The 101st ICMA Annual Conference, held September 27-30, 2015, in Seattle/King County, Washington, attracted a record-breaking 2,693 members (last year’s gathering in Charlotte/Mecklenburg County, North Carolina., attracted 2,476 members) and more than 3,800 total attendees, making it the fourth largest in ICMA history.

With thousands of attendees snapping photos and sharing their experience through Twitter and Instagram, 101st conference dominated the web as well. Between selfies with Sasquatch and tweetable take-aways from workshops and sessions, the ICMA15 hashtag had social media buzzing with conference activities. 

For their ongoing guidance, enthusiasm, and hard work, thanks to members of the 2015 ICMA Conference Host Committee (Doug Schulze, city manager, Bainbridge Island, Washington, chair; and Bob Harrison, city administrator, Issaquah, Washington, vice chair); the 2015 ICMA Conference Planning Committee (Peter Agh, city manager, Dvory, Slovakia; and Michelle Crandall, assistant city manager, Dublin Ohio, co-chairs); and the many regional-area volunteers.  

A recap of conference activities

Saturday Reception
Conference attendees made their way to the Seattle Aquarium on Saturday, September 26, for a reception supported by the host committee. The aquarium offered participants a peek into “Seattle’s window on Puget Sound and Earth’s one big ocean” while they made new friends and reconnected with old acquaintances.

Opening General Session/Welcoming Reception
On Sunday, September 27, ICMA kicked off the Seattle/King County conference with a program of entertainment, celebration, and learning presided by Outgoing President James Bennett, city manager, Biddeford, Maine. Bennett provided an overview of the association’s accomplishments during the past year, including the association’s record-setting membership numbers of 10,130, achieved in September 2015.

Bennett introduced Bob Schultze, president and CEO of ICMA-RC, the annual conference principal sponsor, who addressed annual conference attendees for the first time after taking over the reins of ICMA-RC in April 2015. Schultze welcomed attendees and emphasized the ICMA-RC mission of building financial security for state and local government employees.

Other highlights of the opening session program included:

• A welcome from The Honorable Marilyn Strickland, mayor of Tacoma, Washington, and the Honorable James Dow Constantine, county executive of King County, Washington.
• A welcome from Host Committee Chair Doug Schulze and Vice-Chair Bob Harrison, who presented ICMA with a special sculpture commemorating the occasion.
• Opening remarks by President Bennett.
• Introduction of the ICMA Executive Board.
• International greetings by Jaromír Zajícek, MPA, president, Association of City Managers of the Czech Republic.
   

The program continued with the motivating feature presentation, “The Happiness Advantage,” delivered by

Sasquatch welcomes ICMA to Seattle during "Taste of the Pacific Northwest." Click photo to view entire Facebook album.

Shawn Achor, successful author and one of the world’s leading experts on the science of positive psychology. Achor focused on the connection between happiness and success and why mindsets such as rational optimism" (the realistic assessment of situations and the belief that problems can be fixed rather than remain insurmountable), are the key to goal attainment.

Following the Sunday plenary, attendees experienced “A Taste of the Pacific Northwest” at the welcoming reception, sponsored by the 2015 Host Committee, Republic Services, and Siemens, both ICMA Strategic Partners and supporters of ICMA’s Life, Well Run campaign. During this event, attendees sampled the flavors of the region—including endless plates of mac and cheese.

Keynote Plenary Sessions
In addition to Shawn Achor, three other keynote speakers educated and inspired attendees during the remaining conference plenary sessions:

• On Monday, diversity advocate, consultant, and author Verna Myers encouraged attendees to recognize their biases so that they could move forward toward combating those biases using a “low-guilt, high-responsibility” philosophy. Myers was introduced by Mary Jacobs, assistant city manager, Sierra Vista, Arizona.
• On Tuesday, Patrick Lencioni, author of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, presented conference attendees with a number of leadership models designed to help them capitalize on their organization’s greatest untapped potential.  Willam Fraser, city manager, Montpelier, Vermont, introduced Lencioni.

• And on Wednesday, following the recognition of ICMA members and friends of the profession duringthe annual Celebration of Service, Kelly Leonard, executive vice president of The Second City and co-author of the new book, Lessons from The Second City: Yes, And, led his troupe through an entertaining and thought-provoking demonstration of ways to use improvisational techniques to challenge conventional thinking.

Educational Program
Through dozens of educational sessions, featured speaker and Solution Track sessions, ICMA University workshops, small-group Learning Lounge and roundtable discussions, field demos, tours, and other learning opportunities, members and other public and private-sector experts shared their knowledge and interacted with conference attendees during the four-day period.  Visit the Annual Conference program page to view the extensive educational program and download session handouts.

Experience Music Project
On Tuesday evening, many members, guests, and staff took advantage of the Seattle Center Monorail system to gather at the city’s Experience Music Project (EMP) Museum, where they savored a meal of regional favorites, danced to 80s music, and were enthralled by the collections, exhibitions, and interactive displays that are part of museum’s documentation of contemporary popular culture. Generously sponsored by the 2015 Conference Host Committee, Alaska Airlines, Boeing, Microsoft, and Perteet, the event provided the perfect wind-down to ICMA’s first conference of its new century.

Closing Celebration of Service
During the Wednesday Celebration of Service, Pat Martel, city manager, Daly City, California, was inducted as the 102nd president of ICMA, the third woman to serve in this leadership role.

Following an inspiring introduction by Daly City Councilmember Michael P. Guingona, who had served on the city’s council when she first joined the municipality as assistant city manager in 1995, Martel described how, when she initially joined the profession, she “didn’t see women, particularly women of color,” and how, as the granddaughter of Mexican immigrants, she felt “entrusted with the responsibility of paying it forward to others.”

Martel also committed herself, with the help of members and staff, to furthering or completing work in three areas of importance to ICMA: 1) the strategic planning process, which would set the future direction of the association; 2) the executive director recruitment process, through which the board would identify a qualified replacement for current Executive Director Bob O’Neill; 3) and implementation of the recommendations of the ICMA Task Forces on Women and Inclusion in the Profession.

ICMAtv
Again this year, ICMAtv combined a Seattle travelogue and "conference floor" interviews with prerecorded feature community segments to produce four days of programming.

2015 Virtual Conference
For the eighth year in a row, ICMA offered a virtual option to individuals who were unable to attend the conference onsite. More than 130  registrants took advantage of this year’s Virtual Conference, and live-streamed the Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday keynote addresses plus 18 educational sessions and two ICMA University Forums directly to their local governments.

Online access to the 2015 Virtual Conference archives is included in the registration fee and is available for onsite attendees (and for purchase by non-registrants) for one year with the exception of the keynotes, which will be available until November 27, 2015. An email communication went out on October 12 with access instructions for conference attendees.

We hope you’ve enjoyed these 101st Annual Conference highlights. Visit ICMA’s Conference Twitter page to scroll through postings from the conference floor for September 27-30 and browse the conference Facebook album.

Your feedback regarding the conference is important to staff and the members of the current and future Conference Planning and Host Committees. Help us improve this annual event by taking a few minutes to complete the conference survey, which member attendees received a link to via email on October 5.

And plan now to attend ICMA’s 102nd Annual Conference in the Greater Kansas City Region, September 25-28, 2016.  See you in Kansas City!