CWA Announces Midyear Meeting Plans
September, 2004
(Buffalo Grove, IL) The Construction Writers Association will offer tours, education, construction-related program topics, and special events at its midyear meeting, scheduled for October 13-15, 2004, at the Hotel Allegro in downtown Chicago, IL.Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Project manager Mike Schiezlein from the Clark Construction Group will lead early bird attendees on a tour of the Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance, one of the few indoor attractions at Chicago's new Millennium Park. The theater was designed for joint use by a number of Chicago's performing arts groups. Millennium Park, which is located on Michigan Avenue, opened in July to rave reviews for its many features, including the Crown Fountain (Jaume Plensa's twin towers which display faces which spurt water into a shallow pool), Cloud Gate on SBC Plaza (Anish Kapoor's kidney-shaped stainless steel sculpture commonly called "the bean"), and the Pritzker Pavilion and BP Bridge (Frank Gehry's dramatic bandshell, trellis and bridge). The mid-afternoon tour of the Harris Theater will allow attendees some time to explore the park.
The midyear meeting planning committee is also working on a welcoming reception to be followed by a Dutch treat dinner at Maggiano's.
Thursday, October 14, 2004
Fundamentals of Construction Writing, our morning education session at the Hotel Allegro, will feature three topics: Proofreading, Punctuation and Style Issues will be presented by Rod Sutton, editor of Construction Equipment; Planning Press Events, a panel discussion with Sharon Holling of Caterpillar, Inc., Scott Melnick, vice president of communications for the American Institute of Steel Construction, and Roy Diez, account executive with James O. Ahtes Inc.; and Working Smarter: Leveraging Technology for Increased Productivity, to be presented by Tom Kuennen, principal of ExpresswaysOnline.com.
CWA's Board of Directors will meet in the early afternoon, and the rest of the afternoon will be available for visiting Millennium Park or touring Chicago. The midyear meeting committee is also planning a catered dinner at Lohan Caprile Goettsch Architects, a Michigan Avenue firm located in a the Santa Fe Building, an architectural landmark. The dinner will be a ticket event.
Friday, October 15, 2004
CWA's traditional Midyear Meeting will be held at the Hotel Allegro on Friday morning. Lee Bey, a former architecture critic now director of public and government affairs for Skidmore Owings & Merrill, will discuss government affairs as it relates to business development; we expect he will also talk a little about Trump Tower Chicago, which is firm is designing. Tom Broderick of the Chicago Safety Council will discuss construction safety, with emphasis on choosing photos to avoid showing unsafe conditions. We�re also planning a panel on editorial ethics which will focus on helping editors determine when and how to help promote their magazines without "stepping over the line." Panelists will include Wayne Curtis, publisher of the ACP Publications for Reed business Information, Jason Meyers, director of the editorial council for Primedia Business, and Kirk Landers, editorial director for James Informational Media.
The final event of the meeting will be the Marketing Communications and Website Awards luncheon, which will conclude in the early afternoon. CWA's Marketing Communications Awards are divided into corporate communications, public relations, and advertising categories. The Website Awards include both journalism-oriented and promotion-oriented sites.
Hotel Allegro
CWA's Thursday education sessions and Friday midyear meeting will be at the Hotel Allegro Chicago, 171 W Randolph St., Chicago. CWA has reserved a block of standard rooms at the hotel for $150 per night. The rooms in the block are available at this price through September 21, 2004 unless they are all filled prior to that date. Use your credit card to guarantee a room when you call the Kimpton reservation line at 800-643-1500. The hotel's phone number is 312-226-0123.
Registration Information
Registration fees are as follows: Fundamentals of Construction Writing, the Thursday morning education session: $100 for members and $125 for nonmembers. The 2004 Midyear Meeting, including Friday morning continental breakfast, program, and awards luncheon: $100 for members and $125 for nonmembers. Education and midyear meeting (both Thursday morning and Friday sessions): $190 for members and $240 for nonmembers.
CWA individual membership is $75, and those who wish to join and attend the meeting should pay: $175 for membership and Thursday morning education session; $175 for membership and Friday morning midyear meeting; or $265 for education, midyear meeting and membership.
For registrations arriving after October 8, 2004, please add late fee of $25. CWA is now able to accept credit card payment. Call CWA at 847-398-7756 or fax registration forms to CWA at 847-590-5241 to use your credit card.
Construction Writers Association is a non-profit, non-partisan, international organization for professional journalists, writers, editors, publicists, and marketing communications professionals serving the information needs of the construction industry. The group strives to provide educational benefits and networking to its membership. CWA's website is www.constructionwriters.org .
For information:
Deborah J. Hodges
Executive Director
P.O. Box 14784
Chicago, Illinois 60614
Telephone 773 687-8726
Fax 773 687-8627
info@constructionwriters.org