March 27, 2017
Collaboration, innovation and how to get the job done right dominated the conversation for the nearly one thousand attendees of DBIA’s 2017 Design-Build in Transportation Conference’s first day.
Starting with owners-only sessions and forums, followed by a jam-packed session for practitioners, the day started by addressing the real world challenges and successes design-builders experience in states throughout the nation. When to use numeric versus adjectival ratings for projects? Which states use presentations and/or one-one meetings? Can owners achieve a quality solution even if the price/quality ratio doesn’t meet best practices?
For practitioners and owners alike the DBIA Design-Build in Transportation Conference offers a truly unique opportunity for design-builders to learn from experts in the field, network with industry pros and earn certification hours at the same time. In addition to today’s popular opening day sessions, keynote speaker and generational expert, Scott Zimmer from Bridgeworks, helped transportation design-builders navigate the generational divide by helping us “speak millennial” to capture the contributions available to successful inter-generation teams.
“No other generation in this room had social media growing up. These millennials collected ‘likes’ throughout their formative years. That positive affirmation has always meant something. Don’t fight it, recognize it. Take the time to recognize their work and give them access. We should provide opportunities for millennials to share their voice because we can learn from each 
other.”…Scott Zimmer, Generational expert, Bridgeworks.
Day 2 of the Design-build in Transportation conference kicks off tomorrow with a full slate of activities including:
• Owners offer a look at Opportunities for Design-Build Nationwide – Roads & Highways
• When the Unexpected Happens- How an Excellent Design-Build Team Can Make it Right
• Transit P3s – Issues and Lessons Learned
• The Impact of New Technology on our Transportation Systems
Even if you missed this year’s Design-Build in Transportation Conference, you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter to get updates on conference topics and issues debated by this year’s attendees.