10 steps to score with volunteers

Do you rely on volunteers? Do you wonder how to motivate people when there's no paycheck?  During this session we'll discuss best practices, brainstorm ways to recruit, and how to maintain and set standards for volunteers.  Discussion will include getting your message understood so that people will look to your organization as a place to give time and expertise and how you can attract the volunteers you want with the specific skills and expertise needed.  Participants will learn from others what's working and ways to improve their volunteer population.  They'll leave the seminar knowing exactly how to keep volunteers satisfied, how to attract volunteers and ways to motivate these unique people in your community.

BIG Ideas: The Future of Local Government

The Alliance for Innovation gathered Scholars and local government practitioners together to develop three contrasting and distinctly different views of what the future of local government may bring and how they should prepare.  This workshop will discuss:

1. How does local government create an environment that allows for risk taking?

2. How does local government address the challenge of changing the internal workings so that elected officials and professional staff work together to tackle highly complex problems in a shifting external environment?

3. Is it an innovative culture or outside influences that lead communities into new practices?

Karen Thoreson, President of the Alliance for Innovation will lead this workshop in a highly interactive discussion on these three Big Ideas and provide opportunities for attendees to discuss and evaluate their contributions to the Future of Local Government.  Access to the full White Papers available to every attendee.

Civic Engagement via the Internet

Local governments are increasingly engaging their communities through the web -- and social media in particular. Indeed, Gov 2.0-based services are a proven way to help governments augment the quantity of high quality feedback from their communities, and also diversify the residents that provide feedback. This augmented and diversified feedback helps governments make more informed decisions, and thereby deliberate in ways that increase public trust in government. Peak Democracy is the leading providing in online public comment forums that are tightly integrated with social media tools and resources. This integration enables local governments to offer online forums that are both civil and legally compliant with First Amendment freedom of speech rights, public records laws, and sunshine ordinances

compensation and benefits trends: past, present and what's to come

Recent legislation on pay discrimination, including the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, has highlighted the importance of having sound methods for determining fair and equitable compensation. discover the steps to adopt a fair and just compensation plan to keep your organization compliant with current and new federal standards, while maintaining financial goals and efficient workforce.  As part of this informative presentation, Rollie O. Waters will discuss alternative compensation systems, including Skill-Based Pay, helping you determine possible applications in your organization. 

CONNECTED COMMUNITIES: GOVERNMENT AS A PARTNER IN CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT AND COMMUNITY BUILDING

This workshop provides participants ways to identify necessary steps local governments can take to achieve a higher level of citizen engagement. Engaging residents in problem solving and in high profile projects is the key ingredient for high performing communities. The Alliance tracks the best practices of cities throughout the country – learn strategies to test in your city/county to effectively connect with the community.

Emerging Trends in Today's Utilities

This interactive workshop engages leading Utility Billing Directors, Customer Service Managers, and Operations Personnel in a dialogue about best practices in utility operations while improving customer service and financial soundness.  Tele-Works will identify and discuss the foundational needs of utilities in the areas of customer self-service, outreach and notification, and automation – including web, IVR, social marketing, SMS/text messaging, and more.  As well, the current state of the market and looking toward the future trends and customer expectations are including in the open discussion that will showcase case studies of best practices from Utility Departments from across the US.

Fiscal First Aid - Becoming The Picture of Fiscal Health

Lead your organization to fiscal health by uncovering the root cause of its “ailments,” and to the “prescription” to apply the correct and most effective treatment options that will ensure fiscal stability. Local governments choosing to implement the concepts of fiscal health as a treatment for making substantial progress consistently realize the analytical work required to more accurately diagnosis the reasons behind their fiscal issues.  This half-day workshop helps attendees determine the best treatments that lead to a viable “cure”.  Applying the wrong treatment will not “cure what ails you” and may even make matters worse.  Discover how to use proven tools and techniques to achieve fiscal health in this unprecedented economic climate. You’ll find out why traditional responses to financial crisis, such as across-the-board cuts, tax increases, or selling assets, are not typically the best treatments when trying to close the budget gap.  Demonstrations on the use of a simple diagnostic tool will help you effectively communicate your fiscal status to all stakeholders (staff, elected officials, union leaders, citizens) as well as serve as a monitoring tool to ensure that you remain the “picture of fiscal health” in the future.

Fleet Optimization

With shrinking budgets, local governments are mandating fleet vehicle reductions as a way to cut costs.  Fleet Managers are being asked tough questions about how, why and by whom their vehicles are being used.  Networkfleet provides this presentation which discusses how a fleet management system can help local governments exceed fleet optimization goals and how monitoring a vehicle’s location and engine status can help fleet managers analyze both under and over utilization of vehicles to maximize fleet productivity. 

Grants Access and Management

This interactive presentation discusses innovative, web-based software solutions targeting the needs of the grant community.  American Funding Innovators, Inc. with over 35 years of experience in the technology and grant industries, demonstrates how local governments through on-going collaboration with stakeholders at all levels of the grant community can deliver simple solutions to complex problems at affordable prices

Innovation: Converting Ideas into Results

Governments are in the business of public service. They are looked to as bodies to foster innovative ideas necessary to positively impact today’s public policy issues.  The key to unleashing government leaders and their employees to engage in real talk about innovation is introducing a method to confront today’s social and economic challenges.  Attend this workshop and you and your team will learn how to adopt a RAPID Innovation approach to smart risk-taking and explore innovative ways to rethink, reconnect, reinvent and redesign strategy, and service delivery.  You will explore progressive and practical ways to overcome the current forces that impact local governments today by bypassing the typical responses supporting the ‘we’ve always done it that way’ approach to problem-solving and find out how to craft a robust and practical action plan to implement innovation in your community.

