I attended the annual conference of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) today. It is being held in sunny downtown Minneapolis this year. It was perfect fall day. Minneapolis shows well on a day like today.
The conference actually started yesterday, but I did not get there until today. I guess I’ll chalk that up to having the conference in our own backyard this year. It’s easy to prioritize it under other work and family priorities when you’re sleeping in your own bed every night.
I was a guest speaker at this year’s conference. I spoke at two sessions today, one at 10 am and another at 11:15 am. About local government blogging, of course. The sessions were well attended, at least compared to what I was expecting. I’d guess there were 25 people at the early session and probably 100 at the 11:15 am session.
There still aren’t very many of my local government management colleagues that are bloggers. I met two of them today. We’re a tiny fraternity.
Prior to my speaking sessions, I attended the morning keynote address from Professor Robert Putnam. Dr. Putnam is a profesor at Harvard. He is the author of an influential book on measuring social capital called “Bowling Alone”. He gave a thought provoking lecture on what he sees as the downside of the decrease in the general level of social capital in American cities.
Following my speaking sessions, I attended a panel discussion on what city managers ought to know to be able to thrive (and survive) in the field over the next twenty years. I was reminded that I’ve got a lot to learn.
Back to the conference tomorrow, and then back to the office on Wednesday.
