http://live.asce.org/blog/1/president/ support@asce.org support@asce.org 2006-11-21T08:43:47-05:00 en http://live.asce.org/blog/1/president/Civil+Engineering+Specialties/?permalink=Specialty-Focus-Draws-Crowds.html <p>I recently returned from the 22^nd Central Pennsylvania Geotechnical Conference.&nbsp; This specialty conference was sponsored by ASCE&rsquo;s Central Pennsylvania Section, the Geo-Institute of ASCE and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.&nbsp; It was energizing to see 400 attendees come out to the town of Hershey, Pennsylvania to discuss geo-technical engineering and science.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s not easy to get to, and I know it primarily for its chocolate. What brought all these geo-technical professionals from both near and far? The answer is a conference that directly addressed the hot topics and critical issues to geo-technical professionals. There was also an outstanding exhibit where regional vendors could showcase their wares.</p> <p>It&rsquo;s interesting that a seemingly small area of specialty within civil engineering, like geo-technics, draws a large group. Having recently returned from ASCE&rsquo;s annual conference in Chicago, that boasted more than 700 attendees, I took note of the fact that a specialty conference in Hershey could draw more than half of Chicago&rsquo;s annual conference attendance.</p> <p>It made me wonder&hellip;What factors do you consider most in deciding to attend an ASCE conference? I expect that many of you have an opinion on this and I want to hear it!</p> 2006-11-21T08:43:47-05:00 http://live.asce.org/blog/commentapi//Civil+Engineering+Specialties/?permalink=Specialty-Focus-Draws-Crowds.html