Florida and Puerto Rico Sections Successfully 'Think Young'

摘要

SOME AWWA SECTIONS ARE BEGINNING TO SEE SUBSTANTIAL RESULTS FROM THE FIVE-YEAR-OLD INITIATIVE TO FOSTER YOUNG PROFESSIONALS (YPS) IN THE WATER INDUSTRY AND INCREASE THEIR MEMBERSHIP IN AWWA. THE EXPERIENCES OF THE FLORIDA AND PUERTO RICO SECTIONS IN RECRUITING YOUNGER MEMBERS COULD PROVE USEFUL TO OTHER SECTIONS TRYING TO ATTRACT YPS. What do Sears, the US Army, and AWWA have in common? They all have made efforts to "think young" and can now point to the positive results of having done so. Sears is a rejuvenated retailer, the US Army is recruiting with a new Internet video game, and AWWA is seeing tangible results from its five-year-old initiative to recruit YPs into the association. The catalyst for change at AWWA has come from both the efforts of AWWA leaders, such as Bevin A. Beaudet, AWWA's 1997-98 president, who spearheaded the Young Professionals Ad Hoc Committee, and from numerous AWWA sections that wanted to make better use of all the resources available to them.