PR-12-15-2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 15, 2014

Austin - The Institute for Leadership in Capital Projects (I-LinCP) announces its keynote speaker lineup for their seventh Annual LinCP Forum, "OMG: Houston Growth - 2015 Resource Battleground for Texas!"

WHAT:             OMG: Houston Growth - 2015 Resource Battleground for Texas!

"Battleground Texas" features stellar speakers and participants with facilitated, multi-party discussions to understand issues affecting the capital improvements industry. The Forum will hold several solution discussions, as well as sharing case studies, tools, techniques, and best practices while providing face-to-face interaction with all project stakeholders.

3 key topics will be addressed:

Topic 1:  Drivers of Change

What are the conditions that create change? Why now – what happened to give us this booming economy just 3 years from the decline? Where are we headed in another 3 years? How have and will politics and legislation affect us?

Topic 2:   Qualities of Living

Expectations and needs that come with increased growth and increased density. People need more green space as they go more vertical and they need public transportation when there’s gridlock. Addressing multiple needs, expectations, and pressures.

Topic 3:  Tall Demand - Short Supply

Responding to a resource challenged environment with competition for labor, materials, education, water, energy... The painter quit for a better offer, what now?

WHEN:             March 25 - March 27, 2015

            March 25, 2:30 - 7:30 p.m.:           I-LinCP Board & Member Meeting, Meet and Greet

            March 26, 7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.:    Conference and Evening Reception

            March 27, 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.:  Conference

WHERE:          Hilton Americas, Houston - 1600 Lamar Street, Houston, Texas 77010

KEYNOTES and PRESENTATIONS:   

                        Lonnie Hoogeboom, Director of Planning and Design, Central Houston, Downtown District, Redevelopment Authority

Mr. Hoogeboom will be presenting the vision of Houston in his presentation titled, "Urbanscapes: Planning and Building the Downtown Project."  Mr.Hoogeboom is currently managing a broad phase-range of urban projects in downtown Houston. These projects include design administration of the Downtown Living Initiative, Main Street Improvements, Shopping District Streetscape Improvements, Vehicular Wayfinder Signage Refurbishment, Pedestrian Wayfinding System, Infill Street Lighting Improvements, the Warehouse District Realm Plan, North Houston Highway Improvement Project, and Allen Parkway Improvements. Additionally, Mr. Hoogeboom serves as primary Downtown liaison to the City of Houston, Houston First Corporation, and the Harris County Flood Control District.

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                        Roksan Okan-Vick, Executive Director, Houston Parks Board

Ms. Okan-Vick will be presenting on, "Greening: Houston's Bayou Greenway Initiative."  She is the executive director of the Houston Parks Board, a nonprofit organization that creates, improves, and protects parkland for Houston. She leads and directs all aspects of the organization's business and serves as liaison to city government, green space organizations, national park organizations, consultants, foundations, and the board of directors. Previously, the Mayor of Houston appointed her in August of 2002 becoming the first woman director of the Houston Parks and Recreation Department and responsible for 850 employees, 314 parks, and an annual budget of $52 million. Additionally, Friends of Hermann Park employed Ms. Okan-Vick, a nonprofit dedicated to the restoration and enhancement of the park.

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Dr. Stephen Klineberg, Professor, Rice University and Founding Director, Kinder Institute for Urban Research

Dr. Klineberg will be presenting, "34 Years in the Making: Houston Area Survey, 2015."  A graduate of Haverford College, Stephen Klineberg received an M.A. in Psychopathology from the University of Paris and a Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Harvard. After teaching at Princeton, he joined Rice University’s Sociology Department in 1972. The recipient of twelve major teaching awards, including the George R. Brown Lifetime Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Piper Professor Award, he is a faculty associate and divisional advisor at Lovett College, where he twice served as Interim Master. In March 1982, he and his students initiated the annual “Kinder Institute Houston Area Survey,” now in its 33rd year of tracking changes in demographic patterns, economic outlooks, experiences, and beliefs of Harris County residents. A much sought-after speaker, he is completing a series of published reports (and soon, a book) on this ongoing research, while also serving as the founding co-director of Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research.

Through education, research and development, and collaboration, I-LinCP is a catalyst and change agent in the capital projects industry. Coupling ideas that support industry leaders with solution-oriented ideas, I-LinCP seeks to improve the planning, design, delivery, and operations of capital projects.

More information is available on the I-LinCP website:  www.I-linCP.org

Contact:  Carla Bingaman, Executive Director: 512-263-5521, carla.bingaman@i-lincp.org

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