Individuals who had purchased an ICMA publication in the last 12 months were invited to to let ICMA know what they thought of its value and to suggest other topics of interest. The response rate to the survey was 20%.

The respondents rated ICMA publications most favorably in the area of relevance (90% of respondents rated relevance as good or excellent), followed by comprehensiveness (84% rated comprehensiveness as good or excellent) and usefulness (82% rated usefulness as good or excellent). On the question of overall impression of ICMA publications, 88% rated their overall impression as good or excellent.

Among the respondents’ suggestions are that ICMA focus on the operations of small towns; provide training and orientation topics in short bites, for newly elected leaders; update books more frequently; offer material for mid-management professionals; focus on how to achieve efficiencies in local government and how to handle downsizing; describe the how-to of government-to-government contracting; and talk about how to maintain civil discourse in an environment lacking civility. Most of these suggestions are quite similar to ideas that we are pursuing in one fashion or another—whether in a publication, webinar, or annual conference program.

While there’s always room for improvement, we found this input very rewarding. To thank participants, ICMA offered an opportunity to win an American Express gift card. Our lucky winner is James Douglas, MPA director, Department of Political Science, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte. You don't have to wait until another survey to provide feedback. Contact Ann Mahoney at amahoney@icma.org or 202-962-3643.