The first issue of the Metropolitan Section newsletter was published in October 1953, in which John P. Riley called the new publication in his President's Message "a milestone in the continuing progress of the Section." Up until a few years ago, monthly mailings of the Met Section newsletter continued to serve as the primary means in which ASCE members where informed about upcoming events in the New York City metropolitan area and other Section news and activities.
The Met Section began providing electronic communications to members with the launch of its website in October 2001 and the creation of a listserv in April 2006. With the internet becoming a more mainstream form of communication, Met Section President Larry Chiarelli created the Technology Committee in November 2006, merging the Newsletter and Website Committees with the goal of designing a new website that could provide timely news and event information to members and provide a framework so that other types of enhancements could be added in the future.
The Technology Committee launched the new website in February 2008, providing dynamic news sections and integrated event calendars in a user-friendly format. Each technical group and branch now has the ability to post new information and edit existing content, reducing the amount of time it takes for information to be updated. The design of the newsletter was also changed, drawing content from the upcoming event calendar and recent news articles on the website into an electronic PDF document. Monthly mailings of the newsletter in hard copy format were discontinued in September 2008, saving the Section from having to allocate a significant amount of its annual budget in printing and mailing costs. This has allowed the Met Section to provide additional funding for Section activities and make further improvements to the website.
Since the website was initially launched, a number of enhancements have been made including the addition of a photo gallery, kid's section, business news section, online balloting, online membership surveys, and advertising. The Technology Committee is currently working on adding an online reservation and payment system to the website that will help to shorten registration lines at events and allow you to pay for seminars using a credit card. If you have any suggestions for additional improvements that can be made to the Section's electronic communications, please contact Technology Committee Chair Tony Cioffi at
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March 2010