My wife and I are both professional engineers. I grew up in Lubbock but moved away in 2000. We returned just three short years ago and don't know many people yet.

My wife is charged with the task of organizing the South Plains Chapter of Texas Society of Professional Engineers banquet during E-Week (February 17-23, 2019) in Lubbock. Part of the program will consist of a keynote speaker. Several people have shared with her the opinion that spouses of engineers typically don't like to attend an engineering banquet and have to listen to an engineer talk about engineering. I can't deny that is the truth.

Can any of you good Panhandle / South Plains folks offer up some ideas for a keynote speaker? Preferably someone with a west Texas background that can appeal to, inspire, and possibly motivate a bunch of nerdy engineers and their understanding spouses? Being in Lubbock, the typical fare is someone associated with Texas Tech. Surely we can do better than that!

ETA: Forgot to mention that it would be on a voluntary basis...but you'll get a free dinner!

Past president of the TSPE panhandle chapter here. Always a big challenge to find a speaker for the banquet because of the mixed audience.

One of the best speakers we've ever had for this venue was an engineer for the city of Amarillo who talked about some future plans and challenges for the city, counties and region. They also talked about water rights (back when Amarillo was the largest water right holder in the whole state of Texas, even including the state). It was a great presentation because the speaker was really good, the topic was not strictly technical, but still in the same vein as engineering.

We've also had politician (like a state rep and senator), estate planning attorneys to educate people on things like wills and estate taxes, a county sheriff to talk about the firearm open carry laws when they went into effect a few years ago, even one of the officers from another chapter, or state TSPE office.

Edit: Jennifer McEwan, Ph.D. is the TSPE state lobbyist. She's a great speaker and if the state legislature isn't in session, usually can support these type of outreach speaking opportunities. I'm pretty sure the state TSPE office has an outreach budget to support these types of events. That being said, that's a very busy week and she may already be booked.

So here's an oddball suggestion. I have been around J Pat Hickman, CEO of Happy State Bank, a few times. Seems to be an interesting guy. Speaks well, can be funny.

He took a small bank from a small operation to a huge, multi-branch bank. We bank there and really like it

Here's an article From when he gave a talk in Oklahoma

https://www.enidnews.com/news/local_news/texas-bank-ceo-offers-success-tips/article_51f4b6f8-50f5-50d9-bf0a-8431623bb128.html

CanyonAg77 said:

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So here's an oddball suggestion. I have been around J Pat Hickman, CEO of Happy State Bank, a few times. Seems to be an interesting guy. Speaks well, can be funny.

He took a small bank from a small operation to a huge, multi-branch bank. We bank there and really like it

Here's an article From when he gave a talk in Oklahoma

https://www.enidnews.com/news/local_news/texas-bank-ceo-offers-success-tips/article_51f4b6f8-50f5-50d9-bf0a-8431623bb128.html

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And he's good people too.

Dr. Brent Auvermann or Thomas Marek at the Texas Agrilife Research and Extension Center in Amarillo might be worth talking to. Both are Aggies. Brent is an ag engineer; Tom is a PE. I worked with both when I was in grad school. Good luck!

Tom Marek may be the only guy still there that I knew from my time at Bushland in 1982-1984.

EDIT: okay, totally unrelated to the OP, but I had to look and see who was there. Tom's the only scientist still there. Technicians Karen Copeland, Nancy Davis, and Johnny Bible were there when I was.

I am getting old

Might try Dr. Dana Porter (PE Agric Engr, Extension AgriLife Engineer in Lubbock but is from Panhandle, TX). She's involved in the NCEES (National Council of Examineers for Engineering and Surveying) on PE exams.

Good luck! Finding a great PE speaker is a challenge. Danna's job is all about speaking plainly to the public,

This may be a little outside the box but one of the best speakers I have had the privilege of hearing is a gentleman by the name of Dan Hart. If you ever meet him, you will never forget him.

He graduated from Tech with a dual degree in Architecture and Civil Engineering. He is a PE, and about 4 years ago, he became a fellow in the American Institute of Architects which is the highest award given in that organization.

If you are looking for someone to appeal to a larger audience, then you really should consider giving Dan a call. You can send me a PM or let me know what is the best way to contact you and I'll give you his contact information.

Rocky Top Aggie said:

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Dr. Brent Auvermann or Thomas Marek at the Texas Agrilife Research and Extension Center in Amarillo might be worth talking to. Both are Aggies. Brent is an ag engineer; Tom is a PE. I worked with both when I was in grad school. Good luck!

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I second Brent- great speaker who can relate well to people. I was very impressed with his ability to tell a story.

Just wanted to report that J. Pat Hickman delivered our keynote speech tonight. It was great. Very relatable.

Thanks for all the recommendations.

Worked with Brent a LONG time ago. Work with Dan Hart now. Both great guys.

Wow! You work with Dan now? Small world.