Make Plans to Attend TRWA's Summer Conferences

Make Plans to Attend TRWA's Summer Conferences By Lisa Gallo, Meeting and Events Planner, Texas Rural Water Association TRWA's 2020 Office Professionals Conference is Going Virtual

Registration is now open for TRWA's first virtual conference — our 2020 Office Professionals Conference!

As the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve, our board made the decision in mid-April to cancel our in-person event in San Antonio for the safety of our guests and our staff. Instead, we will be bringing the same top-quality educational programming directly to you! The conference will now be held the mornings of June 1-4 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The program will consist of two educational sessions each day, followed by a choice of two 30-minute interactive roundtables, for a total of eight educational sessions and four roundtables by the end of the week. All attendees will also receive a link to a full recording of the conference and written responses to questions once the event is over.

The Office Professionals Conference has been specially tailored to provide training in areas that will directly benefit water and wastewater utility office staff. Topics were requested by prior attendees, so we are confident our sessions will bring you the relevant and timely information you need to get the job done. This years topics include legal hot topics, social media for utilities, TCEQ compliance inspections, handling delinquent customers, and more! We will also include a session on cybersecurity that satisfies the new House Bill 3834 cybersecurity training requirement for districts and cities.

For a full agenda with topic descriptions, please visit www.trwa.org and click on the "Conferences" tab. We hope to see you there! On the Galveston Horizon — Training & Technical Conference

While our board continues to evaluate the COVID-19 situation and the well-being of our guests, TRWA’s Training and Technical Conference is currently on course to be held in Galveston on July 15-16. If this remains a live conference, TRWA will ensure protective measures are in place including social distancing measures in the classroom set-ups, wrapped and pre-packaged food and beverages, requiring masks and offering hand sanitizer stations. We also plan to include virtual learning and engagement opportunities for those individuals who are more comfortable participating remotely this year.

This conference has been specifically tailored to provide training in areas that will ensure water utility operators are up to date on the latest technical issues, while also including sessions that are relevant to directors, managers and other staff. There is something for everyone, so you don’t want to miss these informative and timely sessions!

Pre-conference courses include three operator trainings, Customer Service Inspections & CrossConnection Control, Water Utility Safety, Water Utility Management and Public Funds Investment Act (PFIA) Training. These trainings will be held at the Hilton Hotel beginning Monday, July 13. Operator training courses range from 16 hours to 20 hours each, and Public Funds Investment act initial and renewal courses range from four to six hours. These sessions each require separate registration fees.

The conference begins on Wednesday, July 15, and offers a wide range of courses. Topics include the use of drones in the water industry, variable frequency drives and soft starters and digital solutions for daily operations. There will be an Information Security Awareness Training that satisfies the training requirement mandated by H.B. 3834 for districts and cities, and participants will obtain a certificate of completion documenting their attendance. Water and wastewater operator certification credit has been requested from TCEQ for the conference topics. The full agenda can be viewed on our website at www.trwa.org.

Be sure to visit our exhibit hall at the Galveston Island Convention Center, where vendors for the water and wastewater industry will be available to inform you about their products and services. Join us for continental breakfast served in the exhibit hall on Wednesday and Thursday mornings along with Vendor Showcases.

Wednesday night is the annual Family Fun Fish Fry, hosted by WinStar Insurance Group (formerly AIA Insurance), in support of the Texas Rural Water Political Action Committee (PAC). This event, featuring delicious catfish with all the fixings, a trivia challenge and games for the family, is always a big hit and is a successful fundraiser for the Texas Rural PAC. We hope that this year will be as well! We will be ensuring that this event will be adapted to social distancing guidelines and food safety requirements. We will be taking every precaution at all events to ensure our staff and attendees are safe.

Please pre-register early so that we can have an accurate headcount for all those hush puppies! The fish fry will take place at a beautiful new venue this year — The Lyceum. Thank you to our venue sponsor, CoBank! Shuttles will run to and from the San Luis Hotel to The Lyceum.

Tickets for the fish fry are just $15 per adult and $10 per child under 18. For an additional $10, register a team of up to six people for the Trivia Showdown. We encourage you to use a personal form of payment (personal check, credit card, or cash) so that your registration fee can support the PAC. PAC funds are distributed to legislators who understand our issues and support rural water. A PAC contribution helps open their doors to consider our positions on issues important to our membership.

Sponsorship opportunities are available for the Tech Conference and for the Family Fun Fish Fry. If you are an associate member, contact us at (512) 472-8591. A list of sponsorships can be found on our web site.

We hope you will be able to join us this year! Please visit our website for the latest developments regarding this conference.

ONLINE TRAINING AVAILABLE Earn training credit hours through self-paced courses.

Learn More:

www.trwa.org/59 training@trwa.org (512) 428-5754