Creating Opportunities to Connect
Aloha ACECH Members,
Over the past several weeks, I’ve been encouraged to see the different ways ACECH is creating opportunities for people to connect with our profession—from students exploring their future careers, to professionals learning more about the business side of engineering, to members building relationships across Hawaiʻi’s broader A/E/C community.
Our Engineering Student Mixer on July 29, organized by ACECH’s Emerging Leaders Committee, was a great example. This year’s event sold out with 80+ attendees and brought together engineering students from local and mainland universities with ACECH members and leaders from across Hawaiʻi’s engineering community. With support from the Hawaiʻi Chamber of Commerce’s Kamaʻāina Come Home program, we expanded our outreach to students attending college on the mainland, including several local students at Ivy League universities.
This was also the first year that we sought sponsorships for the Student Mixer. Mahalo to our sponsors for helping make the event possible and allowing us to keep student registration affordable while expanding participation. Their support contributed to the strong turnout this year, and we look forward to building on that momentum to create more opportunities for students and professionals to connect across Hawaiʻi’s engineering community.
We also kicked off the Business of Design Consulting Series with Session 1: Clients, Marketing and Business Development. Thirty-six participants representing 17 firms joined Mark Tawara of Manageability, LLC and Jason Takeuchi of Ferraro Choi for an engaging discussion about how work really comes in the door, how clients select engineering firms, the difference between marketing and business development, what matters in proposals, and how younger professionals can contribute to business development without feeling like they have to “sell.”
The conversation continued during the pau hana afterward, giving participants an opportunity to get to know peers from other firms and put some of those relationship-building ideas into practice. Future sessions will explore people, teams and firm culture; contracts, liability and risk; how engineering firms make money; project management beyond design; and building a career in the business of engineering.
Our next opportunity to connect across the industry will be the AIA–ACECH–GCA Pau Hana on September 10, hosted by Ferguson Bath, Kitchen & Lighting Gallery and supported through our ongoing partnership with AIA Honolulu and GCA of Hawaii. These joint events provide a great opportunity to build relationships across Hawaiʻi’s architecture, engineering, and construction community outside of our normal project environments. Space is limited, so please visit the ACECH website for registration information and current availability.
These activities also highlight something important about ACECH: much of our organization’s strength comes from members who are willing to participate, share their experiences, and volunteer their time. Our committees are an important part of that.
As we begin the new year, I encourage members who are interested in becoming more involved to consider joining a committee. This year, we will also begin rolling out a new organization and communication structure intended to improve information sharing across committees and better connect their work with our Strategic Plan.
As part of that effort, I look forward to highlighting the work of one of our committees each month and sharing more of what is happening across ACECH. I hope these updates will help members better understand the work our committees are doing and identify opportunities to get involved.
Mahalo to everyone who continues to participate, volunteer, sponsor, and contribute to ACECH in the many different ways that keep our organization moving forward.
Warm regards,
Kealohi Sandefur, P.E.
President, ACEC Hawaii