High Fives in Kansas City
For a few days every other year, BranchPattern “Spires” gather in Kansas City for a chance to bond, learn, and grow. This bi-annual National Meeting is packed with workshops, strategy sessions, volunteering, technical discussions, and lots of high fives.
Our Kansas City office becomes what Pete Jefferson deemed “a mini GreenBuild”, with our diverse group of professionals debating embodied carbon before breakfast, discussing STC ratings over lunch, celebrating a colleague's success over a nightcap.
After attending a few National Meetings, we've noticed something. While we can still remember the themes from each year, what tends to be remebered are the smaller moments.
The spontaneous celebrations. The conversations that continue long after a session ends. The ideas scribbled in notebooks. The moments when someone says something that shifts how you think about your work. This year, we started calling them our high five moments. Partly because there were a surprising number of actual high fives. Mostly because they were worth marking.
High Fives at Arrival
Before the first presentation begins, before the first coffee line forms at the food truck, there is the reunion. BranchPattern has grown significantly over the years: More than 100 individuals across seven offices (and counting), spanning four time zones. On a typical day, a lot of our interactions happen through screens and scheduled meetings so the first hours of National Meeting looks less like a corporate gathering and more like a summer camp reunion of old and new friends.
As Chinonye Uche put it:
"The BranchPattern team has offices in many different corners of the country, so hugs are bountiful on the occasions that we all get to see each other in person."
High Fives for Passing the PE Exam
The celebrations didn’t stop at arrivals as Rick Maniktala announced Sean Butler’s passing of the Professional Engineer exam, accompanied by a high five of course. Those in the room who had gone through the exam cheered knowing how much work that achievement requires. We know recognizing the individual accomplishments pushes all of us to achieve more
As Sean reflected:
"It was surreal to find out that I passed my PE exam at National Meeting. Being able to share the news with everyone that encouraged and supported me throughout the process and then being able to celebrate with them was a moment that I will never forget."
A few days later, we were able to celebrate Rachel Fern passing her Professional Engineer exam and celebrated via virtual high fives.
A High Five for Feedback
Every project team knows the cycle: Finish the work. Celebrate briefly. Move immediately to the next deadline, with little to no reflection on the recently completed project.
Throughout the week, several speakers emphasized the value of consistant project reflection. Listening to those conversations, we found ourselves thinking about ECHO.
ECHO, BranchPattern's project closeout process, represents the Validation and Evolution components of our DIVE framework. More importantly, it is the product of collaboration across the firm. Engineers, project managers, marketers, technology teams, finance professionals, and leadership all contributed to creating a more consistent way to capture lessons learned.
One of BranchPattern's strengths is that good ideas rarely stay confined to one department. When something needs improvement, the conversation quickly becomes less about ownership and more about participation.
A High Five for Keeping Us Grounded
One of the most thought provoking conversations of the week came during a fireside chat with Pete Jefferson and guest speaker Ali Kenney, Co-Founder of Design for Impact.
A comment from the discussion lingered well beyond the session itself:
"Sustainability can only go as far as the business strategy beneath it."
For a firm pursuing a 10X vision, it was a useful reminder. Sustainability professionals are naturally drawn to ambitious goals. We like possibilities, innovation and what could be. But lasting impact requires more than aspiration. It requires understanding business realities, client priorities, and the systems that make meaningful change possible in the first place. That conversation provided a fitting transition into one of the week's most memorable sessions.
High Fives Between People, Planet, and Profit
Some sessions begin with a slide deck. This one began with dancing.
Marcel Harmon, Kristy Walson, and Carlos Kelly entered the room, each representing either People, Planet, or Profit. Utilizing music, movement, and enough enthusiasm to immediately lower everyone's defenses, they stated their cases for why they were the most important of the three.
What followed was a discussion of the Triple Bottom Line that was far more nuanced than the name might suggest. Teams worked through real world scenarios that required balancing competing priorities. Every decision involved tradeoffs between environmental outcomes, human impacts, and financial realities.
The most valuable part was that nobody was searching for the "correct" answer. Instead, colleagues shared perspectives, challenged assumptions, and explained why they approached the same problem differently.
The session reflected something many of us experience daily as consultants: The work is rarely about choosing between right and wrong but about navigating competing priorities thoughtfully and transparently.
The dancing just happened to make the lesson more memorable.
Legacy High Fives
At BranchPattern, cultural influence deserves celebrating as much as professional achievement.
This year, Grace Pechous received the Debbie Swanson Award, one of the most meaningful recognitions at BranchPattern. Named in honor of retired employee Debbie Swanson, the award celebrates individuals whose impact extends beyond their job description. It recognizes the people who strengthen culture, support colleagues, and quietly make an organization better.
Anyone familiar with Debbie's legacy understands the significance of the recognition. What made the moment especially meaningful was Debbie presenting the award herself.
It felt less like an award presentation and more like a passing of the torch.
The celebration continued as Marcel Harmon and Carlos Kelly were recognized for their contributions as well. Before long, the dance floor filled with colleagues celebrating the legacy of people whose generosity, leadership, and character shape the firm every day.
The High Fives Between the Sessions
Years from now, we probably won't remember every slide deck from National Meeting 2026. We won't remember every agenda item either.
What we will remember are the moments in between. The hallway conversations. The brainstorming sessions that started with one question and ended with six new ideas. The reunions.
The high fives.
The reminders that behind every project, deliverable, and deadline is a community of people who genuinely enjoy working together.
Now we're back in offices and home workspaces spread across the country. But the momentum remains, so do the relationships and so does the shared sense of purpose. National Meeting is ultimately a reminder that while BranchPattern may span the country, we're still moving in the same direction Improving Life Through Better Built Environments.
And every now and then, stopping to celebrate and high-five the people helping make that happen.
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