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Save the Date!!! | |
April 9 - 13, 2016
SDITE Annual Meeting in Nashville, TN
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2016 Executive Board
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President
Hollis Loveday
Vice-President
Jennifer Bihl
Secretary / Treasurer
Scott Walker
International Director
Bob Murphy
Past-President
Bill Seymour
District Administrator
Craig Hanchey
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SDITE Apparel | |
Don't forget to visit the Lands' End Store to get your SDITE Apparel.
Lands' End Website |
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Future Annual Meetings | |
2016 - Nashville, TN
2017 - Columbia, SC |
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Newsletter Staff | |
Reviewers
Becky Malenke
Radha Swayampakala
Lindsay Walker
Anne Warnick
Social Media
Jeff Stephenson
Add Your Name Here Next Edition! |
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Happy March!
Four weeks from the distribution of this newsletter, the folks on the Nashville LAC will be hauling away the last of the posters, ribbons, projectors, computers, and miscellaneous meeting materials from the hotel. I'm guessing most of them will be asleep by 8:00, exhausted from over 72 hours of putting on an amazing show for SDITE.
For those that have served on an LAC as a chair, committee chair, or planned any parts of a meeting like this, you understand the time and commitment it takes. Meetings just don't come together magically, and the SDITE Annual Meeting is no different. There is an Annual Meeting planning guide put together over the years by the SPAM Committee that outlines nearly every detail for the meeting. When printed, the manual is about an inch thick.
To the Nashville LAC (if you have time to read this): Thanks for your hard work so far. I know you've had a few extra hoops to jump though that have been unique to your meeting. But we are very thankful for your service to ITE/SDITE and appreciate your passion to the meeting planning. I look forward to seeing you in Nashville. Don't forget to have a little fun!
To Attendees of the Meeting: Don't forget to say thank you to an LAC member. They'll likely have on matching shirts and perhaps a ribbon on their nametag. Remember that they've devoted much of their own time and energy preparing for your visit. A thank you and a smile will really make their day.
One more thing -- it's very hard to say hello to everyone over the course of three days. If we've never met or it's been a while, make sure to pull me aside and say hello!
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John Edwards, 1933-2016
 Life member of ITE and Founding Member of the Georgia Section John Edwards passed away in February.
Edwards helped establish the Georgia Section of ITE and served as its first president in 1963. He then went on to be the first Georgia member to serve as International ITE President in 1985. The Georgia Section has a page dedicated to his memory. More information about his contributions to traffic engineering and to ITE can be found on the International ITE website. He will be missed by all who knew him. Rest in Peace, John. |
SDITE Strategic Planning Initiative
 By Becky White, SDITE Strategic Planning Chair IMAGINE . . . . Imagine a future in which every transportation professional in the southeastern United States is a member of SDITE. Or perhaps a future in which SDITE leads all other organizations in transportation advocacy, education or innovation. What future do you imagine for SDITE? What initiatives would take the best of our past and propel us into an even better future? This year we will work together to answer these and many more questions through a new Strategic Planning initiative we are calling "Imagine SDITE".
Imagine SDITE will launch at the SDITE Annual Meeting in Nashville with several interactive activities including a brainstorming session at the Sunday afternoon Board meeting, a branding activity for all conference attendees in the registration area, and focus group sessions on Monday and Tuesday afternoon. We're calling the focus groups Imagine Sessions. These will be small discussion groups that meet for 45 minutes to share ideas. You can sign up to attend an Imagine Session at the registration desk when you arrive in Nashville.
Throughout the remainder of 2016, we will use The Connector to provide updates, surveys, and opportunities for involvement in the Imagine SDITE process. We hope each of our members will make an effort to participate and help us create the best future for SDITE that we can imagine.
If at any time during this planning process you have questions or input that you would like us to consider, don't hesitate to contact me or one of our Planning Team members: Richard Atkins, Robert Baker, Jennifer Bihl, Carla Holmes, Chris Kirby, Hollis Loveday, David Low, Bob Murphy, Cindy Pionke, Steve Strength, Lindsay Walker, Scott Walker, and Tim White.
I look forward to seeing you in Nashville!
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Final Reminder: Voting for 2017 Officers
Eligible voting members of the Southern District may now go online and vote for 2017 officers.
Listed below are the candidates for officers for 2017. Short interviews with the Secretary/Treasurer candidates are included in the next section, along with their official bios.
President: Jennifer Bihl, PE
Vice President: Scott Walker, PE, PTOE
Secretary/Treasurer: Radha Swayampakala, PE, PTOE, GISP Todd Long, PE
To vote, you must be a member of ITE. Student members and affiliates are not eligible to vote.
Note: In accordance with the District Bylaws, additional District nominations for any office may be made by petition, signed by not less than eight members eligible to vote. Each such petition shall be accompanied by the written consent of the nominee to run for the office for which he/she is nominated and must be received by February 19th. Please send any additional nominations along with the required supporting materials to: Hollis Loveday, P.E., 1100 Marion St., Suite 300, Knoxville, TN 37921. Petition documents may also be submitted electronically to Hollis at lovedaywh@cdmsmith.com.
