By Pat Marnell, Western District President

It’s astounding; time is fleeting. It’s the end of February and the year is already 15% over. I’m sure you have heard the old bromide “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is now.” The same could be said about getting involved with ITE. Spring is a great time to get more involved in ITE at all levels. Don’t wait, act now! If you don’t know where to start you could:

• Reach out to your Section or Chapter and see how to get involved locally
• Contact one of our Western District Committee Chairs and join a committee
• Attend the ITE International Spring Virtual Conference, March 25th & 26th
• Join an ITE eCommunity and participate in their forum

The Western District Winter Board Meeting was held on January 31th with Officers, International Directors, Chairs, and Section Representatives participating. Highlights include:

• Edith Victoria was appointed as Technical Chair.
• The Central California Chapter Charter was approved.
• The University of California Riverside and University of Portland Student Chapter Charters were approved.

I had a chance to attend the 2025 Western District Student Leadership Summit (SLS) January 31st – February 2nd. It was a wonderful event including technical presentations, student development sessions, and a career fair. Congratulations to University of Washington for winning the Western District’s Student Traffic bowl at this year’s SLS. Planning and executing an event of this scale is challenging for our professional Sections, and the UCLA Students did an outstanding job with the SLS. I was very impressed with the teamwork I saw over the weekend, and I am excited these the students will soon be in our workforce.

I also attended the ITE/IMSA Washington Conference on February 10th & 11th. This is my 4th time attending that conference and it is a great example of collaboration with other professional development organizations. If you are in the Pacific Northwest, mark your calendars for February 2026! It’s worth the trip.

The 2025 Annual Meeting will be in Long Beach, CA, June 29^th to July 2^nd. The Port of Long Beach serves over 180 countries around the world. This year’s awards banquet theme is “PORTal to the Worlds”. You are encouraged to come dressed in traditional clothing from your favorite country. So start planning your outfit now.

Cheers,

Pat Marnell