For the second year in a row, employees will be invited to a TTI Celebratory Dinner and Reception scheduled the night before TTI Day. The April 30 after-hours dinner will be held at the Zone Club at Kyle Field.
“The dinner speaker will be someone who will have an ‘outside the Institute’ perspective of TTI,” Mary Cearley, who is organizing the dinner and reception, says. “Last year, when former State Representative and Port of Corpus Christi Commissioner Judy Hawley spoke at the first celebratory dinner, I think it went over real well. It gave us a good idea how we are thought of by others thanks to an impartial examination of our accomplishments.” Cearley says the dinner speaker is being determined now and will be announced via MyTTI’s My News/Announcements feature.
As for TTI Day itself on May 1, several changes will take place. Instead of an early start, TTI Day will begin at 10:00 a.m. (sign-in and breakfast will begin at 9:00 a.m.) and will let out at 2:00 p.m. The donuts and pastries will be replaced with a more substantial meal of breakfast burritos and fruit, along with a variety of beverages. Lunch will be a full, all-you-can-eat Texas barbeque.
A&M System Chancellor John Sharp will be the keynote speaker.
“This year, some of the presentations will be different,” TTI Day Co-Chair Linda Edge says. “The Communications Group is putting together several videos that will highlight some of the research projects underway at TTI . . . projects that many of us did not know about but will find interesting.”
As in years past, a charitable event will be incorporated with TTI Day activities. “This year, TTI offices will be asked to contribute non-perishable food items to a local food bank or pantry in their communities,” Co-Chair Curtis Beaty said. “Agency Director Dennis Christiansen will also present his ‘State of TTI’ address during the program. Of course, the highlight of TTI Day will be the employee awards.”
In addition to the scheduling of the event by Edge and Beaty, Dean Alberson and Melissa Walden (who will be next year’s co-chairs) have been active in pre-TTI Day meetings. Cearley and Karen Smith, of TTI’s Event Management and Planning group, are managing the registration, logistics, catering and other activities associated with TTI Day. A request for volunteers to assist with set-up, on-site registration, and tear-down will go out in April.
Employees are being asked to register for both the celebratory dinner and TTI Day.