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 President?s Message It hardly seems possible and yet as I sat and wrote this I realized six months have passed since I took over as President of SEASoN. If you know me then you know it is not like I do not have an opinion on anything, far from it. Over the course of the past few months I have had thoughts on what topics I could cover and what I should say for each but I never seemed to get anything written down. I do not think there has been a week that has gone by that I did not give consideration to preparing a message but with each passing day I have found myself busy with work and most often mentally exhausted from the days efforts by the time I arrived back home. And so it is I find myself mid way through my tenure as your president and just now putting into words the many thoughts that have had. So bear with me as I touch briefly on a few things that have been on my mind. Let me start off with a brief list of what I would like to see us discuss and/or pursue as a group: Permanent Board of Engineers position for a registered SE; Currently the State Board of Engineers does not have a permanent position for a structural engineer. I believe the practice of structural engineering is so unique in its knowledge requirements and the need to protect life and safety that there should be such a position. I would say that of all the engineering and technical fields if any should have a permanent position is should be structural engineering. Structural Review by an Engineering Equal; I would like to see an effort made to require structural plan reviews be completed by an engineering peer not just an engineer with an ICC structural review certificate. Expansion and strengthening of the statues and codes regarding structural engineering; I would hope we can continue as a group to provide input to the Board of Engineers regarding the structural engineering code, to strengthen and expand it, to move the code toward language similar to that of other states and that promoted by NCSEA. As noted above, I have been very slow to get a message out to you and yet I think it is very important for the membership to know where the leadership?s thoughts are. So I asked myself what was it that made me delay so long in preparing a message to the membership. The answer is quite simple, not for lack of thoughts or words but for a perceived lack of time and energy. I realized that over the course of the last two years I have been working harder than ever to get new projects (which seem to get smaller and fewer with each passing day), working harder to manage the ever smaller projects and fielding far more requests for information during project construction. At the end of the day all I have wanted was to get home to my wife and try and put the day behind me. Of course the consequence of that was not devoting time to things outside of work that I am passionate about including hobbies and fellowship with the engineering community. And it is foremost to fellowship and SEASoN that I wish to comment. During the past year we have seen the attendance at monthly membership meetings diminish mean while the total number of members has stayed somewhat steady over the past two years in spite of the difficult times. The SEASoN board has had many discussions regarding this trend and what if anything can be done to reverse it. It does not take a genius to realize that what I have been experiencing most of you our members have too. We all are working harder than ever for smaller pieces of the pie just trying to survive to the next day. And for certain some member have seen reduction in pay and/or work hours as well. At the end of our day we are all exhausted and wanting to get home to family and friends. And I say to you, we are all as engineers and members of SEASoN each others friends and family. As fellow engineers it is important to come out and support one another and the Association. The membership meetings are not just about getting professional development hours or a meal out. They are an opportunity for fellowship; to share our experiences (good, bad and ugly); to share our knowledge and gain new knowledge; to meet old friends and make new ones; to promote and support our profession. So although at the end of the day we want to rush home, I encourage you to take time once a month to come to the membership meeting and if every month seems like a lot then perhaps every other month. If you know an engineer in town who is out of work but would like to attend a meeting offer to buy dinner for them. Come out and enjoy an evening with your fellow engineers and friends. Help us make SEASoN the best it can be. Respectfully, Kent A. Barber President
Please take a moment to download and fill out our SEASoN Membership Form . If you need to renew your SEASoN Membership feel free to download and fill out our Membership Renewal Form.
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