Integrated Emergency 9-1-1 Response Solutions

This interactive workshop is provided by iXP Corporation, a nationally recognized public safety organization that provides consulting, technology and outsourcing solutions.  The workshop focuses on emergency 9-1-1 response communications alternatives and includes case studies from large and small local governments across the US.  Learn about integrated emergency 9-1-1 response solutions including shared services, outsourcing, consolidation and regionalization.  

Mobile Apps - Citizen's Smartphone Reporting Apps

This free presentation discusses how your organization can start using “Smart Phone Reporting Apps” in the next two days that will provide:

Citizen Engagement

• enhance customer service

• identify problem areas

• augment efficiency of existing services

• integrate with existing software programs

• implement real time communication between residents and municipal departments

• available on multiple platforms (iPhone, Android, web)

• no cost to municipalities or residents

 Existing Applications Available for Municipal Operations

• public works

• asset collection

• permits and inspections

• general services

• surveys

• code enforcement

Non-Traditional Revenue Resources

Many of today's local governments are struggling to keep up with ever increasing service demands coupled with reduced funding.  Today, cities and counties are developing innovative revenue-generating partnerships and programs between the public and private sector to help augment budgets to expand services and fund supplemental programs.  Join in this half-day interactive workshop to review case studies and gain insight into how your city or county can boost revenues without increasing taxes or fees.  

performance measures: what counts

Have you ever been given a job to do and asked, “What’s the point?”  Performance measures help reveal “the point” and assess how successfully we are progressing towards that end.  Performance measures are NOT the stick we build that is later used against us.  Instead, they are indicators for us to use for:

• Assessing how well we are doing

• Knowing when we need to make adjustments to our programs and services

This interactive one day class will give participants many opportunities to evaluate existing measures and create meaningful measures where they do not already exist.

Priority Based Budgeting

Communities today are struggling to develop meaningful and fiscally prudent budgets under financial pressures unknown in modern times. Revenues are down while demand for services are up. Citizens believe governments are “fat” and that waste is available to cut. Civic leaders often believe fiscal policy should center on spreading the pain (equal cuts across the board).  This workshop demonstrates how many local governments have turned to Priority Based Budgeting in order to align budgets and resources with your communities goals and objectives as identified by your elected officials, maintaining high valued community services with a holistic approach to well informed budget reductions.    

remarkable services-remarkable results

You've had great customer service and you've had terrible customer service, right?  Do you have a blueprint for delivering the highest level of customer service?  During this workshop you'll learn how customers develop expectations and how you can create the customer-focused environment it takes to meet those expectations.  You'll leave with specific steps to take and new tools for your toolbox.   

Simplify Compensation Administration While Increasing Efficiency

At a time when budgets are stretched increasingly thin, and organizations are forced to do more with less, supporting the maintenance of your compensation program with PayDesigner © can provide significant cost savings.  The platform and support services from The Waters Consulting Group, Inc. (WCG) provide dynamic interaction with your organization’s current pay structure(s) in an easy to understand, Web-based interface. PayDesigner © was developed for key personnel who have a need to understand, control, and otherwise manage the most costly item in local government: employee pay and benefits.  PayDesigner © helps your organization administer its total compensation program by providing a tool that Human Resources (HR) staff can use to create, manage, and maintain employee pay systems with the guidance and support of WCG’s compensation professionals. PayDesigner © will ensure your organization has a competitive and equitable compensation system in place that meets best practices without the impact associated with an expensive comprehensive study.

Strategic Planning 101

This two-day workshop provides participants with a step by step methodology for developing an effective strategic plan.  No hype, no fluff, no monster manuals to gather dust.    For each planning component, the terminology is clear and concise, government examples are provided and a means for evaluation included.  This tried and true approach ensures your strategic plan guides decision making and resource allocation.  Each participant will receive the step by step manual as well as tools and templates to position your organization for success.  Participants are encouraged to bring existing planning documents to this workshop.

succession planning: the future is now workshop

Public sector employees continue to retire and the pace is expected to accelerate.  The “brain drain” of seasoned, knowledgeable employees places your organization at a critical juncture: the need for experienced and seasoned professional staff members has never been greater and the trend which shows these organizational members as the most likely to be departing the organization in the very near future.  Patrick Ibarra of the Mejorando Group will conduct this highly interactive Succession Planning Workshop equipping you and your management team members with powerful and practical tools to build a stronger bench of leaders and managers prepared to tackle today and tomorrow’s toughest challenges.

Utility Service Line Failures

The NLC Service Line Warranty Program, administered by USP, helps city’s provide their residents with the resources to save thousands of dollars in the costs of repairing broken or leaking water or sewer lines. This service is offered at no cost to the city.  The workshop focuses on pioneering partnerships with city/municipal governments and utilities to provide utility line warranties to their customers.

why innovation matters more than ever:  Exploring partnerships and organizational renewal

The 2008 financial crisis and its aftermath have resulted in local governments having to review how they do business and reinvent service delivery models.  There is evidence that local government leaders have pursued a number of different goals with a variety of strategies and tactics.  In general, the cutbacks have forced either proactive or reactive changes.  Proactive efforts have aimed to create longer-term effectiveness, efficiency and stability.  The result is a positive difference for the organization compared to conditions that existed before the fiscal crises began or that would have resulted from arbitrary actions.  Karen Thoreson, President of the Alliance for Innovation, leads this half-day timely and interactive workshop.