ICMA’s second annual video contest has come to a close and winners have been selected! This year, contestants were asked to create short videos that met one of the following topic criteria:

• Career advice for aspiring managers
• The value of ICMA membership
• The value of professional management in your community.

The winning video was created by Sam Feldman, a second year MPA student at Arizona State University, and recipient of the Marvin Andrews MPA fellowship award, given by the Arizona City Management Association. Sam has an interest in a career in local government and has completed internships with both the Alliance for Innovation and the city of Phoenix, Arizona.

Sam created his video, “Six Lessons for Aspiring Managers,” after discovering the video contest through ICMA’s Twitter stream. According to Feldman, “Producing this video allowed me to meet some of the local managers in my area, which was the best advice I could ever give. These local managers welcomed me into their offices and gave me more advice than I could ever include in a short video.”

Second prize in this year’s contest went to Dave O’Leary, city administrator of Shelton, Washington. O’Leary’s video, “Our Story,” told viewers what city employees in Shelton were doing to provide crucial services in tough economic times. A local government veteran of over 20 years, O’Leary is excited to attend his first ICMA Annual Conference thanks to the prize he earned for his video!

Third prize ($100 gift certificate to the ICMA Bookstore) went to Marcia Johnson from Fayetteville, North Carolina, for the entry, “Synergy,” which showed how having a professional manager contributes to a diverse and effective community atmosphere.

ICMA would like to thank all contest participants. The number of video submissions grew from four in 2008 to seven in 2009, and we hope it will continue to grow with videos that show the local government management profession in fun and exciting ways. The 2009 contest entries can be viewed on ICMA’s brand new YouTube page. Click on “Playlists” at the top, and select "2009 ICMA Video Contest."

Does your city have a video that you would like to have featured on ICMA's YouTube page?  If so, send an e-mail to Alex Brown at alexbrown@icma.org for further instructions!