An Unforseen Dilemma – Finding Balance

Looking back over the conference experience one of the most perplexing challenges I faced as a first time attendee was balance related.  There are so many ways to use your time at a conference like this: networking, exploring, talking to vendors, learning, sleeping, and eating (these last two are important, too).  The balance I struggled with was of a different nature, however.

My greatest struggle was determining how best to spend my time networking.  Being new to both the profession and the ICMA circuit, I was naturally drawn to other young professionals in my age range, as we had a lot of similar hurdles to face.  Swapping stories and experiences was fun and enlightening.  Since I teach part time, I was also drawn to the crowd of students, many eager to find their first position in their government careers.  I hope these bright eyed and bushy tailed young professionals will continue to build relationships with me into the future.

At the same time, the drive to meet managers at the top of their game; people with whom to network and establish learning relationships, was also strong.  For whatever reason, I don’t know that I did the best job of balancing these competing interests.  In some cases it was the sheer intimidation of walking up to a group of managers, likely long-standing friends in the midst of conversation, and introducing myself with something more meaningful than just “hi, I’m soandso, from suchandsuch”.  As a result I spent the bulk of my “free” time at the conference with peers, no doubt an important aspect of networking at the conference.  I worry that it was at the detriment of meeting the current crop of leaders, however.  I did meet a good number of City Managers and executives whom I would feel honored to call upon for advice and leadership, but I think I walked away with fewer senior professional contacts than I should have.

I wonder how many other folks, new and old, found that they spent more time networking with peers than with mentors or potential mentees.  Next time around, I think I may organize a strategyto balance that time a bit more.

Maxwell School MPA Students Enjoy the Conference

Five MPA students from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of Syracuse University are attending the conference through the donations of ICMA members who are Maxwell alumni.  35 ICMA member alumni are attending the conference this year (including ICMA Executive Director Bob O’Neill).

The Maxwell School (the #1 ranked public affairs/public administration program in the USA) has produced hundreds of the most successful city managers in the profession.  These five students represent the “Next Generation” of successful Maxwell local government managers.

Immigration and Banquet

I attended the session Immigration from a Local Government Perspective yesterday.  This is certainly a pressing topic not only in our nation but internationally as well.  Although the issue has been somewhat ignored in the presidential race as of late, it is certainly something that local governments cannot ignore.  It was interesting to hear from Dr. Nadia Rubaii-Barrett about the paper she is writing on immigration and local governments; I look forward to reading it when the final draft is posted on the ICMA website.  I also enjoyed hearing from two practitioners to learn about the unique ways in which their organizations have dealt with the issue. Public administrators in all areas must find innovative ways to deal with this issue, which will certainly require creativity and the ability to reach out to residents from all walks of life.

Last night was my class’s first KU MPA alumni event. At the banquet we introduced ourselves to the graduates of the program.  It was exciting for all of us to meet so many accomplished graduates, and to experience the camaraderie that exists among graduates and supporters of the program. 

I hope that everybody is finding the conference to be an enriching experience!

Another Day

It has been a great conference so far and nothing I see on the schedule makes it looks like we will loose any momentum.

Without my wife here to share different experiences I get an opportunity to people watch and look at the city. It is neat to see managers who get out of the hotel at 6:30 am to go out for their morning run. I have noticed others pour over today’s scheduled classes to chose which they will attend over breakfast or just coffee. Yet other will race to the opening session as they just rolled out of bed. One thing that is constant is people are all different.

So are cities. Where we all have infrastrucre, people and busnesses each city operates a little differently and has its own personality.

One of the things I enjoy about these conferences is finding out about those differences ans seeing if I can have an impact back home by implementing some things I have picked up.

Posted by Pete

The Alternative Conference Experience

Beyond what some have shared about the many highlights of the conference,  I figured it might be nice to offer a smattering of discussion about the exterior environs of the conference.  In this case my subject is the City of Richmond, downtown in particular, and how it relates to the rest of us.  I think the setting of any conference has a significant impact on the overall event experience and it merits some consideration.  Few might think to comment on it, so I’m throwing out my two bits, for what they’re worth.

