Northern California Section

 

The Northern California Section began the 2011-2012 year with great energy and an ambitious agenda for the next year. Our new officers include Matt Weir as President, Jason Shykowski (Vice President), Angie Louie (Secretary), and Joe Anderson (Treasurer). Joe is the newest member of the Board, while the others were “promoted” to their current office as part of the annual membership election. During the first two months of the new year, the Board has already accomplished a number of significant objectives.

 

  • Hired a professional communications firm, Endicott Communications, to develop a Section-specific brand, including a new website, logo, and materials. Endicott has also been valuable in advising the Board on related organizational development and membership issues.
  • Presented newly-elected Western District President Alyssa Reynolds with a check for $4,000 for the Student Endowment Fund at our September monthly luncheon. These funds had been raised by the Northern California Section in recent events. It was great having Alyssa not only install our new officers but also to provide an insightful presentation on asset management and induction lighting programs in her home jurisdiction of Henderson, Nevada. We highly recommend Alyssa to anyone looking for an engaging, accomplished speaker!
  • Completed a tentative calendar of events for the year with a strategically-balanced program that will appeal to the broad cross section of our membership – from our operations technicians to transportation planners to traffic, civil, and electrical engineers.
  • Continued actively soliciting interest in additional luncheons for the far northern and southern ends of our Section. Anyone interested?

 

The accomplishments in the opening months of the year were in part the result of the significant time and energy invested during the previous two years during which we transformed many of our traditions.  The Northern California Section Board has continued to emphasize relevance to our fluid membership that had been impacted — like all of our profession — by the changing economy. The Northern California Section also wanted to improve service to our public and private sector members as they deal with fewer resources, new requirements, and new technologies/methodologies.

 

Our Section continues to innovate and experiment with new formats for monthly luncheons, hosting professional development/training webinars, and providing greater professional support to the Student Chapters. The key change that has maintained our organizational health in recent times is to make our monthly luncheons free to attend for all transportation professionals, regardless of their membership status. Rather than have luncheon sponsors

 

make a cash donation to the Section, sponsors are asked to provide the lunch. Our average monthly attendance is 45-75 persons and most importantly we’ve had frequent participation from several hundred agency staff, consultants, and product vendors. The attendance at each specific event is correlated to the targeted sub-set of our membership.

 

Looking forward, our Section is looking to build upon our recent work and is considering the following strategies to maintain the long-term health of our Section!

 

Leveraging the increase in new and frequent event attendees to an increase in paid memberships.

Investing in social media and other forms of streamlined electronic announcements/RSVP processes.

Working with the Western District leadership to align our Section initiatives with District initiatives to achieve improved education, communication, and increased membership.

Expanding our support to Student Chapters within the District.