully delivering quality programs and excellent networking opportunities for our members. The Society of American Military Engineers is a unique professional engineering Society, whose mission is to promote and facilitate engineering support for national security by developing and enhancing relationships and competencies among uniformed services, public and private sector engineers, and related professionals. With over 125 Society Posts at home and abroad, run by thousands of volunteers , the Society is a thriving oasis of leadership that aims to lead the professional and personal growth of all members in support of military readiness and development of solutions to national security, the Society's vision.
RECORD TURNOUTS at NAVFAC PROGRAM Over 160 people attended our September program on NAVFAC's Transformation. That's twice as many in attendance as we usually have at our monthly programs, which still draw over 70 people at each program! The NAVFAC presentation saw the largest attendance in recent program history at a lunch program. Rear Admiral Mike Loose, Commander of NAVFAC and Chief of Civil Engineers, who led the presentation, did not disappoint! RADM Loose explained how NAVFAC's historic transformation is happening worldwide and in real time a truly impressive feat for an $8.5B worldwide operation. His message that NAVFAC and its business partners are One Team was illustrated by highlighting that over $7B of the NAVFAC's services are provided by contract. This resonated with members in attendance and was a perfect example of the importance of the SAME mission to develop and enhance relationships and competencies among uniformed services, public and private sector engineers, and related professionals NAVFAC Washington's Commanding Officer, CAPT Chris Mossey then provided an example of NAVFAC's transformation by describing the merger of the Public Works Center Washington and Engineering Field Activity Chesapeake into one new NAVFAC Washington command this past summer. He also provided a brief on the numerous contracting opportunities for our business partners to support NAVFAC Washington this coming year. MEMBERSHIP GROWTH Out of the 160 people who attended the NAVFAC transformation program, over 60 were non-members of the Washington DC Post! That's impressive and shows that the Washington DC Post is a magnet for professional development and networking opportunities. The Washington DC Post honors the member program admission rate to any member of SAME that includes Washington DC Post members and Society members from other Posts! We welcome SAME members from other posts to attend our programs. Many join the Washington DC Post when they see that post membership offers a unique opportunity to network and get engaged with local leaders and fellow industry partners. MEMBERSHIP DYNAMICS Our members continue to challenge us, and we continue to meet and exceed the challenges that come our way. If you are a member of the Washington DC Post, share the benefits you see of membership with others. Invite them to attend a program and meet fellow industry colleagues and leaders. A number of membership incentives, membership discounts, and individual new member discount coupons are in place when you join, or sign up a new member. The Washington DC Post Individual Membership Committee Chair, Teresa Pohlman, and Sustaining Membership Committee Chair, Dan Aide, are very resourceful and will be able to assist you with all of your membership needs, and answer any questions you may have. Visit our membership page for additional information. POST VOLUNTEERS MEET PRIORITIES As I noted earlier, Washington DC Post members are active participants at the Post. With over 1,400 members there's a lot of work that takes place behind the scenes to keep the largest society post operating above expectations! That's what we aim for -- to bring excellent programs and networking opportunities on a monthly basis to our members, guests and community leaders! That said, we have a terrific response to our call for volunteers to serve on our committees. EDUCATION AND TRAINING Most noteworthy recently is our Education and Training Committee, which has grown from a committee of one to now four committee members -- and looking for more! Education and training is one of our main priorities and we are allocating resources to this very important objective! PARTNERSHIPS AND RELATIONSHIPS Another area of concentration for us is continuing to build partnerships and relationships with other area organizations. As we move forward with our initiative to partner with the Construction Management Association of America and NAVFAC Washington to provide education and training seminars of value to our Members, this committee will play a highly visible role in how we support the society's mission. YOUNG MEMBERS AND STUDENTS The Washington DC Post has over 150 young members; they are the future leaders of our respective industries, the Washington DC Post, and this professional engineering society. We also have student members and a very robust scholarship program where several area university students receive Washington DC Post scholarships annually. These young professionals and students bring focus to our education and young member programs, and bring an added vitality to our membership. Our mentoring initiatives, scholarships, internships, professional development opportunities and resources are part of our overall Post resources. We continue to support our future industry and society leaders! FORT DETRICK PROGRAM On Thursday, 21 October 2004 , we are fortunate to have COL John Ball speaking to us about the $1 Billion Biodefense University Campus at Fort Detrick. Please join us for this important presentation and invite a colleague to come along and meet your SAME Washington DC Post fellow members! Registration for this program is already very high and we hope to have yet another stellar attendance. I look forward to seeing you at our next program, and hope that you bring a colleague with you! James Peck, PE, CCM |
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