Lindamood looks back on being president of arema
Lindamood at the outdoor exhibits at Railway Interchange 2015.
Departing AREMA President Brian Lindamood shares his thoughts on where the association is going and what he and the staff accomplished this past year.
by Jennifer Nunez, assistant editor
B
rian Lindamood, president of AREMA for the 2014-2015 term, set out goals to improve r e l at i o n s h i p s w i t h o t h e r i n d u s tr y associations and to streamline proccesses with the use of newer technolgoies and utilize the digital world. Within the following pages, Lindamood reflects upon his past year as president and shares his outlook for the future of the association. RT&S: How did your day job prepare you for your role as AREMA president? Lindamood: The heart and soul of AREMA are the technical committees that generate nearly all of our material. These committees are organized by subject area and managed by the functional groups at the board of director’s level. As people move up through the committee ranks and into AREMA leadership positions, whether it’s structural, track, signal, maintenance, etc., their experience and expertise is gener32 Railway Track & Structures
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ally related directly to the subject area for which they are involved. I have been very fortunate that my career has included time in nearly all of AREMA’s six functional groups. I am not really an expert in any of them, but I do have an understanding of the environment and the issues each of the functional groups face in their jobs and with the technical material they produce. I believe that this has helped in not only addressing issues as they arise, but also provided the opportunity to relate and assess those issues generally across the organization rather than focus on the discrete circumstance. RT&S: What are your thoughts on the past year as president of AREMA? Lindamood: I think the organization has had a very good year. Joseph Smak, Randy Bowman and Larry Etherton have done a fantastic job in transitioning the organization through the changes in our administrative leadership. Our new executive director, Beth Caruso,
took her position at about the same time I started my term. Both Beth and I have been involved in AREMA for a long time and we both had some ideas regarding strengthening and improving the organization. The constructive environment established prior to Beth and I taking our positions allowed us to capitalize on the talents and enthusiasm of both headquarters staff and the membership as a whole to make some positive strides for the organization. RT&S: Have you reached all the goals you set? Was there anything you wanted to do that you did not get around to or could not do? Lindamood: I would say a qualified “yes.” I believe that all of the goals that I set that could reasonably be accomplished within a year have been completed. There are others that have been set in motion that will not be completed until after my departure. It is impossible for me to predict if they will be successful or not, but David Becker (incoming www.rtands.com