Famed Explorer Robert Ballard, FOX News’ Kondracke To Address ACEC Fall Conference Legendary explorer Robert Ballard. Legendary undersea explorer Robert Ballard and noted FOX News political analyst Morton Kondracke will highlight ACEC’s Fall Conference in Montreal, October 19-22. Ballard discovered the Titanic in 1985 and will share with Conference-goers the excitement of exploring the last great uncharted territory on Earth—the ocean. Kondracke, executive editor of Capitol Hill’s premier newspaper, Roll Call, and participant on the McLaughlin Group and other political shows, will provide his unique perspectives on the upcoming election.

Morton Kondracke, FOX News political analyst. The Fall Conference also features more than 40 top-flight educational sessions focusing on critical aspects of business practice; five CEO roundtables; three professional forums—Sales & Marketing, Legal and Education; and special programs sponsored by the Council of American Structural Engineers (CASE); Council of Professional Surveyors (COPS); and Council of American Mechanical and Electrical Engineers (CAMEE). The famous Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel in downtown Montreal is the Conference site. Attendees are encouraged to register early as the ACEC room block is filling up fast. If you don’t have a current passport, go to www.travel.state.gov/passport for further information. Click here for more Conference information, or contact meetings@acec.org or call 202-347-7474.

ACEC/PAC In Full Throttle With Events To Support Pro-Industry Candidates At the fundraiser for Congressman Mark Kirk (who is standing) from the left: David Kennedy, ACEC/Illinois executive director; Tom Jester, Honorary Member; Lorenzo Padron and Pedro Cevallos; Primera Engineers.

ACEC members are conducting congressional fundraisers throughout the nation to support key House members in the upcoming November elections. In Illinois, ACEC hosted Congressman Mark Kirk (R-IL), a member of the House Appropriations Committee; and in Pennsylvania, Congressman Jim Gerlach (R-PA), a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Financial Services Committee, was ACEC’s guest. “Mark has been a consistent advocate for the engineering industry, not only here in Illinois, but for the entire country,” said ACEC/PAC Champion Pete Mesha of Wight & Company in Darien. ACEC/Illinois Executive Director Dave Kennedy, who helped organize the event, said “Congressman Kirk has got a very tough race ahead of him this fall, and it was gratifying to see the strong show of support for his re-election campaign by ACEC members.” In Pennsylvania, ACEC/PAC Champion Chris Borton of Borton-Lawson in Wilkes Barre said, “There is no one in Congress today who has a better record of supporting ACEC on the issues that matter to engineers than Jim Gerlach. It was a great turnout for a great Congressman.” For more information on ACEC/PAC or Congressional candidate fundraising events, please contact Gregory Knopp, ACEC’s executive director of Political Affairs, gknopp@acec.org, or Elizabeth Coit, ACEC/PAC director, ecoit@acec.org, at 202-347-7474.

At the fundraiser for Congressman Gerlach from the left: Dave Lowdermilk, Pennoni Associates Inc.; Edward D’Alba, Urban Engineers, Inc.; Roseline Marston, A. D. Marble; John Eagan, Alfred Benesch & Company; Bhagwan Gidwani, Burns Engineering, Inc; Joe Desantis, McMahon Associates, Inc.; Tom McVeigh, Weston Solutions, Inc.; Rep. Jim Gerlach; Chris Borton, Borton-Lawson; Sandy Sanders, STV Incorporated; John Nawn, formerly of GAI Consultants, Inc.; and Kevin Johnson, Traffic Planning and Design, Inc.

Still Time To Submit Historical Photos For 100-Year Anniversary Publication ACEC will produce a special issue of Engineering Inc. to celebrate the Council’s 100-year anniversary in 2009. The publication will depict how ACEC Member Firms have been responsible for America’s major engineering achievements over the past century—and how the Council protected and advanced the industry’s business interests during the same time. If your firm has any historical photo(s) that you would like to contribute, please contact Alan D. Crockett, director of communications at acrockett@acec.org or 202-682-4301. All non-electronic submissions will be returned to the firm once the project is completed.

BDC Course Provides Know-How For Success In Competitive Environment The Business of Design Consulting September 24-27, San Antonio, Texas Kudos for Business of Design Consulting (BDC) keep coming in: “Learned a wealth of information from the speakers as well as from the interaction with industry peers from diverse markets and geographic locations.” ”Without exception, all of the speakers exceeded my expectations.” “I will recommend to others. This has the best overall relevance to our industry.” The next session of this popular course will take place Sept. 24-27 in San Antonio. This four-day program offers engineering firm executives and managers the collective state-of-the-art expertise of leading practitioners who specialize in the A/E environment. Sessions follow a logical sequence of critical day-to-day management topics. Attendees learn through focused discussion, application exercises, and interactive workshops. Completing the course earns 28 PDHs. Faculty and topics are Peggy Pound, The Pound Group, Leadership and Human Resources; Colvin Matheson, Matheson Financial Advisors, Inc., Finance and Business Management & Ownership Transition; Paul Doherty, Satellier LLC, Information Technology; Thomas Porterfield, Victor O. Schinnerer & Company, Inc., Contracts and Risk Management; and David Stone, Stone and Company, Marketing. For a course brochure, agenda details and to register, click here.

Register Now for Labor Day Week Online Seminar Topics You Won’t Want to Miss Before you leave for the final holiday weekend of the summer, don’t forget to register for next week’s online seminars, and start autumn off with new knowledge and PDHs: Tuesday, Sept. 2: Leverage Your A/E Human Resources for Competitive Advantage by John Geddie, Martin-Simonds Associates, Inc., helps firms deal with a tight labor market, win the talent war, and improve motivation and loyalty of technical staff. Click here to register. Wednesday, Sept. 3: Contracts, Coverage and Jury Interpretation: A Peek Behind the Insurance Curtain by Albert J. Rabasca, XL Insurance, explains pitfalls in contract language relative to A/E professional liability coverage and offers insights into the claim process that influence decisions and behaviors during design and construction. Click here to register. Thursday, Sept. 4: Professional Ethics: A Preventive Maintenance Approach by Christopher Bauer, Bauer Ethics Seminars, demonstrates the ethics risks you never knew you had and details how to make sure they don’t turn into full-blown ethics problems. Click here to register.

Innovators Tell All About BIM In December 4-5 Course in New Orleans Attendees of Building Information Modeling (BIM): The Promise and the Reality for A/E/C Firms will get an intensive look into this important emerging technology in an information-packed one-and-a-half-day course, December 4-5, New Orleans, LA. Expert faculty represents diverse perspectives: early adopter practitioner, IT software developer and user, risk management advisor, fabricator/partner, and constructor. Curriculum covers how BIM is being put into practice by the collaborative teams involved, through real-life case studies. Designed for COOs, IT and project managers, and company principals, this course has been an advance sell-out in previous presentations, so register now and don’t miss this important inside look at BIM in practice. For details and to register, click here.

The American Council of Engineering Companies 1015 15th St., NW, 8th Floor, Washington, DC 20005-2605 Phone: 202-347-7474 - Fax: 202-898-0068 www.acec.org - E-mail:acec@acec.org Alan D. Crockett, Director, PR • Ann Brandstadter, Editor/Designer