Almost 3,000 members, partners, and exhibitors gathered in Phoenix, Arizona, for ICMA’s 98th Annual Conference, October 7-10, 2012.

The country’s sixth largest city, Phoenix is set in the heart of the Sonoran Desert. Although temperatures remained in the 90s, low humidity and the city’s striking LEED-certified convention center made it the perfect location to learn, brainstorm, swap experiences, and reconnect with old friends and colleagues.

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.

The conference theme of “Building Community: Rising to Seize the Opportunities” was reflected by a rich educational program designed by the 2012 conference planning committee under the leadership of ICMA member Magda Gonzalez, Redwood City, California. Educational sessions focused on:

• Shared and regional service delivery approaches and alternative business models
• Engaging citizens by building communities online
• Managing employee benefits
• Finding pathways from polarization to civility
• Dealing with personal and family stresses of local government management.

The program also included career tracks of sessions developed specially for small community managers; assistants, deputies and other non-CAOs; and senior and ICMA credentialed managers. 

All conference educational session handouts and speaker presentations received by staff are posted on the ICMA conference website.

In the exhibit hall, two Solutions Track theaters featured case studies of local governments that have overcome challenges through innovative public-private partnerships.

The 2012 Conference Host Committee, co-chaired by Phoenix City Manager David Cavazos, Queen Creek Town Manager John Kross, and Maricopa County Manager Tom Manos, planned a wide variety of social events, tours, and field demonstrations that showcased the region’s cultural heritage and attractions.

ICMAtv returned this year to cover the conference sessions and events with on-site interviews and video news stories. This year’s program included special segments highlighting the work and innovations of local governments across the country. To view conference programming and community highlights, visit ICMAtv.com.

You Are There: Conference Social Media

ICMA offered its conference mobile application for the second year, which kept attendees connected to daily news and scheduling information along with the conference Twitter feed and other social media.

For the fourth year in a row, ICMA also offered a virtual conference option. More than 130 registrants took advantage of the Virtual Conference, tuning in to the Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday keynote addresses plus 18 educational sessions live-streamed directly to their local governments.

Conference participants, MITs, and Range Riders should watch for an email the week of October 22 with detailed information on how to access the on-demand content. The Virtual Conference educational sessions will be available on-demand through December 31. Access to the keynote content will expire December 10. The Virtual Conference is free for onsite conference attendees who purchased a full conference registration.

Watch for purchase availability of the Virtual Conference archives in the ICMA bookstore. A CD of the Virtual Conference archives (minus the keynote content) will be available for purchase for the member price of $149 ($199 nonmembers) from the ICMA bookstore starting in November.

Blog posts by conference attendees provided personal perspectives on conference topics, speakers, and events.

Sunday Opening General Session

Outgoing President Sam Gaston, city manager, Mountain Brook, Alabama, presided over the Sunday Opening General Session. Highlights of the program included:

• A welcome from Joan McCallen, president and CEO of conference Principal Sponsor ICMA-RC, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary
• International greetings from Ross McLeod, chief executive of Hastings District Council, New Zealand, and president of the New Zealand Society of Local Government Managers, and Karen Thomas, chief executive officer of the New Zealand Society of Local Government Managers
• An official welcome from Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton and Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Max Wilson
• Introduction of the incoming members of the ICMA Executive Board
• Recognition of the 2012 Service Award Winners.

Gaston also acknowledged the generous support of Cigna, the conference’s Diamond Level sponsor. He announced that Cigna, a long-time ICMA Strategic Partner, has begun a three-year partnership with ICMA that enables it to reinforce its goal of helping local governments improve the health and wellness of their employees and dependents, while serving as the exclusive health care sponsor for ICMA.

Gaston updated the audience on the progress of the Life, Well Run campaign, which was launched at last year’s annual conference. To date, the campaign has raised more than $1.2 million in pledges and receipts, with almost $600,000 coming from ICMA members and state associations. He acknowledged four organizations that have made significant contributions to the campaign since last year’s conference: ICMA-RC ($50,000); Florida City and County Management Association ($50,000); North Carolina City and County Management Association ($54,000); and Virginia Local Government Management Association ($40,000).

Gaston noted the launch of the ICMA Center for Management Strategies in partnership with the Alliance for Innovation and Arizona State University. The center will provide a framework for collaboration to identify, research, and disseminate new leading practices of local governments.

