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Back In-Person, Finally!

By Mr. Jeffrey Paniati P.E posted 03-29-2022 07:41 PM

  
As I sit down to write this column, it is with a bit of a happy glow. I just finished making travel plans to attend the Southern District Annual Meeting in Louisville, KY, USA in late March. It has been so long since I have had the opportunity to be together with members in person, I am very much looking forward to reconnecting with old friends and colleagues, and meeting more recent members and building new relationships, as well. With a full slate of spring and early summer District meetings followed by the ITE Annual Meeting and Exhibition in New Orleans, LA, USA July 31-August 3, there will be lots of upcoming opportunities for ITE members to gather. I hope to be at many of them.

Throughout COVID-19, we’ve learned more about reaching members virtually. The online delivery of professional development opportunities is really valued by our members, and we need to continue to deliver those in both virtual and hybrid forms. Our recent Spring Conference is a great example. We just completed our second annual delivery of this event, and it is clear from the strong registration that there is continued interest in this learning opportunity, particularly by the public sector. This conference offers a great low-cost way to stay on top of our profession’s latest developments and earn professional development hours.

While our online tools for delivering learning opportunities are stellar, they can’t replicate the other critical part of professional development: in-person networking. Sometimes I think we discount the value of the professional and social interactions that take place at in-person events. Those of us who are engineers tend to focus on the program content when evaluating the value of a conference. While that content should be of primary importance, we can’t undervalue the parts of a meeting that can only happen in-person—wandering the exhibit hall learning about new products and solutions, engaging with presenters or colleagues in the hallways to dig deeper on a new idea, taking a technical tour or getting out on your own to see how transportation is being delivered in a different setting, and getting together with old colleagues or new acquaintances for happy hour or dinner. All these experiences contribute to building your professional network, which is just as important (and at times more important) than your technical knowledge.

The value of those relationships was evident while we were grounded during COVID-19. When you have spent time with people in person, it is easy to reconnect through virtual tools, picking up the conversation where you left off and reconnecting based on past shared experiences. It is much harder to create these connections and relationships in the  virtual world alone.

At the end of the day, we are in the people business. Transportation is an enabler that enhances the quality of life for the traveling public and communities we all serve. To do our jobs well, we need to experience and observe how others use the systems we plan, design, build, and operate and learn what works and what doesn’t work. We need to be with our professional colleagues face to face to share experiences and lessons learned and to have those winding, impromptu conversations that spark a new idea or give us greater insights. I can’t wait to see many of you in-person in the coming weeks and months. As always, you can reach me on the ITE e-Community or on Twitter: @JPaniatiITE.

This is from the director's message in April's ITE Journal.
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