I’ve been trying to take every opportunity I get to walk around the community.  This included a late night run on Sunday night that culminated in me literally transitioning from a flagging jog to an all out sprint past some rather unsavory characters who were following me in a car in reverse as I passed them.  I likely asked for it.  After all, who doesn’t like an easy target at 12:20 AM on a Sunday night, exhausted from a run, alone on a deserted side street, and toting a fancy ipod.  Perhaps a bit naive on my part.  Needless to say it was a refresher in common sense.

As a city planner, I’ve kind of developed a different way of looking at my surroundings, for better or worse. Whenever I go someplace I tend to try and take stock of my environment, looking for cues of good and bad design examples.  Traveling away from my home state of California, it’s refreshing to get a look at the “other coast” with this fresh perspective.  I especially enjoy the relationship that the built environment shares with the social fabric of any given community.  I think I saw a bit of that here even just wandering about.

What has really stricken a chord with me as I wandered the City streets is the stark contrast of a City struggling to redefine itself, chock full of successes and failures in plain sight.  There are no doubt some beautiful and amazing features and resources (particularly historic) in this community, including of course the Capitol itself and also the Convention Center along with some other new buildings that have recently been completed (witness the fabulous building on 6th and Broad for example).  At the same time, walking down Grace Street this morning, I witnessed buildings undergoing renovation immediately adjacent to an equal number buildings that sat abandoned, unused, and dilapidated.  All of this I observed in the span of a 9-city block walk…something that could easily be disregarded on a shuttle bus ride.

The social fabric of the community was most evident for me as I patronized a local business on Monday morning.  I’d like to conclude this entry by mentioning briefly a very solid benefit that the ICMA Conference offers, but is not so widely discussed.  Economic Impact.  I had the distinct pleasure of dining at Perly’s (1st & Grace) for breakfast after having been referred there by a member of the conference host comittee (thanks ladies, you’re the best).  Aside from the fact that the dining experience was all around fabulous (and cheap for those on a budget who tire of continental conference fare), what really resonated with me was how warmly I was received by the owner as I checked out.  He could not say enough good things about ICMA and the conference; how his business had picked up, and how he genuinely appreciated the support.  What’s more, other “regular” customers chimed in to ask questions about how long we (ICMA) would be in town, and how fabulous it was to have us here.  This interaction speaks volumes to me on some of the external impacts that ICMA has on communities, even just through the presence of an Annual Conference.  I found the open display of gratitude refreshing, and encourage participants to extend themselves as pedestrians beyond the borders of the immediate conference grounds.

More thoughts to come…stay tuned for updates.  – Bradley

Day 4 – Learning A Lot More!

Sorry for the cheap rhyme in the title but it is getting late for me.

Today was a fantastic day learning about tons of things – everything from government online auctions in the exhibit hall to new developments in Viriginia but by far the start of the day with Robert Fulghum was the best start to a day!  Thanks to the Host Committee for bringing him to Richmond!!!!!!

It is amazing what one can learn (and pull out of our internal databases located between our ears) by watching experiences especially those with children, makes me glad to have two at home, which I miss dearly at this point in the conference.  Mr Fulghum reminded of how great we as managers can be making things happen with shrinking resources by taking us back to that ever exciting game of Muscial Chairs and changing the rules – instead of one person losing each time a chair is removed he challenged us to think about the game with  all the players staying in and the challenging being getting everyone a seat as each chair is removed.  In this case the chairs are the resources while the people continually adapt and make due as the resources are removed and in fact when all the chairs are gone there still is a way to succeed!

He also raised a very simple question to all of us managers: What on earth have you done?

When was the last time you heard that question and was it in a stressed or maddening tone? I would bet so.  Mr. Fulghum noted that usually this is said by a parent when their child has done something unbeliveable, which as a parent I would have to agree.  But he challenged us to think about in a different way – to think about in in terms us actually asking yourself “What on Earth have you done?”

Is it meaningful?  Is it ethical?  Is it memorable in a positive way?  Is this what you wanted?  Seems to me like a simple question with a great chance of holding major impact on the way we live our lives and complete our work!  A SIMPLY CHALLENGING question!