He also noted that ICMA is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the credentialing program with nearly 1,300 credentialed managers and candidate.

Leading a Culture of Innovation

Sir Ken Robinson helped set the tone of the conference with his opening keynote, Leading a Culture of Innovation. An internationally recognized leader in the development of creativity, innovation, and education, Robinson posited that creativity is a characteristic of being human.  City and county leaders must use their own creativity to meet the extraordinary challenges and opportunities their communities face, which include:

• Economic: Many of the cities that grew up around industry and manufacturing are decaying, having lost their purpose.
• Cultural: Today is a time of cultural complexity.
• Personal: How do we make places where people want to be?

To lead, city and county leaders must believe in the human capacity to innovate, think differently about talent, and find new ways of doing things. They must create a culture that facilitates innovation.

Watch Sir Ken’s conference interview with ICMAtv.

Monday: Immigration Reform: Truth, Myths, and Politics

Distinguished academic and journalist Edward Schumacher-Matos discussed the complexities of immigration in his Monday morning keynote address.

He began setting the record straight on a misconception about immigration today: more immigrants are actually leaving the United States than arriving because enforcement is working and demographic and economic trends in other countries are improving.

Because immigration is an emotional issue, complicated by 24-hour media and the Internet, facts are supplanted by beliefs and half-truths. For instance, illegal immigrants commit far fewer crimes than legal white Americans and even though illegal immigration has increased, violent crime has decreased. Although costs increase in the short term, over the long term immigrants become entrepreneurs, pay taxes, raise productivity, and contribute to the overall government revenue so the cost-benefits are a wash economically.

Everyone believes in the need for comprehensive immigration reform. How we get there will depend in part on dispelling the myths and addressing the need for some pathway to citizenship.

Watch Mr. Schumacher-Matos’s conference interview with ICMAtv.

Tuesday: Great by Choice

Author and researcher Jim Collins made a return visit to ICMA. He began his keynote by cautioning that “good is the enemy of great.” Greatness, he said, is a matter of conscious choice and discipline, not a matter of circumstance.

Leadership in local government, he said, exists only when people follow by choice. He listed the three behaviors that distinguish successful leaders:

1. Fanatic discipline: In a true culture of discipline, disciplined thought leads to disciplined action. Collins uses a “20 miles a day” analogy: set a goal that will be maintained regardless of the circumstances. The key is consistency.
2. Empirical creativity: Great leaders obtain empirical evidence for what works. Creativity is a human trait; discipline is not. Discipline and creativity must be blended together so that the former enhances the latter.
3. Productive paranoia: Successful leaders understand that the only mistakes you learn from are the ones you survive. Shock, disruption, and volatility are the historical norm; you must have the resources and buffers you need to survive uncertainly and chaos.

Great leaders hold tight to core principles and stimulate progress. We don’t give up our values; we change our practices.

Watch Jim Collins's interview with ICMAtv.

Watch Jim Collins's 2006 interview with ICMA Executive Director Bob O'Neill (scroll to bottom of page).

Wednesday: Priorities for the Next Year

Incoming President Bonnie Svrcek opened the closing session by outlining her priorities for the coming year:

• Doubling the number of ICMA student chapters from 17 to 34
• Attracting more women members and supporting ICMA’s Task Force on Women in the Profession
• Increasing member engagement and retention
• Renewing and refreshing ICMA’s strategic plan
• Preparing for ICMA’s 100th anniversary in 2014
• Promoting and expanding the Life, Well Run campaign.

Revitalizing Urban Space with Public Art

Internationally known artist Janet Echelman delivered the closing keynote of the conference on the role public art can play in revitalizing communities. Echelman listed the questions that guide her in her creative process:

• How do you create sense of place?
• How do you create a destination, a place of home, a place with an identity?
• How do you take something you’ve seen a million times and turn it into public art?

Over the course of a career creating living, breathing sculpture environments that become focal points for civic life, Echelman has learned valuable lessons that apply to the business of managing communities as well, including:

• You gain strength through your ability to adapt
• Try to see the familiar with new eyes
• Look at situations and resources for what they are, not for what they aren’t
• Constraints are the key that opens the door to discovery
• When you reach the limits of existing tools, find partners who can help you create new ones
• Nontraditional partners may be able to help you accomplish your vision.

Watch Janet Echelman’s interview with ICMAtv.

Plan now to join us for the 99th ICMA Annual Conference in Boston, Massachusetts, September 22-25, 2013.