Orange County Branch Newsletter

January 2017

President's Message

New Year's Resolutions

By Josue Vaglienty, P.E.



  •  Eat better.
  •  Shed some pounds.
  •  Try that new gym (and keep going).
  •  Hit those 10,000 steps every day
  •  Read more books.
  •  Spend more time with family and friends.
  •  Give up (insert guilty pleasure here).

It is that time of year again, when we press the reset button and try to make our resolutions a reality.

Do you share in any of the resolutions on my list above? The ASCE OC Branch has its own resolutions to continue to provide meaningful events and opportunities to our membership. Below is a summary of the top three resolutions that we’re keenly focused on.

One of our resolutions is to get a better understanding of what our membership would like see as part of ASCE activities. A SurveyMonkey questionnaire was released this month to better gauge the opinions of our individual members. Based on the responses we receive, the Branch will tailor our activities accordingly and explore new options for topics, tours, and venues to host meetings. If you haven’t already participated, please take a few minutes to provide your survey feedback. The more input we receive, the better we can serve our members.

Another resolution is to provide more diversity in the topics that are presented at Branch luncheons and other events. This may be realized in the form of more joint events with other engineering or non-engineering organizations. It may also be realized by presenting civil engineering topics that are seen from other perspectives, whether they be social, legal, political, economic, or any combination thereof. This resolution is intended to adhere to ASCE’s “Achieving the Vision for Civil Engineering in 2025 – A Roadmap for the Profession” which emphasizes that civil engineers, as master builders, innovators, stewards of the environment, and leaders in public policy, need to work hand in hand with other professions to become more effective leaders. This not only applies to our civil engineering profession, but to our communities as a whole. We all have our technical specialties, but being cognizant of other professional roles, and how they influence the projects we work on, will also bring value to our professional development.

Lastly, we will also focus on a resolution to bring you more timely and meaningful news and event content from ASCE OC. We will be striving for a balance of various methods to distribute information that is simple and appealing (more images and personal anecdotes) both on our website, newsletter, and email distribution. Social media has and continues to be a great way to share information about upcoming events or sharing experiences with our membership. Our hope is that our Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn sites continue to get more followers and gain popularity. Our Publicity, Website, and Social Committees have been doing an incredible job of getting the word out for ASCE OC!

There are many other resolutions for 2017 that ASCE OC is pursuing for the benefit of our members. The Branch is participating in quarterly strategic planning meetings where we evaluate, adjust, and plan for upcoming activities and programs to benefit YOU as a member. So, as we prepare for a very busy 1st quarter of 2017, the ASCE OC Branch leadership will continue to make progress on its resolutions for the rest of the year. Whether or not I stick to my own resolutions – that’s another story!

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