ICMA Citylinks:  ICUH-2105

                My adventure with the “I” in ICMA started with an e-mail on April 2nd asking if I would be interested in participating at an ICMA CityLinks program at the International Conference on Urban Health (ICUH) in Dhaka, Bangladesh in May.  I was sure that it was a late April Fool’s Day joke since as Town Manager of Coventry Connecticut a town of under 13,000 people I was not convinced that I was an expert on Urban Health.   I pondered it a moment and decided that it really wasn’t ICMA’s style to send out April’s fool jokes so I responded to find out what the opportunity was and how did my name come up on the list.   So jumping to the end first I can tell you I left cozy New England and traveled half way around the world to the conference and had an experience of a lifetime.   I would like to share some of my experiences starting with how I got picked,  working with ICMA and the CityLinks program,   Interrelationships with the United States Agency of International Development (USAID), and of course the main event of  time in Dhaka, Bangladesh , the ICUH conference including our special session on  governance of Health agencies  and other experiences and lessons learned.  I plan on sharing these stories ( I think ICMA is pushing story telling as a means of effective communication) on a weekly basis in the Citylinks international section of the Knowledge Network.   I welcome others to chime in to share their life experiences with International part of ICMA to expand both our associations and personal horizons and work toward stretching beyond our comfort zones.   I’m glad I took the time and chance and look forward to sharing more of my experiences and hearing yours.

John A. Elsesser, Town Manager CM-Town of Coventry , CT :  JElsesser@Coventryct.org