January 25, 2012

My first Leadership Overland Park class is on Thursday of this week. I'm excited and ready to get started. The LOP program runs from January to June and serves the purpose of educating Overland Park residents and business people about our community. The program will provide insight into what is involved in operating and maintaining our community at the city, state and county level. On the agenda are sessions about education, regionalism, quality of life, economic development, and health & social issues.
Some of my goals for the program (and this blog) are below:

• •  As an engineer by trade I am a member of several professional organizations that provide the opportunity to network with fellow engineers in my industry. It's not often I'm able to interact in a business setting with people from other industries. And let's be honest, the engineering profession is often stereotyped as being a little dry and a little dull. I'll have my hands full trying to change that label but I am really looking forward to the opportunity to network and get to know people from all walks of life, with a common interest in making Overland Park great. My company's name, Affinis, means 'building relationships' and I look to this opportunity to meet fresh personalities and fresh thoughts.
• •  Civil Engineering is largely about infrastructure: streets, bridges, storm sewers and other facilities that help provide us a seamless day-to-day experience. We hardly even notice them until they are broken. Many things about our community are the same way; we don't notice how much it takes to keep everything on the rails until something goes wrong. I'm hoping each session will reveal something the "average joe" wouldn't already know about the inner workings of the departments and services that support us in Overland Park.

You can find out more about the Leadership Overland Park program by checking out the Chamber's website (http://www.opks.org/general.asp?id=147) and check back here over the coming five months for updates on what I've discovered. Feel free to post your own comments as we explore the inner workings of the City of Overland Park together.

Disclaimer: This blog is not sponsored by The Leadership Overland Park Program or the Overland Park Chamber of Commerce and the author is solely responsible for its content.

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