SAWE Los Angeles Chapter Meeting Minutes
Meeting Time: Saturday August 19, 2023 at 10:00 AM
Meeting Location: Virtual (Zoom) meeting
Meeting Agenda: SAWE International Conference Planning
Attendance: (6)
Lawrence Cruz (LA Chapter President & Webmaster)
Dan Rowley (SAWE Vice President-Training, LA Chapter Vice President & SAWE Fellow)
John Nakai (SAWE Honorary Fellow)
Richard Manning
DJ Feldman (dj.feldman@verizon.net) called in at 10:20 AM
Michael Notarangelo (LA Chapter Secretary & SAWE Fellow) called in at 10:55 AM
SAWE LA Chapter International Conference Planning Virtual Meeting:
Lawrence called the virtual (Zoom) meeting to order at 10:00 AM
- First order of business was to bring the potential locations (LAX, Long Beach, OC/Costa Mesa, Santa Clarita and Ventura) from 5 candidates to 3 (LAX, OC/Costa Mesa and Santa Clarita)..
We suggested taking Ventura off the list. This was supported by L. Cruz, J. Nakai, and
D. Rowley. L. Cruz had spoken to M. Notarangelo earlier and he recommended removing Ventura.
D. Rowley had spoken to Kevin Tharp on Thursday. He said we could get a lot of help from the Mojave Chapter if the conference were closer to Palmdale. Santa Clarita remains on the list.
Long Beach was removed due to the last conference already having taken place in Long Beach.
- D. Rowley to inquire of SAWE International (Bill Boze and Robert Hundl) if we heed to hold a Regional in Fall of 2025 as a dry run. No Regional Conference was held for Coco Beach or Savannah during the pandemic. Typically at a Regional, the final meeting would be a planning meeting that involved SAWE International. There, officers could offer up suggestions and review the facilities. Other activities at a Regional would include 1-2 training classes, a light technical session, and industry forum. Los Angeles Chapter key members have a lot of conference experience.
- DJ Feldman called in. He suggested a downtown hotel (The Biltmore). He thinks that he can get a reduced price since the conference is a midweek event. LAX is amongst the least expensive choices in the area. The OC near the airport may be less than LAX near the airport. DJ would like to take 2-3 weeks to look at these locations. Afterward, we will take a team to look at these places. The goal is to visit 4-5 locations in 1 day.
- Lawrence opened the floor to suggestions and John Nakai suggested the Sutton Place Hotel which is now rebranded as the Renaissance Newport Beach Hotel.
- We will reconvene a Zoom meeting after D. Rowley gets communication back from DJ Feldman with information to share.
- Next SAWE in-person meeting (all members) is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 30, 2023.
The extended Zoom meeting (with Lawrence, Dan & Mike remaining online) adjourned at 11:20 AM