Dear Southern California CMAA Esteemed Colleagues,
I hope this message finds each of you well. It is hard to believe that summer is already upon us. The first half of the year has developed at a blistering pace and based on the economic indicators; it is going to continue like this in the field of design and construction for the foreseeable future, which is great news for all of us.
This year the Southern California Chapter Board has aggressively embarked on the execution of our strategic plan that was developed towards the end of last year. Through the first half of the year, we have accomplished some exciting things together including delivering events with record breaking attendance. Working in stride with our Southern California Foundation Board, we have already made some tremendous progress toward making 2021 a very special year. Many of you by now have seen our Save the Date for our upcoming CMAA California Hybrid Rising CM Event this coming November 5th. This is an exciting event because not only is it in partnership with our Northern California and San Diego Chapter colleagues, but this will be the first time we have ever had an event of this magnitude that helps support our Chapter’s mission by focusing on industry advocacy and the development and growth of young professionals coming into the professional construction management field. The event will host a student competition along with several education seminars to help advance students and young professionals as they begin their careers. It is going to be a fantastic event! Additionally, we have implemented strategic initiatives and partnerships with industry organizations that we feel allow us to provide greater value to our members, owners, and students. One of these initiatives that we challenged ourselves with this year was to increase our owner and student participation by providing them with easier access to many of our educational programs. To accomplish this, we will continue to make our education events available on-line as well as free of charge for owners and students who wish to attend in order for our Chapter to gain a broader reach as an industry leader and resource. The content of these events has been rich and already we are seeing significant spikes in owner and student participation which is exciting. As CDC and governmental guidelines continue to soften it is our intent to resume in- person programs this summer where appropriate as we know how vital networking with colleagues is for all of us. Our committees have made extraordinary progress this first half of the year delivering nearly forty events in total, and we continue to see attendance soar. Our events calendar continues to fill up with tremendous programs with rich relevant content which we think you will find value in attending. We have also implemented our electronic survey tool which allows our members to give valuable event input as well as provides a vehicle for our members to provide suggestions on future content. Your input continues to help guide these programs. Lastly, do not forget about our Annual Golf Tournament and Gala coming later this year in September and October. These two flagship events will be our best ever!
As we continue to chart our course together this year, let us continue to persevere, as greatness is never behind us yet always ahead of us. It is an honor to serve as your Southern California Chapter President this year and I hope to get the opportunity to see every one of you soon. I want to thank our Board of Directors, Foundation Board and Committee Members for their tireless dedication and leadership, and want to wish all of you, our valued members and colleagues, a very healthy and prosperous second half of the year. The best is yet to come!
Respectfully,
Brandon Dekker, M.S., DBIA
CMAA Southern California Chapter President
