VAA Annual Report 2020

12 ANNUAL REPORT 2020 CONNECT Technical Conferences Entering 2020, VAA planned to host or co-hosted three technical conferences. In March, VAA and VDOT partnered to host a single statewide Asphalt Seminar. This seminar focused on outlining new specifications and procedures and reinforcing best practices before the commencement of the paving season. The Asphalt Seminar attracted nearly three hundred individuals from VDOT and industry. This was the last in-person technical conference held in 2020. While always popular and well-received by attendees, the 2021 seminars will be held in a virtual format for attendee safety. The two identical sessions will utilize a combination of prerecorded presen- tations and live question and answer sessions. VAA, VTRC, and Germanna Community College partnered to hold VPRIS (Virginia Pavement Research and Innovation Symposium) in March. Unfortunately, VPRIS was canceled due to the pandemic. In a typical year, VAA hosts multiple opportunities for members, customers, and clients to connect. These range from technical conferences to members-only meetings to charity outings. How- ever, the pandemic canceled many of the scheduled events or changed the event format. Therefore, VAA used various media forms (i.e., social, website, magazines, newsletters, and email) to stay in touch and inform our membership and the public at large. Along with media, VAA expanded the use of virtual meeting and webinar platforms. For 2021, VAA is launching the Innovation Connection webcast—a virtual version of VPRIS, to allow members to communicate and demonstrate their innovations to a large, online audience of VAA, VDOT, locality, and other customers. The final technical conference planned for 2020 was the Mid-Atlantic Asphalt Expo and Conference (MAAE). In 2019, MAAE had more than 600 registered attendees, and the VAA planning team expected to eclipse that mark in 2020. However, the large technical conference and expo was canceled and moved to a smaller virtual event. With over 150 attendees participating in a Zoom webinar, MAAE Lite included a session on changes to the 2021 VDOT program, 2019 paving awards luncheon, and a VDOT Town Hall. With the hope for an effective vaccine, VAA is planning for a hybrid MAAE 2021 where people can attend in person or virtually. Presentation of the Golden Lute Paving Award to Superior Paving Corp. for Their 2019 Scotts Run Project 400 100,000 Connected face to face. Reached through virtual meetings and media.