ACMA

Last week was the Arizona City/County Management Association (ACMA) winter conference, held every year in Sedona, AZ. Details can be found here. The experience is a nice complement to the intern experience. Meeting people and networking with managers from around the state is a big part of the experience. This year I felt I was particularly successful in that regard. I opted to go for quality of networking instead of quantity. Especially now there are so few managers that can hire if you find one you've got to work that connection even if it means meting less other people.

Anyway, prior to the conference I had accepted an invitation to a dinner (sponsored by SRP, thank you Patricia) at a restaurant down the hill from the hotel. This turned out to be a good decision both for food and for networking. The conference is also a chance to learn from some of the best managers around and see what they have found to be working in their organizations. I was fortunate to be involved in putting together a presentation that was used during the Thursday 3:15 session on "Achieving a prosperous tomorrow despite the challenges of today". ACMA really is a good opportunity for those interested in municipal management in Arizona; I really recommend it to those who can make the trip.