President’s Report

To:                   ASLA Florida Members

From:              Adam McCollister, President

Date:               April 8, 2020

ASLA Florida,

Happy World Landscape Architecture month!  I hope this finds you well and you’ve been able to take this opportunity to spend more time outdoors – while staying at least six feet away from your nearest neighbor of course!  It’s been pretty interesting to observe our communities looking more and more like the conceptual renderings we portray as landscape architects.  Walking around the neighborhood you’re likely to see a family biking, a person walking their dog, another one sitting lakeside, and a couple rocking on their porch as they wave to the jogger passing by.  That simple wave has a bit more meaning today though – a simple gesture to acknowledge “we’re all in this together.” 

Anyone that knows me knows that my glass is always half full.  Of course I stress out as good as anyone, but I tend to find the silver lining in almost every situation.  Ever the optimist, I find myself doing the same now and hope you too can find joy and comfort during these unprecedented and uncertain times.

Just like every other organization across the globe, ASLA Florida’s operations look quite a bit different during these times, but we’ve re-calibrated and still have a lot of exciting things going on.  ASLA National and the Landscape Architecture Foundation have hosted a variety of webinars lately and it inspired our Florida Chapter to do the same.  So, on Friday, April 10th at 12:00 pm EST, we will be hosting a Virtual Town Hall.  Our team of speakers will be presenting on:

• COVID-19 and Impacts to Operations
• State and Federal Legislative Update
• World Landscape Architecture Month
• K-12 Virtual Learning Opportunities
• Design Awards Program and Awards Gala
• Miami 2020 Conference on Landscape Architecture
• Business Practice Resources
• Chapter Elections (call for nominations out now)

The event is being held in an effort to keep our members informed and we’ll conclude with an open Q+A session for participants to ask questions about the topics above, as well as the state of the Society or industry as a whole.  Please keep an eye out for the invitation email.  If you haven’t received one yet, please reach out to me directly and I’ll get you connected.  I hope to “see” you there!

All the best,

Adam McCollister, PLA, ASLA
2019-2020 Florida Chapter President
president@aslaflorida.org
m: 334.790.4136