ATSSA Signal November/December 2017

30 American Traffic Safety Services Association COUNCILS & COMMITTEES ATSSA Midyear Meeting committees and councils The following are summaries from ATSSA’s committee and council meetings during the Midyear Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky from Aug. 23 to 25. Chapter Presidents’ Council There were 15 of 26 ATSSA chapters in attendance at the Chapter Presidents’ Council (CPC) Midyear Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky. The CPC voted to implement a member prospect program at the chapter level, whereby ATSSA will incentivize members with gift cards to secure names of roadway industry companies who are not members. This effort will aid ATSSA in their efforts to engage and recruit more new members. There were two ATSSA staff members who provided presentations during the CPC meeting, including Director of State Government Relations, Ashley Wieland, who spoke about state activities and California’s state advocacy day, which was held in July. Many chapters are working with Wieland on government relations activities, including Texas, California, Colorado, and Pennsylvania chapters. ATSSA’s Director of Marketing, Talis Berg, provided the CPC with information on the importance of branding. Berg presented an overview of the concept and research used to develop the association’s brand message, which is “ATSSA is The Leader in the roadway safety industry.” ATSSA will begin to implement online registration for all chapter meetings in an effort to capture information and demographics on member engagement at the chapter level. The presidents discussed the current chapter meeting survey evaluation form and provided input to strengthen the usefulness of this tool. It was determined that surveys should be held at every chapter meeting in order to collect consistent feedback on the quality of service, chapter programing and the needs of members. ATSSA staff members will begin exploring ways to provide new tools for chapter leaders, including a speaker repository to aid chapters in providing quality programs at meetings. Also, a series of “how to” resources will be developed in areas such as fundraising, budget planning, mentoring, succession planning, creating relationships with public agencies and officials among other topics. These new tools will become an extension of ATSSA’s Chapter Management Guide, which was adopted in 2016 by the CPC.   Government Relations Committee The Government Relations Committee received a presentation from Kentucky Sen. Ernie Harris (R-Crestwood), who is Chairman of the Kentucky Senate Transportation Committee. In addition, ATSSA’s Director of State Government Relations, Ashley Wieland, presented an update on the status of ATSSA’s new state government relations program, which will assist chapters in developing relationships with state lawmakers across the country. ATSSA’s Vice President of Government Relations, Nate Smith, gave an update on transportation and tax reform related items that are occurring on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., and what the legislative outlook is for the rest of 2017.   Guardrail Committee Guardrail Committee members, Andy Artar, of Gregory Industries Inc., reported that the Committee Prospect List for ATSSA recruitment was completed in June 2017. ATSSA’s Member Engagement Department will draft a letter for review and handle the mailing. Artar requested guidance from ATSSA on the purpose of this subcommittee moving forward. Committee member, John Durkos, of Road Systems Inc., discussed the open letter from the Federal Highway Administration with the committee. Durkos also provided an update on the State Quality Product Listing Process (QPL) problem statement. A motion was approved to create a QPL Problem Statement Task Force, and a request for two conference calls was approved. ATSSA’s Director of Training and Staff Liaison, Jessica Scheyder provided the following updates: • The committee was advised that ATSSA is looking for success stories related to end terminals. • ATSSA has a new initiative, an RFP on the “Safety Benefits of Median Barrier and Roadside Guardrail.” A motion was approved to create a RFP Task Force to review the winner’s submission, and one conference call was approved. • A discussion on how ATSSA might stay competitive with American Road & Transportation Builders Association after not being awarded the guardrail grant. The committee suggested getting onto the American Association of State Highway and Continues on page 32 >