2004 Striving for Excellence Award Winners

The SMPS Striving for Excellence Program recognizes excellence in chapter service to members. The following chapters won Striving for Excellence awards for the 2003-04 programming year:

Grand-Prize Winner: San Diego Chapter
President: Lesley Simmons, Marketing Director, Grubb & Ellis BRE Commercial, La Jolla, CA

Service Accomplishments:
· Conducted a SF330 educational workshop for 300+ City of San Diego employees.
· Organized a December lunch program around the San Diego Regional Development Corporation, presenting a networking strategy of "Keeping Business in San Diego" and exposing chapter members to 15 peer organizations.
· Increased membership by 51%.
· Created depth in leadership (there is enough interest to fill the position of Chapter President for the next five terms).
· Added certification search functions (eg., SBE, MBE, WBE, DVBE, DBE) to the chapter's online directory to ease the process of finding certified sub-consultants for specific proposals.

First-Prize Winner, Large Chapter: Houston Chapter
President: Geneva C. Buschbom, CPSM, President, Scharf Consultants, Houston, TX

Service Accomplishments:
· Offered Client Connection Programs focused on allowing the principals and business developers to meet and network with potential clients face to face.
· Conducted a sponsorship program that generated more than $37,000 in one fiscal year.

First-Prize Winner, Medium Chapter: Oregon Chapter
President: Frank Lippert, CPSM, Senior Marketer for Water Resources, David Evans & Associates Inc., Portland, OR

Service Accomplishments:
· Used proceeds from speakers' bureaus to fund two $1,500 scholarships to students attending one of the three state universities and studying marketing, architecture, engineering, or construction management.
· Offered a half-day workshop to SMPS members and disadvantaged business enterprise firms for a nominal fee by negotiating with the speakers and the catering company.

Outstanding Certificate Winner: Greater Cincinnati Chapter
President: Laurie A. Buckman, CPSM, Marketing Manager, URS Corporation, Cincinnati, OH

Service Accomplishments:
· Implemented the "Bring Your Boss to SMPS" program so the chapter could show firms the value of SMPS as well as get the members' supervisors involved.
· Offered a daylong course called "Spring Training for Marketing and Management Professionals," featuring a 50-minute session on each of the six Domains of Practice.

Outstanding Certificate Winner: Arizona Chapter
President: Claudia Bullmore, Director of Business Development, Gould Evans Associates, Phoenix, AZ

Service Accomplishments:
· Organized the chapter's first-ever community project which consisted of developing, organizing, and managing a design competition for light rail information kiosks to be placed at key points along a 17-mile route.
· Hosted an informal event two weeks after national conference to share ideas and highlights from the keynote and breakout sessions.

Outstanding Certificate Winner: Colorado Chapter
President: Lisa Jelliffe, CPSM, Associate/Marketing Director, Slater Paull Architects Inc., Denver, CO

Service Accomplishments:
· Increased and diversified chapter programming (35 events in this year) with specific attention devoted to addressing marketing in a challenging economy.

These award-winning chapters were recognized during the SMPS Awards Gala on August 13 in New York City.

The 2004 Striving for Excellence Awards were chaired by Carolyn Ferguson, CPSM, Vice President, The Lentz Group, Houston, TX. Also serving on the task force were Melissa Lutz, CPSM, Principal/Marketing Director, Champlin/Haupt Architects Inc, Cincinnati, OH; Scott Mickle, Marketing Manager, FN Thompson Co., Charlotte, NC; Kasey Rothenfluch, CPSM, Marketing Manager, PAE Consulting Engineers Inc., Portland, OR; and David Werking, CPSM, FA Wilhelm Construction Co. Inc., Indianapolis, IN.