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William Fraser
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April 25, 2013
Conference Planning Committee chair Bill Fraser’s message to the committee members about the importance of attending the Annual Conference in the aftermath of the tragedy in Boston.
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Julie Butler
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April 5, 2013
The Call for Speakers for the ICMA 99th Annual Conference 2013 (Hynes Convention Center, Boston Massachusetts – September 22-25) is now open. Share your experiences and expertise with local government professionals from across the country. The ICMA Conference 2013 website has more details and the list of opportunities available . Submit your application by April 26. We welcome new speakers so if you have never submitted a session proposal before give it a shot! For more information on the Call for Speakers submission requirements, visit
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Julie Butler
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December 4, 2012
ICMA's president, Bonnie Svrcek, Deputy City Manager, Lynchburg, VA, has written a blog about her experience at the recent Conference Planning Committee meeting for the 2013 ICMA Annual Conference in Boston. She makes an excellent point. It's not too soon to plan! Check out her post here !
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Julie Butler
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December 4, 2012
Share your ideas. Vote and comment on other ideas - help make this the best Conference ever! This is your chance to connect with others, share ideas and build upon the work done by the 2013 ICMA Conference Planning Committee. I hope you'll take advantage of this opportunity. Afterall, two, three, four heads are better than one! Get the details about how to submit here .
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Lynne Scott
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December 3, 2012
The 2013 Conference Planning Committee (Bill Fraser, City Manager, Montpelier, Vermont, chair) met November 16-18 to plan ICMA’s 99th Annual Conference, which takes place September 22-25 in Boston, Massachusetts. More than 100 participants at the meeting—representing a wide range of state, national, international and affiliate associations, as well as member committees and Strategic Partners—developed an educational program to inspire and guide you to find new solutions to help your community survive and thrive in today’s challenging environment. Planning Committee members were impressed with Boston’s historic atmosphere and the lively and compact Back Bay area filled with a
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Jennifer Pfiffner
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October 10, 2012
It is the final day of ICMA’s 98th Annual Conference. We have attended our final forum sessions and meetings, celebrated some very impressive service milestones, heard from Deputy City Manager Bonnie Svrcek, incoming ICMA President, and heard an inspiring keynote from Janet Echelman about the importance of art in public spaces. I was most impressed today by the service milestones achieved by many of the managers in attendance, some of whom have been working local government for 40 years or more. Along with the important sessions, workshops, and forums, I have also had the opportunity over the
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Juniper Korkie
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October 10, 2012
With temperatures in the 90s (and not 105!) and 20 percent humidity, the weather, the location, and the people couldn’t have been nicer in Phoenix! ICMA thanks the 2012 Host Committee, Conference Planning Committee, and all the ICMA members and Strategic Partners who helped make this conference a huge success. Representatives from 16 countries were at the conference this year, including Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, India, Kosovo, Mexico, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Slovakia, Sweden, Taiwan, Uganda, and United Kingdom. At midday on Tuesday, the total number of attendees: 2,914. 2012-2013 ICMA Executive Board
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Erika Abrams
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October 10, 2012
The closing session of the ICMA 2012 conference began with a celebration of ICMA members' commitment to the profession and to their communities. ICMA congratulates the 2012 Distinguished Service Award recipients G. Curtis Branscome and Arne Croce , both long-term local government managers. Congratulations, too, to the 2012 Service Award recipients, including R. Marvin Townsend , (55 years); Ross Michael Amyx , Donald Bradley , Joseph D’Arco , R. Michael Eastland , and Frank Spence (45 years). Another 49 members have 40 years of service, and the 35-Year, 30-Year,
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Matthew McCombs
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October 9, 2012
There are certain times in life where you wonder what became of the teenager who only cared about wearing in-brand jeans and sporting the latest hotrod car to take your date to homecoming. You know, the young buck or buckette who would suffer a severe case of eye glaze at the mere mention of a 401k, deductible, or triglyceride count. That time, incidentally, usually happens when one finds oneself completely geeking out over the prospect of hearing the world’s foremost expert on business and management process improvement methodology. And yet, that’s where I found myself this morning,
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Ann Mahoney
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October 9, 2012
It means talking to people you don’t normally talk to. Listening to all the voices, not just the one that sounds like yours. It’s natural to define ourselves by our differences, but key to leveraging the rewards of living in a diverse community is not letting the differences stand in the way of aligning around a shared purpose and values. Presesenters Dena Hurst (instructor and researcher, Florida Institute of Government, FSU) and Jim Patrick (city manager, Storm Lake, IA) offered great insights about the benefits as well as challenges of leveraging diversity. Hurst reminded the group that diversity
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Keith Strigaro
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October 9, 2012
Mobile technology is here to stay. By the end of 2012, it is estimated that there will be more smartphones than humans on the planet. And since we now live in a mobile world, it’s inevitable that citizens will want to do more on their phones, including interacting with their local governments. There are a number of different types of apps being used by local governments. You can use them for crime reporting and prevention, severe weather updates, transportation, public works reporting, paying bills, voting, surveys, promoting volunteerism, and much more. So what should you keep in mind
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Ann Mahoney
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October 9, 2012
Missed Jim Collins at today's keynote? Here are some of your colleagues' favorite Collins one-liners: An organization isn't great until it can be great without you. A true sign of mediocrity is chronic inconsistency. Leaders have to be paranoid (. . . and disciplined, and creative). Stimulating progress is not giving up values. One output of a great organization is superior performance relative to its mission.
