The 2011 ICMA Annual Conference kicked off on Sunday evening with an electrifying opening general session that featured the University of Wisconsin’s Badger Band (and Bucky), a welcome from the Mayor of Milwaukee, Tom Barrett, and an inspired keynote presentation from recently-retired Vice President of Government Affairs for Harley-Davidson, Tim Hoelter.

It was an exciting night, to say the least, but what really caught my attention was the renewed momentum of the "Life, Well Run" campaign. As Dave Childs pointed out in his presidential remarks, "now, more than ever, we need to promote the value of professional local government management and the contribution it makes to our communities." Dave went on to highlight the goals of Life, Well Run, the progress that's been made over the last year, and he also announced maybe the most exciting news of the conference -- ICMA RC has agreed to match ICMA member contributions to the Life, Well Run campaign up to $250,000 over the next five years (potentially generating $500,000 if members donations meet their targets). As if that wasn't enough, moments later the Midwest State Association Vice Presidents took stage, led by Matt Fulton, and presented the an extremelly generous contribution of $200,000 to the campaign. In just 30 minutes, Life, Well Run started to hit its (fundraising) stride.

As a result of the opening-day buzz, ICMA staff has seen a surge of contributions and pledges. Whether you donated, pledged, and/or bought a campaign tee-shirt at the bookstore, I'd personally like to thank all of you for your help! Never in my wildess dreams would I have guessed that we'd receive as much support as we have in Milwaukee.

For more information on the campaign, go to  www.lifewellrun.org