The ACE tradition members keep for years

Amid the technical sessions, networking receptions, and energizing exhibit hall at the Annual Conference and Exposition (ACE), there’s another tradition that sparks just as much excitement: the ACE pins.

Every year, the AWWA Creative Team designs a pin that captures the theme or location for ACE, and they are distributed at the event. What started as an event memento has grown — for many AWWA members — into tiny, colorful timelines that mark careers, friendships, and cities visited along the way.

Steve Soltau, an AWWA member for 30 years, describes the pins as “a timeline I can hold in my hand.” With 17 ACE pins — plus section, Water Research Foundation and specialty pins — his collection reflects decades of involvement with AWWA and the broader water community. His favorite? The 2002 New Orleans pin, with its saxophone and jazz theme — chosen not just for its design, but because it marked the first ACE where he was accepted as a presenter.

That personal connection is what gives the pins their staying power. “There’s something special about walking into an ACE with a pocket full of pins and a mission,” he said. “I never knew who I’d meet — a veteran operator, an international delegate, a young engineer attending their first ACE — and that tiny pin became the spark for a conversation we both remember years later.”

Another member, Craig Hannah, an AWWA member for 20-plus years, traces his pin journey back to his early ACE experiences. At his first conference, like many, he didn’t know the pins existed; by his second conference, he picked up a few, originally thinking his young children might enjoy them. These days, he has a carefully curated collection displayed in a shadow box on his wall.

“They’re very attractive, very well done, and a nice souvenir of the event,” said Hannah, who is looking for pins from 2015, 2022, and 2024 to complete his collection. “When you look at them all together, you have a record of your involvement and the cities you’ve been to.”

Each pin tells a story of place. Members recall designs inspired by host cities — from sailboats and skylines to local icons like Denver’s Big Blue Bear or Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell. Some pins even achieve near‑legendary status. For example, the unreleased 2020 Orlando pin, created before ACE was cancelled due to the COVID‑19 pandemic, has become somewhat of a collector’s treasure — proof that even the ACE-that-should’ve-been still holds meaning.

Nowadays, AWWA members have an opportunity to secure two pins — the official ACE pin and the preview pin created by the Local Host Committee for the next upcoming year’s ACE. The result is a layered, year‑to‑year collecting experience that members eagerly anticipate.

In the end, the appeal of ACE pins goes beyond enamel and metal. They’re conversation starters, memory keepers, and symbols of belonging. Small enough to fit in a pocket but meaningful enough to bring the water community closer together, one pin at a time.

(Find this year’s pins at the AWWA Pavilion in the Exhibit Hall, in addition to the Information Booth and the Local Host Committee Booth.)