A History Of Magic

For me, the Disney experience is still magical.  Like I’m sure I have in common with many of our CSMFO members who grew up in southern California and beyond, for that matter, I have vivid memories of Disneyland from childhood.  In the days long before annual park passes, the Disney MaxPass, and Disney California Adventure, my family and I spent many a summer day in the land of Mickey Mouse.

CSMFO Visits The Mouse

In late April, the 2020 Annual Conference Host Committee had the pleasure of meeting onsite at the Disneyland Hotel.  As this was one of likely only two in-person meetings of the committee in preparation for our Anaheim 2020 Annual Conference, we set forth an ambitious agenda for the day, with much to see and much to accomplish.  I am pleased to report that our Disney day did not disappoint, and in fact, I believe we accomplished more than I could have hoped for.

Our day trip started with a lengthy meeting in a Disneyland Hotel conference room, followed by tours of various sites in Downtown Disney, as well as portions of Disney California Adventure.    All of this in preparation for the 2020 conference and related special events such as the annual President’s Dinner and our marquee social event, which typically takes place on the evening of conference Thursday.  However, if there’s one thing I’ve learned in working with Disney on host committees for both 2016 and now for 2020, the Disney approval process for confirming conference details is incredibly lengthy and complicated.

On a related note, Disney informed us shortly before this April onsite planning meeting, that we will very likely not have the opportunity to consider hosting a park experience for conference attendees and guests on conference Thursday.  The good news, however, is that a Wednesday evening park experience is a distinct possibility which we will continue to explore with our Disney sales and operations representatives.  Stay tuned for additional updates as information becomes available.

The other major 2020 conference development to report is that we will likely be offering either two or possibly as many as three half and/or full-day preconference educational sessions on conference Tuesday, and our Program Committee is also exploring the possibility of hosting several early bird sessions on Wednesday morning of the conference.  This would be in advance of our traditional lunchtime Wednesday conference kick-off.  The early bird Wednesday morning sessions would likely be included in the cost full conference registration, while there would be a modest fee to attend the Tuesday preconference classes.  Of course, we’re also planning our traditional Tuesday preconference golf and tennis events as well.

Back To The Magic…

So back to the magic of Disney – by now your calendar should already be marked for CSMFO’s 60^th Annual Conference – Yesterday, Tomorrow and Finance – taking place January 28-31, 2020 at the Disneyland Hotel.  To quote Walt Disney, “Around here, however, we don’t look backwards very long.  We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”  With that said, your host and program committees are working diligently to put on another fantastic CSMFO annual conference next January.

Steve Heide is the Finance Director, Chino Valley Fire District, Chino Hills, California.

Over 30 years of professional finance experience, having worked in government and private industry in a variety of finance positions with progressive levels of responsibility. Previous positions in public accounting, healthcare and non-profit/government.