1. BEST PRACTICES GUIDE FOR SECTIONS AND BRANCHES

2. HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE do what ever you want to HAIL THE HAWAIIANS Communications Continuing Education Government Relations Membership Development Public Outreach Section Operations Student Outreach

3. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS THANKS SO MUCH!!!!! The Committee on Geographic Units acknowledges all the Sections and Branches that submitted Best Practice summaries and the volunteers that assisted with the creation of this document.

4. SEND MORE STUFF!!!! nberson@asce.org

5. E-mail Newsletters Alabama Section - Birmingham The use of text boxes to frame every article proved unwieldy and quirky. The newsletter now uses straight text that is allowed to flow around inserted picture boxes for effect. It also has not worked well to have the Secretary- Treasurer serve as editor. The Branch will use a member not in the administration to serve as the editor. Finally, not all the Branch members use e-mail, so some were not receiving the newsletter. The Branch now makes an effort to identify those members and send a hard copy by regular mail.

6. Websites: Kansas Section - Wichita Spoon feeding the communication changes to the general membership seemed to work well. We did not want to exclude those members not up to date with current technology, and have made sure to make special arrangements. The website cannot be an alternate means communication. It did not work to create the website and let members search the site on their own.

7. Geotechnical Seminar New Jersey Section – Central Jersey Branch Lecturer was great. Provided documents to the class and was a good speaker. Parts that did not work well: Event was highly successful and raised a lot of money. It was important to conduct a lot of coordination for advertising, getting a hotel, and speaker on board months in advance.

8. Annual Seminar Tennessee Section - Knoxville We try to get structural topics for the morning session and that produces a good turnout. The afternoon is general civil. Try to provide a variety of topics to include the different disciplines. This includes ethics and professional development. Don’t wait until the last minute to plan, give the attendees plenty of notice to coordinate schedules.

9. Illinois Section Organizing a legislative “drive-in” day for ASCE members to meet their legislators in Springfield, IL to talk about ASCE concerns and issues. Organizing a tour of the Marion Federal Prison to visit our past governors to thank them for their infrastructure initiatives.

10. Fellows: Upgrade Promotion Louisiana Section – Baton Rouge Used the Branch membership database to find qualified candidates for Fellow upgrade and notified them of the potential membership upgrade. ALWAYS do with this project: Recognize new Fellows at Branch luncheons. NEVER do with this project: Send letters to deceased Branch members by accident.

11. Membership Louisiana Section – Baton Rouge Provided free lunch vouchers to those non- members who are potentially interested in joining ASCE. Visited government agencies and local engineering firms to distribute vouchers and inform “champion” members. People using the vouchers, about a five percent success rate for those that turned in vouchers. 200 distributed and 10 redeemed within a one year period.

12. Young Member Recruitment Louisiana Section – Baton Rouge We have played laser tag, gone bowling, gone to restaurants, done service projects--each month is something different. Recruiting at the college level is the best place to start. Those who hold a position in their student chapter and are active in their student chapter are very likely to stay involved after graduation.

14. Arizona Section – Yuma Branch 2nd Annual Tamale Festival This was a fundraising event put on by the local Diablo Alumni foundation of Arizona State University. We were to make 50 dozen tamales and sell them along with 50 other vendors.

16. Earthfest: Cleveland Section ASCE Cleveland hosted a booth two years in a row at EarthFest 2008 and Earthfest 2009 at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. This event has taken place each year since 1990 and is Ohio’s largest environmental education event. EarthFest is a forum for education awareness and global concern and is presented through exhibits, displays, and activities.

17. History Book: Nevada Section Our Life Members developed a book “From the Spanish Trail to the Monorail: A History of Civil Engineering Infrastructure in Southern Nevada”. The Life Members were the Committee.

18. Putt-Putt: Maryland Section An annual indoor putt-putt golf tournament is held to raise funds for college scholarship endowments. A local hotel is contracted to allow us to set up indoor golf holes throughout their ground floor and banquet facility. Fees are charged to players and hole sponsors. Food and drinks are provided to the players. A silent auction is also included.

20. Shadow Program: Buffalo Section Met with the Student Chapter and explained the program. Solicited volunteers from our membership to allow students to shadow them. Compiled a list of students and their area of practice they were most interested in and paired them with a member.

21. Popsicles: Hawaii Section Annual competition between Intermediate School students as part of the University of Hawaii’s Engineering Expo. Each team is provided a box of popsicle sticks, Elmer’s Glue, and a list of certain criteria that they must follow in designing and building their bridge.

23. Scholarship ASCE Quad Cities Section Very Small Section 2 - $1,000 Scholarships were awarded Scholarships are awarded at the Section’s Family Day at the Minor League Baseball Park

24. Kansas City Section Liquid Assets Campaign Liquid Assets Documentary on PBS One Hour Local Expert Panel Discussion “Watch Party” at Boulevard Brewery Combined Sewer Separation in Kansas City