Annual Meeting: Game Night & Volunteer Appreciation

It was a lovely if windy evening in the Fenway of Boston on Thursday night.

Wentworth Institute of Technology hosted us for our 2015 Annual Meeting - it was great to meet many of their students, professors and staff. Over 100 people came out to join us - we had presentations, awards, election results and GAME NIGHT!

Giant Jenga (not its real name) was a hit during the Game Night portion of the evening - though of course with all the high-achieving creative types in attendance it morphed into a "how tall can you build a tower out of loose blocks" exercise.

We were very appreciative of Debbie Shepard (below), who serves Wentworth as a sustainability coach, for her presentation giving an overview of the many sustainability projects that have been embraced by the campus, including:

• 75 courses related to sustainability
• Undergraduate minor in sustainability
• Masters in Applied Sustainability Mgmt. 
• Accelerate – Social Innovation Lab
• 525 Huntington - Student Housing
• Ira Allen Ctr for Sciences & Biomedical Engineering

Don't forget that Wentworth Co-ops - students - are ready to work for your firm!

There was plenty of food and our green building pros know how to hit a buffet line. They did make a little room for the students to join in. It was great to mix and mingle. 

Did you know the Wentworth Creed (from 1904) “We seek to use our resources wisely at all times. We accept our obligation to safeguard the earth, its resources, its life, and its energy for the benefit of future generations.” - Sounds like sustainability to us! Love it!

A big part of the night was our Volunteer Recognition Ceremony. Below we have the "Charging Champions of the Chapter" - up-and-coming all-star volunteers Kate Bubriski - co-chair of our Advocacy Committee, Shawn Hesse - new to our Board and a Living Building Ambassador, and Kimberly Le - new chair for our Residential Green Building Committee.

Volunteer of the Century, Phoebe Beierle, received yet another awesome plant for her contributions to the Chapter as an all-star volunteer. Thank you Phoebe for your guidance and ongoing brilliance for the Chapter. Phoebe actually shared this award with Bill Holland and the technical category was "Long-time Front-line Volunteers of the Half Decade."

Earning our "Continuing Stalwarts of the Chapter" awards were Adrian Charest - chair of our Outreach Team (formerly Membership) and Neil Angus - our Vice Chair, and guiding light of our Education Committee (and "and Sustainable Communities" Ensurer).

We gave thanks to all of our volunteers, especially our departing Board members: Jennifer Taranto, David Straus, Chris Schaffner, Greg Sampson, Erik Ruoff, and Phoebe Beierle.

Other Noteworthy Contributors included: Stephanie MacNeil, Kristin Malyak, Matt Smith, Ryan Montoni, Jenna Dancewicz, Marie Nolan, Alana Spencer, Tiffany King, Adam Prince, Susi Price, Jared Gentilucci, Mark Dunn, Craig Foley, John Dimodica, David Bliss, Rachelle Ain, Patricia Cornelison & Mihir Parikh.

Also, Board members Ben Myers and Jim Newman were recognized for their outstanding fundraising work.

And then we got back to the games:

 A lot of folks enjoyed the paper airplane launching:

It would appear to have been hard to beat Alec Danaher, US Air Force veteran (also a civil engineer) - of our Advocacy Committee, though I did hear a certain architect claim to have hit the far wall. "Just let it go, don't force it, let the weight do the work" he explained in his southern drawl... 

Below, Phoebe Beierle is wondering how can Steve handle all these new member sign-ups at the event!

Thank you to Wentworth Institute of Technology for hosting us - especially to Abby Charest - Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering and Technology who liaised with the Wentworth staff and student groups to put it all together. Below is Grey w/ Abby and Adrian Charest - a green building power couple if I ever saw one! Thank you Team Charest!

Go Leopards!