So . . . WHAT ON EARTH HAVE YOU DONE?

The Segways Have Arrived!

As Ross mentioned in his earlier entry, the conference staff have 2 segways to help us get around the convention center.  Here’s a picture of Ross and one of our IT-gurus, Nat Morgan, test driving them over the weekend.

Despite Jet-Lag, Great Day 2!

Jet Lag – I have to admit that the three-hour time difference from my home state of Washington is getting to me a bit today.  However, the quality of the conference easily overwhelmed my fatigue and kept me engaged.

Rashad’s Address – Rashad Young’s Assistants’ Lunch address was well-done, both inspiring and highly informative.  If you missed it, you missed a good one.  I’m proud to call him a Leadership ICMA colleague.

Networking – One of the best aspects of this conference is the opportunity to network with our colleagues from around the world.  Day 2 provided me with opportunities to reunite, reconnect, and develop some new linkages that will benefit my community and me personally.  I gain great energy from these connections.  They are truly one of the best things about our profession!

HPO in Action – As a Administrator of a small community (Prosser, WA – pop. 5,075), I got a lot out of the presentation by the City Manager of Montgomery, OH.  Montgomery has done great things in the area of applying the High Performance Organization (HPO) model, particularly in the area of human resources management.  Amongst the items shared with the session crowd included Montgomery’s 360 employee evaluation process (that includes Council members), its pay for performance system, and how it revised employee job descriptions around management, task, leadership, and team skills.  Montgomery presented in the Leading Practices for Small Communities session this morning.

Well Done Cokie – I enjoyed Cokie Roberts candor and stories this morning in her keynote address.  She did a great job of holding the crowd’s attention and conveyed some thought provoking points about the upcoming presidential election.

Blog or Be Blogged – Today’s session on blogging was also excellent.  I picked up some great tips and suggestions.  In our small town, the Mayor and I will each be launching blogs with the launch of our new website in the next few months.  This was a timely and informative session!

Off to Tonight’s Reception – It’s time for me to go have some more fun!

Early Career Sessions, Day 2

Below is a roundup of the three sessions I attended today. Each were intended for early career professionals and some sound advice came from each one.

1.  Evaluating Career Decisions
-Nobody cares that much what your degree is, just as long as you have one.
-Budgeting and Human Resources experience is key at the beginning of your career.
-Network contacts are invaluable.
“You can do it all – just not all at the same time.”
-Cynthia Seelhammer, Deputy City Manager, Phoenix, AZ

2. Early Professional Luncheon
-3 Ps most important: Preparation, planning, and patience.
-Education and professional development is a marathon and takes life-long commitment.
-Be flexible with your life plan.
-Patience is about timing. Good opportunities are not always the right opportunities.
“The world is meant to be wooed and won by youth.”
-Winston Churchill

3. Assistants Relationships
-Never upstage your manager.
-Always allow your manager to take the credit.
-Never do anything to embarrass yourself, the manager, or the organization.
-Never compromise your morals or ethics.
-Always demonstrate loyalty. This includes telling the manager what he/she might not want to hear.

So far I’m having a great day 2! I’ve managed to obtain a couple of business cards and contacts and am hopeful that NIU’s networking dinner tonight will bring many more.

–Katie Starkey, NIU MPA

Fun fact of the day: Public sector workers are more educated – 50% of us have degrees, while only 25% have degrees in the private sector.

Interesting First Day

Being a first time ICMA attendee I was very interested to see how things would shake out.  The anticipation was almost like a kid waiting for Santa Claus to come down the chimney on Christmas Eve.  I have learned a great number of things that I will take back with me.  One great session was Public Safety Services for Small Communities.  Working in a smaller community it is very difficult to handle issues that relate to public safety.  There were many great topics discussed such as what does our organization truly face in terms of public safety.  

The dealing with the manager, the council, and the organization session raised a number of great scenarios that assistants face on a daily basis.  The panel was very informative and gave an insight into situation that I may face later on in my career.  I am very excited about the rest of my sessions and are intrigued by what Day Two (for me at least) has to offer.