Day 3 – Kicking Off The Conference in Grand Style!

Wow what a kick off!

I have already picked up at least two things that can make my life easier and I haven’t even gotten into the sessions yet!  To top that off I have met some new managers that I’m sure will enhance my career and efforts in my community.

The opening session with Mr. Beschloss was a great kick off to the conference.  During Michael’s speech he mentioned several times that fact that history judges in hindsight which is so true and as sad at the same time.  I say it is sad because while it is true for Presidents the same is true about the work daily work that all us managers do in our communities.  The tough decisions we make on a day to day basis may not be recognized now for what they are worth to the communities we serve but down the road, in hindsight, they will be. 

Also during the opening session ICMA recognized two people in our organization who have 45 years of service to public managment and the citizens in our communities.  As we moved through the opening program I got to thinking that combined those two individuals have 90 years of service!  This goes without recognizing the numerous others who have over 20 years of service.  So I wonder how many years of service the entire membership has put in to public management?  This being the 100th anniversary it might be an interesting number.

I have many other thoughts that could go here but I’ll save them for now.  If you were there to night please take a minute to post your thoughts here.

Here’s to making tomorrow a great day!

Insight Into the Selection of the Four Keynotes

    

One of the principle tasks of the Chairperson of the Planning Committee is to be very involved with selecting the four keynote speakers.   There are many different things that are involved in that process.  The first and most difficult part of the process is the limitation of the budget.  While a large portion of the overall conference direct expenses are paid to the four keynotes, it is still limited compared to what some speakers are expecting for their services.

     Finding speakers that are interesting, informative and will be a draw for our members to make the investment to come to the conference is a big consideration.  It is always the goal to meet those above criteria while at the same time, trying to find a diverse group of speakers; diverse in all ways.  Beyond the typical diversity issues, it also involves trying to find speakers with international background. 

     With all that said, I am excited to hear the four that we selected this year.  I think we have an excellent lineup and am certain that at least one of these experts will provide you with some interesting insights.  As you have already seen, by checking out this blog, a couple of our presenters have agreed to participate on the blog.  For more information about each of the keynoters and their presentation time, please check out the ICMA web site at http://icma.org/conference2008/?hsid=1&ssid1=47&ssid2=2221

      We did have a challenge time this year in firming up our keynote line up.  As you are all aware, our Monday keynoter was suppose to be Tim Russert.   His dad, Big Russ, was a former municipal employee in the Buffalo, NY area.  This unique perspective led us to believe that his presentation would be personally satisfying to both Tim as well as us, his audience.  Unfortunately, Tim’s very untimely passing left us with a difficult task of trying to replace him.  We are so fortunate that Cokie Roberts has agreed to be our keynoter on Monday.   Her experience and expertise is certainly on equal with Tim.

      As I close this entry, I hope you agree that, at least on paper, that we met our goal of bringing interesting, diverse, and informative keynote lineup for your visit to Richmond.  I hope that by the end of the conference, the group has done more than just met those goals on paper!   See you all soon,

       Jim Bennett, Lewiston, Maine City Administrator and 2008 Conference Planning Committee Chairperson

 

     

 

From Frans Johansson: Tuesday’s Keynote Speaker

Have you stepped into the Intersection? Just remember the Intersection is certainly not the only place to uncover new ideas, but it is the best place to generate and realize extraordinary ones. Here are two basic laws of innovation to remember:

Fact 1: All new ideas are combinations of existing ideas – but not all idea combinations are created equal.

All new ideas are in some way a combination of existing ideas. If the concepts combined are closely connected then the resulting idea tends to be unoriginal. However, if the concepts combined are far apart the resulting idea tends to be groundbreaking- this is why your idea combinations at the intersection are so powerful.

Fact 2: The most innovative individuals and teams generate and execute more ideas – and at the Intersection you unlock an exponential increase in idea combinations.

Diverse teams have a far better chance of creating more ideas than homogeneous ones. The reason is that by connecting two separate fields a person, or team, can exponentially increase the number of idea combinations. This is critical because the strongest correlation to innovative success is the quantity of new and valuable ideas generated and executed.

I look forward to speaking at the 94th ICMA Annual Conference.

Frans Johansson, Author of The Medici Effect  Download a Free Copy of The Medici Effect