Highlights from the ITE Student Reception
ITE headquarters staff and leadership welcomed more than 150 ITE student members on January 11, 2016 at the annual student reception in Washington, DC, USA. Students, many of whom were in town for the Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting that week, had the opportunity to meet and mingle current Executive Committee members—ITE International President Paula Flores (Benway), Vice President Shawn J. Leight, and Immediate Past President John J. Kennedy—as well as several other past presidents, international directors, and LeadershipITE alumni and class members.
For many student attendees, this was the first time meeting ITE Executive Director and CEO Jeffrey F. Paniati and Membership Senior Director Colleen Agan, both who joined ITE headquarters staff in the fall of 2015. Colleen greeted students with an interactive icebreaker, in which everyone contributed words expressing what ITE meant to them to form a group word cloud. Staff from all ITE departments were on hand to talk with student members and share information.
During the event, ITE Midwestern District Director and Collegiate Traffic Bowl Chair John A. Davis unveiled the new ITE Traffic Bowl Grand Championship trophy, which has enough name plates to honor the winning schools for the next 46 years. The trophy is on display at ITE headquarters. John also showed the movie-style preview for this year’s competition, encouraging active participation from all the students in the room, most of whom enthusiastically responded that they had competed in previous years. The traffic bowl has become one of the most highly anticipated ITE events each year. View the preview movie at https://vimeo.com/150480964.
Also during the student reception, attendees were introduced to Cal Bear, ITE’s mascot for the ITE 2016 Annual Meeting and Exhibit. Look for Cal to make appearances at your local Section and District meetings and events, and snap your picture with him! You can share and find photos through all of ITE’s social media channels, including ITE’s Facebook page, Twitter @ITEHQ, and Instagram at www.instagram.com/itehq.