Matthew Barnard, S.E.
SEAOSC President
As our communities emerge from the year of shutdowns from the Pandemic, I am cautiously optimistic that the SEAOSC community will be able to enjoy each other’s company once again sooner rather than later. Many of us miss those in-person moments that are a key benefit of being part of the SEAOSC community. This year has been very difficult in so many ways for so many of us. Yet, the resilience of our communities, our members, and this Association is simply amazing.
Take a moment and celebrate all that good things that happened the past year. We have gotten together to talk, learn, celebrate, and collaborate in news ways. We embraced the call to action to improve the diversity, equity, and inclusivity of our Association and our industry. Our technical Committees are advancing the science and practice of structural engineering. I could go on and on about all of the good that has happened during these challenging times because of you and our SEAOSC community. Next time you are collaborating with another SEAOSC member, share your appreciation of each other and the great things that we are doing together.
Congratulations to our WiSE Committee for curating a fantastic 2021 Leadership Symposium. The discussions were inspiring. Even with the virtual setting, you could feel the energy in the room. If you missed out on the actual event, SEAOSC is proud to be able to share highlights from the event through the Symposium Re-Play Series. Our first re-play is April 1 at noon. Visit the SEAOSC Event Calendar and register today! Special thank you to CSI for your continued support of the Leadership Symposium.
The Leadership Symposium was a highlight to our 2020/2021 Program Year. And even better, it is only one of many activities and initiatives ongoing in the Association. We have a busy few months ahead for the Association. Our committees are rapidly moving forward various technical developments that are in part inspiring 2021 Convention papers. Our Education Committee will be hosting multiple webinars. Our Awards season is coming quickly with the Excellence in Structural Engineering Awards, Safer Cities Awards, and the People Awards only a few months away. Have you submitted your nominations for the Safer Cities Awards? If not, visit our website and click on the banner ad to submit a nomination.
While our website remains a key communication method for the Association, we are actively sharing news about the Association through emails and social media. Have you noticed the improved social media presence for the Association? Through the guidance of our Communication Committee, the Hoyt Group has joined the SEAOSC family and is now assisting the Association with our social media presence. Our LinkedIn account has converted from an individual person account to a business account; make sure that you are following the new SEAOSC account!
The Association is committed to continued enhancement of communications. Our website is next. Thank you to our Communications Committee who have been actively preparing a website update. Look for that update to be coming before the end of this Program Year. Do you have thoughts about what improvements are needed? Join our Communications Committee. We need your help in moving forward these key efforts that benefit the Association and enhance the value of our memberships.
One of the key efforts of the Association continues to be our Strategic Outreach. To enhance our current efforts, SEAOSC has convened a new Legislative Action Committee. This Committee will collaborate closely with John Bwarie as John works to promote you, our Association, and Structural Engineering through engagement of policy makers, legislative offices, and the public. To provide some framework for our legislative outreach, the SEAOSC Board adopted the following set of guiding principles:
- Protect the uniqueness and relevance of the California Structural Engineers license
- Strengthening local jurisdictions and their ability to enhance their local building codes.
- Support seismic and other resilience ordinances that are applied broadly with local flexibility for implementation.
Do you have ideas on how our Association can promote these principles and embed them within our future efforts to better our communities? Join in making a difference. Reach out to us via an email to seaosc@seaosc.org and we can connect you with our outreach activities plus other opportunities within our Association.
Through the generous support of Sustaining Sponsors like Optimum Seismic and title sponsors of big events like CSI for the Leadership Symposium and through your membership, SEAOSC provides you the support to make a difference whether through our outreach or by advancing structural engineering technically. Join in the effort and take advantage of these opportunities to make a difference.
