Things are heating up in our conference planning committee corner, and we’re excited to share some updates with you.

On behalf of the PNCWA board and the conference planning committee, we want to thank everyone who submitted an abstract for PNCWA 2022. We received over 200 submissions -- setting the stage for a robust technical program!

The PNCWA 2021 Conference undoubtedly made several changes in how we chose to meet. One of the most notable ways the conference evolved was by reallocating the money spent on attendee swag, which often has a high carbon footprint. Instead, we asked attendees to select one of these worthy causes to give the money to:

A Message from Vicky Hollingsworth, PNCWA 2022 Conference Chair

Join us as a key member of the 2022 conference committee to continue shaping the future of our annual conference.

What an absolute treat it was to host Dr. Dan Prinzing and Tai Simpson at our Opening Session. These eloquent speakers spoke to us about the changes we must make to create the future we want to see.

Thank you to everyone who attended and engaged in PNCWA 2021! The annual conference has a way of filling people with hope for the future of our industry and reinvigorating passion for the work we do and the communities we serve. This year was no different. Nearly 400 of you joined us in person in Boise for more than 150 technical presentations. Over 200 of you were involved virtually this year, and for a whopping 167 of you, this was the first time you had attended the conference.

None of this would have been possible without the dedicated support of our sponsors, vendors, and planning teams. Thank you all for making PNCWA 2021 such a success!

Spring has sprung in Boise, Idaho and, with it, growing excitement for PNCWA’s Annual Conference.

The PNCWA Summit Series went out with a bang! Over the course of the six summits, PNCWA has delivered on its mission to provide professional development opportunities to its members, while raising much-needed funds. Most importantly, we have continued to stay connected through these challenging and uncertain times.

We have so many people to thank for the success of the Summit Series. We want to start by thanking our sponsors and you, the members of PNCWA, for your trust and support this year.

The PNCWA Board is working full steam ahead on PNCWA 2021. Because we don’t know what the conference will look like — in-person, virtual, or hybrid — we are sending out a survey to learn what you’d like to see and how we can make an in-person or virtual event work for you. We also want to hear from our vendors and manufacturers: what has been your experience, what is your expectation, and how can we provide continued value to you in these times.

We look forward to launching our 2021 call for abstracts next month, but in the meantime we will let the PNCWA 2021 Conference Chairs introduce themselves.

From the PNCWA 2020 Conference Chairs

If this were a normal year, instead of penning a letter to our membership, we’d be in Spokane kicking off PNCWA 2020. But, this is definitely not a normal year. As soon as last year’s conference ended, we were full speed ahead planning for this year’s event in Spokane. It soon became more and more apparent that the annual conference we all know and love wouldn’t be possible this year. Like all of our other plans for 2020, after much consideration and deliberation, we finally made the tough call to cancel. Eliminating risk to the health, safety, and well-being of our membership stood at the center of that decision.

So, now what? 

While we may not be able to hold our conference this year, PNCWA still cares about our mission to provide education for our members. We are planning a series of five summits over the next five months to bring our members a line up of incredible speakers and virtual education events. The series kicks off at the annual business meeting on September 15th. More details to come!

The PNCWA Summit Series begins on September 30th on the topic of Communication. The speaker lineup includes water educators and communicators who will teach us about building public trust in our communities, creating effective messaging, as well as sharing case studies of engagement. Attend the first-ever PNCWA Summit and learn from amazing communicators in our region and across the country. To find more information about the topics, registration, or sponsorship opportunities visit the summit page. 

Greetings Pacific Northwest Clean Water Professionals!

Now more than ever, it’s clear that our collective work to protect and preserve public health through clean water is essential, and I want to take a moment to thank each of you for your commitment, especially the operators and field crews.

Wow. What a wild year we’ve experienced already and we’re not even to summer yet.  So far 2020 has made us strive for flexibility as we adapt to a new normal at home and work.  For many, those places have merged to become one location.  We’ve seen unprecedented rates of unemployment too, as the impact of social distancing restrictions rippled throughout our communities.  This is truly an unprecedented time.  Never has it been more important to be there for each other.  We all need a support system, and the PNCWA community is one of those support systems. We are stronger when we are together (maintaining an appropriate physical distance, of course). 

As of May 1st, the 2020 PNCWA Annual Conference is still scheduled to take place in Spokane, WA this September. Ultimately, this year’s conference may look a little different from the previous years.  We are weighing options and maintaining flexibility as we take into consideration the evolving information incoming during this dynamic period. Ensuring the safety of our membership is our primary concern.  The most up to date information related to the Annual Conference can be found on the conference website.

It’s that time of year again — the time when we start planning next year’s conference. But Tony, you say, PNCWA 2019 was just a few weeks ago? It can be hard to keep up the excitement after such an incredible time together, networking with so many dedicated water professionals. Post-conference feels like the time of year we tend to put the cruise control on and coast to the end of the year. Here are some things that I learned through the connections I made at conference and also some of my plans for the coming year to stay motivated. I might even help you keep the energy all the way to PNCWA 2020 in Spokane.

This year’s conference for me was amazing. I saw so many new faces and spoke with a number of both first-time attendees and long-time attendees. There were several commonalities amongst our conversations. First, we are a passionate group of people. We love water and the environment, and we're doing all that we can to improve water quality for as many people as we can reach. Our reach extends far beyond the Pacific Northwest, and we are very proud of that. Second, we have the desire to be a part of something. It might be something local and important to specific communities, or it might be something big. I mean really big—like cleaning up Puget Sound big! The third takeaway was how much talent and knowledge we have. We all bring something to the table that is of value. We have brilliant design engineers, accomplished PhDs, inspired city officials, skilled operators, and many others.