The 2018 meeting in Lake George, New York was a great event filled with fun, entertainment and education.  Overall there were 164 attendees at this meeting; 108 Full registrants; Nine 1-day registrants; two technical program only registrants; 10 student registrants; 17 vendors, and 18 guests who participated in the many activities.  Below is a recap of the events, including photos, as well as a compilation of the technical presentations given at the meeting:

Golf Event:  22 golfers attending the golf scramble at the Top of The World Golf Course on the 21st.  These golfers were split into 6 teams, and after a hard fought battle, the team of Paul Jebbett, David Verdoni and Bill McElroy came out on top with a score of 61 (-11).

Mini-Golf Event:  27 attendees played mini-golf at the Around the World Course just down the road from the conference center.  Many of the attendees played both the “Around the World” and the “Around the USA” courses, and the scores were recorded.  Overall, Steve Gayle had the lowest two-course score and won the first place trophy for low score on the “Around the World” course.  Lynn Lamunyon took 1st place on the “Around the USA” Course.

Welcome Reception: A perfect weather night for an outdoor event resulted in an amazing welcome reception within the courtyard of Fort William Henry.  The more than 120 attendees were able to walk the historic grounds and museum, and guided history and ghost tours were also provided.  After the reception, many attendees stopped by the Tankard Taverne for a night cap before retiring for the evening.

Trivia Night:  The first ever Northeastern District Trivia night was a huge success.  Two rounds of “Lake Name or Fake Name”, provided by ITE International were played as a warm up to the traffic trivia.  The winner of those rounds was Jim Pond, who received an Amazon Fire TV Media Player and entry into a drawing to possibly receive a free registration into the upcoming International Meeting in Minneapolis.  Four separate rounds of traffic trivia went up and down for many of the 12 participating team (with 5-7  members each), but in the end the team with the best record was the Met Mafia, who won two of the four rounds and placed in the top three in all rounds.  $20 Amazon gift cards for each of the team members was awarded for their performance.

Award Banquet: The award banquet provided the perfect mix of food and entertainment to cap off the days activities.  Before the main awards, gifts were handed out for early registration; Winners included Gary Hebert, Christina Doughney, Frank Wefering and Rachel Dooley.  Also awarded were gifts for completing the Vendor Passport; these winners included Doug Halpert, Einah Pelaez, Gordon Stansbury and Rebecca Brown.  There were also several door prizes awards to some lucky individuals before the major awards were presented.

Achievement Awards presented at the meeting included:

Michael Wieszchowski – Annual Meeting Award

Joe Balskus – Chairman’s Award

Adam Allen – Rising Star Award

Rebecca Brown (New England Section) – Section Activities Award

Alyssa Ryan (UMass Amherst) – Student Chapter Award

Sayeeda Ayaz – First Place Student Poster ($250)

Alyssa Ryan – Second Place Student Poster ($150)

Nick Campbell – Third Place Student Poster ($50)

The Final award of the night was the Harvey B. Boutwell Award for Distinguished Service, which is the highest honor the District can bestow upon an individual in recognition of their dedicated service.  The winner of the 2018 Harvey B. Boutwell Award was “Kim Fabend”.

Congratulations to all the Award Recipients!!!!

After the festivities, a group of many of the Attendees stopped by the Adirondack Pub & Brewery for a night cap.  the fire pits, good conversation and fine drink ended a perfect day in Lake George.

Technical Program:  In addition to the 8 technical sessions offering a total of 11 PDH’s.  There was a technical workshop before the meeting’s official start that was worth 2.5 PDH’s, and a technical walking tour was offered on Monday afternoon that was worth 2 PDH’s.  This allowed any one individual the opportunity to earn up to 12 PDH’s at the meeting this year.  The technical program also featured non-PDH sessions for an ITE leadership roundtable hosted by International President, Michael Sanderson, and a student poster session that featured seven separate student entries.