“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” – MAHATMA GANDHI
As we enter into the second quarter of 2019, we get into the busiest season for our section. Several of our legacy and new one- day events are set to take place in the next two months. The study groups and committees have put in a lot of effort to plan these events and I wish them the best for a successful execution! Please refer to the events calendar at www.spegcs.org for event information.
This season also calls for action from our members and board officers. We’re preparing to identify candidates to fill the vacant positions in the board for 2019-2020. We’re also in the process of selecting our most deserving volunteers for the annual section awards. Our nominations and succession committee, headed by Trey Shaffer, has begun work on both of these items, and your help is needed to make sure we find the right individuals.
Annual Awards Banquet
Our annual awards banquet will be held May 23. These awards are highly prestigious and recognize excellence within our section. We request that all members nominate a deserving volunteer for the section awards, which will be handed out during the banquet. Awards include:
- Section Service
- Exemplary Volunteer
- Outstanding Study Group 4.Outstanding Committee Board Nominations
We’ve begun our nomination process to elect several key board positions. The nominating committee will prepare a slate of candidates for each office, and the date and location of a vote for the following positions: one candidate each for the position of vice chair, secretary, vice treasurer and three at-large directors. The committee will also nominate one candidate for each director position, (key committee chair), to be appointed by the chair.
A slate of candidates will be presented at the May 2019 board of directors meeting for approval and the results will be published via e-mail or the newsletter following the June board meeting. All nominees must meet the qualifications for section membership defined in Article IV of the Gulf Coast Section bylaws.
Please submit both award and board position nominations to Trey Shaffer at trey.shaffer@erm.com and Taylor Wright at spe-gcs@spe.org by April 15.
New Website
By now, you’re likely familiar with our new website. It’s a huge upgrade from our old website and it’s taken a lot of planning and hard work to execute. I would like to thank Mrs. Lindsey Newsome and Mrs. Karin Gonzales for their stupendous efforts in pulling it off in record time. I would love to hear from all of you about your experience with the new site. Please feel free to reach out to me directly.
Innovation and Entrepreneurship Symposium (IES)
The second annual Innovation and Entrepreneurship Symposium (IES) took place Feb. 27-28 and was organized by the Innovate committee. The event was a grand success, with around 250 professionals from various organizations attending. Attendees from various subsets in our industry were enlightened about new innovations from startup organizations. The event also featured the “Shark Tank,” where a select few startups showcased their concepts and companies and received feedback from peers, investors and potential clients. I would like to congratulate the IES chairman, Mr. Chris Reinsvold, and his team for a highly successful event.
Inter-Corporate TopGolf Tournament
The Young Professionals (YPs) led by Mr. Shakti Sehra organized the first annual Inter-Corporate TopGolf Tournament on Feb. 21. Professionals from various corporations enjoyed a lovely evening playing golf along with networking with other professionals in our industry. Considering the success of this event, we expect this to become an annual tradition in our section with more companies participating in the coming years!
All the best!