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2016 SDITE Annual Meeting
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SDITE Member Profile
SDITE is very excited to have 6 representatives in this year's LeadershipITE class. We intend to feature them this year in the Member Profile Section. So let's start with one that is very near and dear to your Editor's heart, especially since she was available to help out on short notice!
1. Name: Lindsay Walker, PE, PTOE, AICP
2. City/State: Lexington, KY
3. High School Mascot: Blackcats
4. Place of Work/How Long: WSP / Parsons Brinckerhoff, 13 years
5. Title: Senior Traffic Engineer
6. Degrees: MSCE and BSCE (University of Kentucky)
7. Place of Birth: Valparaiso, IN
8. Day-to-Day Responsibilities: Managing my 3 work kids and doing a little transportation planning, safety analysis, traffic forecasting and meetings on the side.
9. Technical Interests: Safety and planning in general (we need to be smarter about how we develop land and our communities!)
10. In what capacity have you served ITE? SDITE Annual Meeting Planning Committee (2015-current); 2012 GLDITE / SDITE Annual Meeting Hotel Chair; Past President of Kentucky Section
11. Hobbies: my 3 crazy boys (not including Scott) baking cakes, swimming, playing bunco, and hosting parties
12. If I were not in transportation, I would be... A meeting planner
13. Five Quick Questions:
a. Sweet Tea, Unsweet Tea, or Lemonade? Sweet Tea
b. Pen, Pencil, or Sharpie? Pen
c. Telephone or Email? Telephone / Text
d. Dogs or Cats? Wildcat
e. Apple or Android? Apple
14. Bucket List Item: I don't believe in the bucket list
15. Desired Superhero Power: Read people's minds
16. Three Interesting Facts About You
A. Married to the awesome Scott Walker, SDITE Secretary / Treasurer
B. Have been to all 30 major league baseball parks plus a few others
C. Can make fancy cakes in different shapes and make dozens of cookies at Christmas time that I share with anyone who appreciates them!
[Editor's Note: I think she's Wonder Woman!]
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Ambassador Program
 Each year, we have numerous first time attendees and / or younger members attend our Annual Meeting. In fact, SDITE provides incentives for them to attend. If you think back about your first SDITE meeting, you might remember that it can be a bit intimidating. We want to take away as much of that as we can. The Ambassador Program was established to encourage more seasoned meeting attendees to work with our new friends to ensure they get the most out of their experience. This could be introducing them to other people. Or explaining what "ABD" stands for. Sometimes, having a familiar face out of 400-500 strangers can go a long way. If you're interested in serving in this capacity, send us a note.
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Reader Letters
 For the second time in two months, SDITE Past President Mr. Colin Kinton (SC) sent us a note. This time, he writes: "I was just on an online form filling out information. The form included a place for "title" and it was a required field. Most of these forms list Mr., Mrs., Ms., Miss and a couple others. The particular form I was working on listed 82 different titles! I counted them. Everything from Sister to MsSgt and everything in between (Attorney, Dr., etc.). Two titles not included were Engineer and then British nobility titles. In Europe, engineers have the title of Engineer. It is time we bring this level of respect to our industry and demand that we are provided a title like lawyers and doctors and ministers get! 82 different titles!" Thanks for the feedback Colin. The Connector Staff certainly agrees with you. We invite our members to send us some suggestions on how to do this. Sincerely, Engr. Scott Walker
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Pedestrian Traffic Deaths Increased in 2015
 With the news that vehicle highway deaths will likely increase in 2015 over the year before comes a new study showing that pedestrian traffic fatalities are expected to increase as well. The study, by the Governors Highway Safety Association, shows that 2015 is expected to see the largest year-to-year increase (a projected 10 percent) in pedestrian traffic fatalities since national reporting began in 1975. The report also found that four states accounted for nearly half of all pedestrian deaths. Those four states - California, Texas, Florida and New York - have large, urban areas where many people choose to walk rather than drive. However, the report also states that "when population is taken into account, the states with the highest fatality rate per 100,000 population were all over the map," citing states like New Mexico, Louisiana and South Carolina. The report also provides various reasons for the increase, including pedestrians who are texting and walking; better economic conditions and cheaper gas prices, which leads to more driving and more people on the road, and increased awareness of healthy living, which has led to an increase in walking. Get more information on the report at the GHSA website. |
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Have You Seen This?
How far back in time could you go and still understand English? I was looking online and this caught my interest. It's well worth a few minutes of your time to realize that the language that most of us speak has evolved greatly over the past number of years. How many you ask? Click the video to find out.
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We hope you enjoyed this edition. Feel free to let us know what we are missing or if you want to help us out some time!
Sincerely,
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Scott Walker, Editor
Southern District ITE |
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