Editor’s Voice – March 2022

By Anthony Dunams, PE, CVS – Editor, Value World

I hope you all are looking forward to the SAVE International 2022 Value Summit in June and to enjoying a return to interactions with our colleagues on a social and educational level.  I feel like the joy will be overwhelming to be in the presence of our colleagues after such a long hiatus. 

Regarding joy, I like to tell people about how I got into Value Engineering.  I was working for Booz Allen Hamilton in McLean, VA and saw a meeting announcement for the National Capital Chapter, a meeting held at a French Restaurant in Maryland near Washington, DC.  I spent the day working at my office, my work revolved around built infrastructure asset management for federal agencies like the National Park Service, NASA and others.  I drove out to the restaurant, Normandie Farms, for what I hope will be an interesting meeting.  I tell the host at the restaurant I’m here for a meeting and she directs me to one of a few meeting rooms, I sit down and slowly see all my brain cells start to die off.  Yes, not an interesting meeting and yes, not the SAVE meeting that I was supposed to be in, so I leave and head to the next room and meet Michael, Debbie, Benson, Jay, Mary Ann and others.  The conversation was riveting, the presentation so interesting and I am immediately sold on VE.  Yes because of the content, but more because of the people…the people have always been what has sold me on VE today and many years ago – and the people still keep me riveted and interested in VE. 

So from one person riveted by VE to all of my peers and colleagues around the globe, come to Arizona in June because the people, the good times and the quality of what we do and who we are will be on full display!

Enjoy this issue and stay safe and diligent.