Message from CWA President
Welcome to the Construction Writers Association (CWA). I am Tracie Christie, the 2010-2011 CWA President. I have been involved in CWA for many years. At my first meeting I met then-President Dennis Day. It was through him that I was able to join my first committee for CWA and start to build relationships with other members that are still in place today. From that time, until the present, I have always felt that CWA was a wonderful networking opportunity and I value the friendships I have made over the years with other members.
I look forward to working with you over the next year and also look forward to what the future holds for this association. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our immediate past President Susan Garritano, as well as previous Presidents Brenda Aschliman and Mike Anderson for their wonderful leadership and guidance over that past few years that I have worked with them on the Executive Committee.
This past year has been tough for our industry. We have faced difficult times, cutbacks, and job losses. But looking forward, it seems we may begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Taking that into account, in 2009, CWA made the decision to combine its two conferences for 2010 into one annual conference to address the tightening of company budgets and imposed travel limitations of many businesses today.
Our 2010 annual conference, Embracing the New Normal, provides our CWA members and industry colleagues an outstanding conference opportunity even with a tough economy to build their business and it provides takeaways that can be put to use immediately. We have over twelve sessions with several outstanding speakers. Our keynote speaker is Nate Clark, Director of Public Affairs for the Construction & Forestry Division and John Deere Power Systems. He will be sharing his point of view on the future the industry. I personally hope to see you at the conference on October 25-26, 2010 in Chicago. All of the benefits of networking are fully captured at this conference and in CWA’s awards!
In the next few weeks, don’t forget to prepare and submit your entries for the Marketing Communications Awards and the Website and Electronic Communications Awards. It is important to continue build your qualifications and credentials in these competitive times. Nominations are open for the Silver Hard Hats Awards and the Hall of Fame.
CWA is focusing on change. Based on the Vision 2014 Strategic Plan and Past President Susan Garritano’s leadership, each of CWA’s committees have made great progress on supporting key initiatives of membership, leadership, resources, credibility and stability.
As I look forward to the coming year, I cannot help but be excited to see how change will affect CWA, and I, for one, am ready to embrace the “new normal.” We are very interested in new sponsorships and there are many ways for you to be involved and recognized as a sponsor in 2010-2011. If you have questions and ideas, please feel free to email me or contact our Executive Director Deborah Hodges via email at info@constructionwriters.org or by phone at 1-773-687-8726.
Sincerely,
Tracie Christie, 2010-2011CWA President
National Asphalt Pavement Association