The Hawaii Water Environment Association and the American Water Works Association – Hawaii Section have worked hard together to put on the eighth annual Pacific Water Conference. The conference was held virtually on February 2-4, 2021. The decision to go virtual was a tough one because the PWC is well known for its in-person experience of networking with peers and meeting vendors. We were not sure how having a virtual conference would affect attendance, and we were pleasantly surprised to have a great turnout with 550 registered attendees and 21 exhibitor booths.
We are glad that so many people could join us and attend the conference at their own convenience and according to their own schedule. The three-day conference had over 70 sessions. Those who attended sessions live could participate in the Q&A chat, and the sessions were also made available on-demand. We have received positive comments from attendees about being able to attend all the sessions rather than picking which ones to attend and which ones to miss.
During our Tuesday Opening Session, our keynote speaker, Brennon Morioka, Dean, University of Hawaii, College of Engineering (COE), spoke of the changes they implemented this past year due to COVID-19 related closures and the future plans for the COE. HWEA also welcomed WEF Immediate Past President Jacqueline Jarrell to our virtual conference. We wish Jacqueline could have visited in person this year, but we are grateful that she could participate virtually.
In lieu of our annual in-person community service event, we shifted our efforts to raise funds in support for the international non-profit organization, Water For People. We are happy to announce that our attendees contributed a total of $1,450 in donations!
The conference’s main program concluded with a virtual End of Conference Social/Officer Installation Ceremony that was held live over Zoom. The event included fun games, installation of the HWEA and AWWA officers, and the 5-S induction “ceremony” for the newest inductees, Jason Nikaido and Brandon Uejo. The HWEA officers taking the reins for 2021-2022 are President Jon Baker, Vice President Alicia Nakano, Treasurer Shelle Silva, Secretary Cari Ishida, PWO Rep Herman Ellis III, and National Delegate Kyle Yukumoto. During the conference, HWEA also presented scholarships to Alexander Babcock and Connor Kagamida.
Finally, we would like to thank our conference committee volunteers and our sponsors. Pacific Water Conference planning starts in June of the prior year with monthly meetings to plan out technical sessions and events. This year we had to start fresh and plan a virtual event for the first time. We could not have done it all without our amazing volunteers and event sponsors. Thank you all for making conference a huge success!
Mahalo again to all our attendees, vendors, sponsors, and volunteers! We hope to see you all again next year!