February President's Letter

As we move into the colder, dreary months of the year, it can be hard sometimes to see the light of spring on the horizon. Despite this, our chapter is diligently working during the dark evenings to make sure our programs for 2020 are as engaging and beneficial to members as ever.

We are excited to be hosting a joint Regional Conference with the Potomac Chapter on February 29th, 2020. 6 LA CES hours are available for the full day's sessions. The conference committee has assembled a wonderfully varied slate of designers, researchers, and policy advocates to explores issues of "Waterfront, Climate, and Equity." We hope that you will join us. Early bird discounts end THIS WEEK so please register for what is shaping up to be a very educational Saturday.

Also rapidly approaching is our very successful Job Shadow Week in partnership with Morgan State University and the University of Maryland. Every year students head out around the state to firms and live a day in a LA's shoes. Giving back to the future of the profession is one of the biggest ways we ensure the longevity of it. If you haven't signed up to host, please reach out to our Student Outreach Committee Chair, Bradley Deise at brad.deise@gmail.com.

Lastly, we are ramping up our sponsorship opportunities for the year. While dues and other donations from our members support programs like scholarships and staff, sponsors play a major role in making the conference, awards dinner, and other event possible. We are very excited to be putting a special emphasis on elevating the Awards Gala dinner and ceremony. Part of this is creating new awards categories to better recognize the varied ways that you and your colleagues do excellent work. The other is to bring back a little glitz and glam to the festivities and make the gala THE place to be on that evening. More emphasis is being placed on the night's festivities and there are more sponsorship opportunities to be a part of it all. If you are a sponsor, please review our opportunities for the year and let's chat!

Sincerely,

Benjamin Boyd, PLA, ASLA

President - Maryland Chapter