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Jennifer Kalita
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October 9, 2012
ICMA membership data reveals that in 1981, 13% of all local government CAO positions were occupied by women. Thirty years later, in 2011, that percentage still remained the same. To address this lack of advancement regarding women in local government management, ICMA infused this year’s conference with events and sessions that speak directly to the unique challenges that our women members regularly confront. On Saturday, the members of the ICMA Task Force on Women in the Profession gathered for its inaugural meeting, where they began an important discussion of how we can support women as they seek
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Keith Strigaro
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October 9, 2012
Social media is changing the way we communicate. If Facebook were a country, it’d be the third largest in the world. YouTube is the second largest search engine on the web. 90% of people trust peer recommendations they read on sites like Yelp. More than 64 million tweets are sent out each day. Kindergarteners are learning on iPads. And many times, people are talking about their local government on social media. If this is where your citizens are talking about you, shouldn’t you be a part of that conversation? Monday’s session, “The Business Case and Content Strategies for
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Juniper Korkie
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October 8, 2012
Here are Tuesday's schedule updates. Tuesday Sessions: New speakers added to the following sessions “Economic Development Master Planning” Solutions Track session, 9:45-10:45am, Theater A, Exhibit Hall 5/6, will include Jack Kelley, dir. of econ. dev., Prime Companies, Albany, NY. “What to Do Once You Know What Your Typical Resident Thinks,” 12:30-1:45pm, Room 1200, North Building, will include Kelly Corsette, communic. and public affairs dir., Scottsdale, AZ. “Interactive Discussion between Managers in Military Communities,” 12:30–1:45 p.m., Room 225 AB, North Building, will include Brigadier General (Retired) Robert
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Juniper Korkie
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October 8, 2012
5k Run/Walk It was a perfect morning for a race at the Tempe Town Lake. The 5k run was an out and back route at Giuliano Park, the site of the 1st ICMA Conference 5k race in 1979. Congratulations to all the runners and special thanks to the Host Committee for organizing this fun networking event. 40+ Men. First : Chris Kukulski, CM, Bozeman, MT, 20:03 Second : Kirk Decker, ACA, Grandview, MO, 20:12 Third : J. Rooney, VM, Carpenterville, IL, 21:19 Under 40 Men.
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Keith Strigaro
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October 8, 2012
Whether you know it or not, your citizens are online writing opinions about your community, your local businesses, and your local government services. That’s why it’s important that your government organization establish a strong web presence and frame the discussions that are happening out there on the Internet about your community. At the Monday session, “Social Ideation: Using the Internet to Gather Citizen Ideas,” Granicus’s Tom Spengler , Alissa Black of the New America Foundation , and Mesa Deputy City Manager Karolyn Kent, discussed a new way to communicate with citizens. The old ways
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Wally Bobkiewicz
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October 8, 2012
1. A session called “Managing Your Council-Manager Relationship” is awfully enticing for any City Manager. But what made the session especially attractive was that one of the speakers was Michael Willis. Willis is the General Manager of Shellharbour City Council in New South Wales, Australia. Michael is a smart man, dedicated to our profession and a former ICMA President. However, his most notable distinction at a conference like this is that he has been a City Manager in THREE countries: New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom. No one in the world beats that feat. He has perspective
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Ann Mahoney
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October 8, 2012
One of the best ways to think about something in a new way is to listen to someone's voice besides your own. Anthony Romanello (Stafford County, VA) and Michael Willis (New South Wales, Australia) offered their perspectives on building good relationships with councils. What would you add to this list? --A key tool to making things happen is to act as a "chief empathy officer." Provide your council information that is useful and/or that you think is important for them to have. --"We are a learning organization" is code for "we make mistakes," which is fine as long
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Alissa Black
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October 8, 2012
When people think about engaging with government it’s usually via a ballot box or sterile council chambers where public opinion is one directional and most often unsatisfying. But those days are changing and both the public and local governments are slowly catching on and collaborating in new ways. Technology has been one of the main drivers and facilitators of that shift toward more meaningful engagement - creating new access points to government and bringing a new face to public engagement. For example, in Detroit residents can now find out via a text message when the next bus will be
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