FWEA Chapter Corner: Central Florida Chapter: Creating an Inspired Virtual

Welcome to the FWEA Chapter Corner! The Member Relations Committee of the

Florida Water EnvironmentvAssociation hosts this article to celebrate the success of recent association chapter activities and inform members of upcoming events. To have information included for your chapter, send details to Melody Gonzalez at gonzalezm@bv.com. Melody Gonzalez

Central Florida Chapter: Creating an Inspired Virtual Program

The chapter bravely stepped into unchartered waters to bring great value to members despite uncertain times

Megan L. Nelson

While a cloud of uncertainty and challenge drifted through our communities and the world starting in March 2020, a quiet sense of calm started to take hold as we softly began to embrace the unknown. Every day was a new challenge. Amazingly, with the right mix of inspiration, motivation, and determination, the Central Florida Chapter (CFC) leadership team was able to successfully produce a full year of successful events and provide great value to our local members.

I found that the relationships we had built were the real foundations of our success. We discovered new ways to connect as a chapter and within our leadership team. Through virtual meetings, more one-on-one phone calls, and frequent communication we collectively built confidence and discovered new ideas together. We challenged ourselves to keep going, even though we had few models for what virtual events could look like.

I was so honored to be cochair, alongside Jennifer Ribotti, as a part of this rock-star team. We not only continued to create, but we thrived in delivering a high-quality program to our central Florida community.

We presented a valuable discussion with community leaders on what our utility community was experiencing in the pandemic landscape. This event served as a model for future successful virtual events. S Held several creative, well-attended, engaging virtual social events. S Raised awareness of Toys for Tots in our community and contributed over $200 to the program. S Engaged and trained a record number of central Florida members (seven) through FWEA’s Leadership

Development Workshop. S Maintained solid business partnerships and established new partnerships with our community sponsors. S Contributed $4,000 each to the Norm

Casey Scholarship (FWEA) and the

Gabe Delneky Scholarship (University of

Central Florida). S Contributed year-end net revenue to our general fund, effectively offsetting some negative financial effects from two years of Florida Water Resources Conference cancellations. S Confirmed another amazing team of volunteer leaders for our upcoming 2021-22 program year!

Look out year—here we come!

Program Successes

This year we achieved so many amazing things, including: S Led the state in launching the first virtual technical seminar for FWEA.

Megan L. Nelson, E.I., is with Orange County Utilities in Orlando and is the incoming FWEA Central Florida Chapter chair for the 2021-22 program year. S 34 July 2021 • Florida Water Resources Journal

Local Chapter Leadership Awards

The CFC would like to thank these outstanding individuals for their great contributions during the 2020-21 program year. • The Golden Toilet Award

Jennifer Ribotti and Megan Nelson - For the leaders suited to the fanciest thrones! • The Duct Tape Award

Tucker Hunter - Things go wrong from time to time. Lucky for us, Tucker always has a fix for what’s gone wrong. Creative solutions, rapid action, and remedying any situation are his claims to fame. • Mission Impossible Award

Meera Joshi - For making the impossible possible.

Mission accomplished! • On-The-Spot Award

Ashley Backert - For showing up in a big way! When we needed help, she was there, always smiling and full of ideas! • The “You Rock!” Award

Marina Toro, Kirsten Burns, Mike Demko - For exemplary support and teamwork, and for totally rocking their contributions! • Eternal Service Award

Kristi Fries - For her long-standing dedication to

CFC. Through the years, she’s shown up and served, creating a foundation for us to rely on! • Laugh Master Award

Alex Solanilla - For keeping the uproarious laughter rolling for all! • Biggest Heart Award

Sydney Collins - For inspiring us to contribute more and for dedicating her time. • Cheers Award

Nicole McConnell - To the one most likely to bring the whole office to our next event! Thank you for sharing your passion for CFC with everyone you know!