March 7, 2008

Greetings MOVITE Members!!!

How is your 2008 shaping up so far? Has it been busy, maybe really busy? Sometimes when I get busy I forget to take time out for planning activities for the year. There is just something about putting together a plan or list of goals to keep in mind as you make decisions on how to spend your time. I’ve heard it said, “If you don’t plan for it, how can you expect to achieve the things you desire.” So how about it? If you haven’t taken a few minutes to plan your goals for 2008 I encourage you to schedule 30 minutes to spend without interruption creating a one sheet summary of your plan.

As you do plan consider the MOVITE activities that will take place this year. How do these activities fit into your personal or professional goals?

Spring Meeting, Tulsa, April 2-4 : The Tulsa meeting is just around the corner and it looks like they have an excellent technical program planned. Consider their meeting theme: Managing Transportation in a Digital World – you really can’t zero in on transportation today much better than that. I am really looking forward to spending some more time in OTEA country – they are just an outstanding group of people. Funny thing about OTEA, their chapter is the newest charter group in MOVITE but they have been working together as OTEA since 1966. I hope to see you at this meeting.

Make a Difference : MOVITE is going MAD this year with some group volunteer activities taking place at the chapter level. Have you ever volunteered for something important and needed? When you completed your volunteer effort how did you feel? If you are like most you feel a great sense of accomplishment and reward. This is the premise for this opportunity: Find a need in your community that is related to transportation and create a way to make a difference for the public or those in need. Each chapter has been contacted and will be proceeding as they desire. My local chapter, LOCATE, has a MAD Committee put together and we have decided to conduct presentations at the local High Schools on seat belts, drinking & driving and driver distractions with the goal of saving lives. By the time the fall meeting is here we will have presented this life saving message to hundreds or maybe thousands of teens in Nebraska and Iowa. What about your chapter? How can you make a difference in 2008?

Fall Meeting, Omaha, September 24-26 : The annual meeting will be held in Omaha this year and the theme is “Transportation Roundup.” What does that mean? Well I’m not really sure but it has a nice ring to it and it matches up with the annual River City Roundup celebration taking place in downtown Omaha at the same time. River City Roundup is a multi-day celebration of the Midwest’s proud agricultural and western heritage. So, we might say MOVITE’s Transportation Roundup will be a celebration of our proud history of transportation engineering in the Midwest. I am also looking forward to celebrating our recent MOVITE area accomplishments and one of the areas we will certainly celebrate is how your chapter is making a difference in your community.

Other items to keep in mind : Stay involved or get involved with your local Student Chapter. The interaction between professionals and students is a win-win relationship. Also, remember we are transitioning the Board during the next few years to a new structure with state directors. This year marks the beginning of the transition which includes phasing out the current First, Second and Third Year Director positions. This year we will hold elections for directors from Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri (three positions). The director positions are two year terms. Next year there will be an election for directors from Oklahoma, Arkansas and Kansas. There is more to tell on the transition plan but for now consider your interest in being a State Director.

Well that is all I know for now. Please call me or email me if you have any questions or suggestions for MOVITE. Just for fun… if you read this whole note send me an email letting me know by clicking on this link. I would really enjoy hearing how your planning exercise turns out.

Matt Selinger
2008 MOVITE President