President Spotlights
Outgoing Letter from 2023 President, Mark Treon, AIA
Greetings and salutations to one and all!
Onward and upward…...that’s the first thing that comes to mind as I start putting some of my thoughts “to paper”, to try to summarize the past year as best I can. I started this year as the 2023 President of the AIA Hampton Roads chapter filled with high hopes looking ahead into the new year, truly a year filled with great potential. I have to say I was not disappointed in the least, and for many reasons…...
With all the challenges of the previous years the one thing I went into the year wanting to achieve was more engagement by the membership, architects, and associates and hopefully the communities as well….to have more of a sense of unity like we’ve had in previous days, a unity I believe we all need in these most challenging of days.
Through this past year the membership has shown me that we as architects have the desire to make this world a better place and to better serve and aid our communities and the environment. We have engaged in social gatherings to help introduce future architects to the professional environment as well as several much needed and well received programs on ‘Coastal Resiliency’ which should continue well into 2024 - stay tuned for this and even more exciting things to come!
Another driving force that helped us to succeed was the backing of a multitude of sponsors. These sponsors have allowed us to achieve more of a comradery of past years, a chance to gather as one and help promote our profession that we live for and love so dearly. Without them we would not have been able to have most of the events which allow us these get-togethers, to make new friends, to connect with current ones and in some cases to re-connect with those we may have lost touch with in the past or from other firms. Our sponsors have not only helped us out financially, but they have also shown us that they are with us as well in a professional spirit and driven to help with the goals and mission of our chapter…..to serve the chapter as best as we all can.
As to some of the events from over the past year, we had events that have been continuing favorites like our HardHat Tours (with doubled attendance numbers) and our Design + Honor Awards (sold out for the first time in many years) as well as new events like the Pop-Up Park in Norfolk engaging new people through the volunteer build teams. Student involvement was up significantly as well as an increase in the number of past chapter presidents re-engaging with the chapter/board.
Thank you very much for allowing me to help serve the chapter as the 2023 AIA Hampton-Roads president. I’d like to thank my Board for all their continued hard work, dedication, and perseverance without which we would not have had such a successful and engaging year – thank you all!
This year was filled with potential, and I believe we’ve set the bar very high for next year. I’ll continue to look forward with high hopes as we progress into the new year. I for one can’t wait to be a part of what we have in store for the next year and beyond! Excelsior!
Mark L Treon, AIA
