The FCCMA Annual Conference will be held May 22-25, 2013 at the Hilton Orlando in Orlando, FL.
The conference will open with the opening general session – For the Love of Cities. Author Peter Kageyama looks at what makes cities lovable, what motivates citizens to do extraordinary things for their places and how some cities use that energy to fill in the gaps that “official” city makers have left when resources disappear. Peter will speak about how we can turn peoples’ emotional engagement with their place into tangible action and use that excitement and energy as a much needed community development resource.
Friday’s General Session topic is Transforming our Cities and Counties through Art and Design. Candy Chang is an artist, designer and urban planner who makes cities more comfortable for people. A Senior TED Fellow, Chang is passionate about redefining the ways we share information in public space to improve our neighborhoods. The Atlantic
calls her recent work, Before I Die, “one of the most creative community projects ever.” Chang’s experiences working with residents, community organizations, companies and governments in communities around the world on projects ranging from street vendors’ rights to downtown revitalization give her presentations a unique perspective for improving lives.
Saturday’s Closing Breakfast topic is No Barriers, Only Solutions. South African-born Neal Petersen is a world-class professional solo racing yachtsman, global investor, award-winning author of Journey of a Hope Merchant and the subject of a PBS documentary. Petersen has completed two amazing journeys in his life: a single-handed yacht race around the world, nine months at sea, in a yacht he designed and built himself; and the even more arduous and eventful trip of overcoming racial prejudice, poverty and a childhood physical disability in Apartheid South Africa. As he shares his riveting life story and philosophy, Neal’s personal message and unique delivery will open the mind, inspiring listeners to break down barriers and tackle adversity head-on. Neal demonstrates that, with determination and hard work, you can achieve any goal.
There are two pre-conference sessions: The So You Want to be a City/County Manager? will be held on Wednesday, May 22 from 8:00 a.m. – 3:45 p.m. and Navigating Successful Working Relationships with Elected Officials will be held on Wednesday, May 22 from 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. There is no charge for the So You Want To Be session. There is a fee of $80 for the Navigating Successful Working Relationships session and the session is limited to the first 40 people.
Other session titles/topics include: I can See Clearly Now: Retirement Planning Made Simple; Marketing Awareness Campaigns; Community Values; Community Conversations; Great Places in Florida; Rethinking Community: Engage Everyone!; Smartraffic Advanced Traffic Management System; Downtown: A Gathering Space and Hub of Activity; Trends in Violence: How Can I Feel Safe if I’m Afraid to Walk the Streets? Ethics: They Really Do Matter!; 67 Counties: How Do They Differ and How Are They The Same?; The Future of Credentialing; In Transition: A Time of Challenge, Opportunity and Renewal; Maintenance of Foreclosure Properties; Community Branding and Team Development; On-site Health Centers; Retrofitting Parks Lighting; and Current and Future Water Needs (Water/Wastewater Infrastructure).
ICMA practices will be published next week for planning conference schedules.
For more information go to: https://fccma.org/annual-conference/. The hotel reservation cut-off date is April 26, 2013.
