Well, we have done it. We have hit the 42.67% mark of the program year. You may be asking why 42% is so significant, but honestly, in a year of unique challenges and opportunities, I just thought that this was a chance to celebrate the often-overlooked 42.67% milestone. To recap what I am calling “the first 42.67….%”, we began the year with our best ever (and first) virtual annual meeting, and then our committees immediately launched into finding alternative ways to keep things rolling. The Professional Development Committee wasted no time, immediately collaborating with last year’s Conference Planning committee to find a good way to provide members with an option for fulfillment of their four-hour ethics requirement.
Professional Development also collaborated with the Winter Institute Committee on a survey to engage the membership on how we can best meet the needs of the membership this year. Thank you to everyone who participated! The committees have taken your feedback into account and are working on some exciting events for the membership, which will kick off with what can only be our best virtual fall symposium ever on November 5th. The topic is “Ethical Decision-Making in the Face of COVID-19,” and it will be by far the most attended symposium we that have ever had, in person or virtual!
The Winter Institute will follow the symposium. That committee is planning an engaging event filled with best-practices and real-life scenarios in crisis communications in early February. Registration for the Winter Institute is open now and you can check out the sessions and register, please click here. Now we don’t know yet if the event will end up being in-person or virtual, but regardless, we will be having an event, and it’s going to be both fun and informative.
The Professional Development committee also started the process of planning a virtual training series for FCCMA members which will begin in the Spring, so watch for the advertisements in the coming months.
Another major focus of our First 42.67% was the FCCMA board’s special workshop to discuss how we can best support our membership in the areas of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. The session took place at the end of September, and we had some great conversations about how we can bring our profession to the next level. We left that meeting with a commitment to follow up at our November Board meeting with some actionable items and that will continue into our strategic planning sessions in December and January.
In this time of change, we also had a couple changes at the board level. I would like to take this opportunity to announce that the bard has appointed City Manager Terry Atchley, City of Wauchula, to fill the District VI Director position, and City Manager Al Minner, ICMA-CM, City of Leesburg, to fill the District VIII Director position. Terry and Al have been FCCMA members for a combined 29 years, and we are excited to have their perspectives on the board.
While this has been an active and exciting first 42.67%, just remember we still have another 58.33% to go, and I know that your continued engagement and the work by our staff, committees, members and the board will make it even better!
I look forward to seeing many of you at the Fall Symposium next week!
In addition to the Fall Symposium, members can complete the ethics requirement by watching previous ethics trainings on our website, complete four hours of reading regarding ethical issues, or participate in ethics trainings from other organizations. The completion of the requirement is determined by an honor system. When you pay dues for the new fiscal year, you will be asked to record your ethics requirement before applying the credit card payment. If you are paying by check, you must sign the dues statement and mail it to FCCMA with the check or email a scanned copy.
As always, I am open and excited to hear your ideas for points of appreciation or improvement for the association. I am hopeful to see many of you at the Fall Symposium and our other trainings in the future!
