A Winning Combination- CSMFO at GFOA L.A.
GFOA Annual Conference
In May, I was among the 1500+ California attendees at the 113th Government Finance Officers Association Annual Conference held at the Los Angeles Convention Center. As was the case at our CSMFO conferences, many of the sessions were SRO (Standing Room Only or Sitting Room Only – on the floor at one session for me). Even more so, some GFOA room monitors had to turn attendees away from sessions that had too many people.
The CSMFO Booth & Reception
I am proud to say CSMFO was well represented at GFOA, with a fabulous booth at the Exhibit Hall (the best if you ask me!), with a fun beach backdrop, beach balls, info on our organization, and all of our CSMFO hats that were give-aways disappeared in a snap. We had a winning combination of giving attendees selfie opportunities and promoting our 2020 conference. Then there was the fabulous Sunday night event at The Nest at the Ritz Carlton. We had over 700 people “RSVP” to the event – which was intended to be a reception to filter in throughout the evening. And even though there were many other events that evening, we were successful in having many of our RSVP’s attend and create challenges for The Nest. But they were gracious enough to extend the time we had scheduled and flexible with our size. Based on the feedback I heard, our municipal, commercial and students who were there thought it was a first-rate event.
Sessions, Lunch & Friends
At the conference, I was able to congratulate outgoing GFOA President Steven Gibson (Deputy City Manager, City of Rock Hill, SC) on his term of service. Steven attended our Palm Springs conference and shared with me some very kind words about CSMFO and how we operate. I will admit that I am spoiled by the many CSMFO conferences I have attended, and GFOA is rather overwhelming with the sheer size of attendees. At CSMFO you are sure to bump into friends and acquaintances, but at GFOA there were folks I never saw though I knew they were in attendance. I even heard positive feedback on our new CPE tracking system as compared to the GFOA scanning system after a session. And, by comparison, their lunches leave a bit to be desired for me as I enjoy and appreciate all the work our volunteers do to create for our conference lunch models with CSMFO business and keynote speakers. I have to admit that I did opt out of a lunch or two to catch up with colleagues and friends, and to chill off-site another day. One aspect I thought was a very cool offering by GFOA was the live-streaming option for some of the keynote or larger sessions offered at the conference. Perhaps something CSMFO can move toward in the future.
Congratulations To Friends
In addition to sharing my perspectives on GFOA, I do want to take a moment to thank our membership committee and respective Board Liaison Jennifer Wakeman. I know they are leading our student engagement team towards broadening our student membership and promoting our 2020 Anaheim conference and the other benefits CSFMO can offer to students. This is an important effort as we look to the future of our profession in municipal finance.
Best of luck in this the month of budget adoptions for those of us on a July – June fiscal year – I know I am going to need it! And finally, congrats to Carrie Matson, my former colleague in Burbank, who I learned would be joining the Thousand Oaks Finance team as their new Deputy Finance Director.
Joan Michaels Aguilar is the Deputy City Manager-Admin Services for the City of Dixon.
