Shortly after joining Webcor two years ago, Karen Turcios had the opportunity to attend NEWB Bootcamp, a 1-week experience in which she was able to work with project engineers throughout the company.

“I had so much fun meeting new people! But when you go back to your project site, it can become very hard to get out there and meet others in your same, or similar, role.”

With this in mind, Karen began brainstorming ideas to create a more connected Project Engineer community.

“I thought it would be great to have an annual mixer, where those just beginning their careers in construction could meet and grow their network!”

She shared the idea with Rachel Johnson, Luis Uriostegui, and Stefanie Cooke, who were immediately onboard to help plan the event. Together, the four of them spent six months carefully planning the details of Webcor’s First Annual Project Engineer Mixer. With the support of Tom Taylor, Margaret Austin, McKenzie Cox and Matt Reece, the venue was booked, and the dream of this event turned into reality.

Evening Cruise in San Francisco

On September 27th, the months of planning finally paid off. Webcor’s first annual PE Mixer was held on a swanky Hornblower cruise ship, where attendees had the entire three levels of the boat to themselves. Over 150 Assistant Project Engineers, Project Engineers, Assistant Superintendents and Assistant Project Managers attended the event, hailing from project sites in Merced, Northern California and Southern California.

The theme of the night? Hollywood on the Bay.

“As engineers in our trade, we often spend most of our time in dirty construction clothes and hard hats, so it was a nice change to see everyone dressed up,” notes Project Engineer Andrew Bautista.

Building Community

In an effort to bring attendees out of their shell, the evening was set up so that there were icebreakers, Webcor trivia, and a lot of socializing.

“Being on a boat led us to connect with all of those arounds us – the fact that everyone on the boat and couldn’t leave created a space to encourage connection,” explains Senior Project Engineer Walker Hansen. “I loved how everyone got more and more connected and communicative as the night went along.”

“My favorite part of the event was dancing on the boat,” recalls Project Engineer Kaushik Suresh Kumar. “My friends were all super jealous when I told them about the mixer – I think it was a really unique event that makes Webcor stand out. We should definitely do it every year!”

Future Project Engineer Events

On the heels of a successful PE Mixer, the planning committee is already looking forward to organizing future events.

“We can’t wait to get the opportunity to lead a different group of people through the process of planning it next year,” explains Karen. “We want the impact to be lasting, so there were a series of new community initiatives that were developed and will be communicated in the coming weeks. If anybody is interested in getting involved, we would love to have more support from others to ensure we push it through.”

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