Member of the 2020 Annual Conference Host Committee & Senior Advisor - Communications Committee. Currently Adjunct Professor CSUN & CSULB & part-time Fiscal Sustainability Manager for the City of Los Alamitos.
What was your first trip like to Disneyland? Mine was with my parents and sister in 1956. What do I remember . . . . . . not much, because I was too young. But old family photos left behind in a family scrapbook show a just completed park, with the Cain family arriving in our new 1956 Buick Special ready to experience this new California theme park. If you ask our 2020 Conference Key Note Speaker Dr. Jeff Barnes, also known as Dr. Disneyland, what he remembers about his first trip 30 years ago – he hated it! That’s right you heard it here. According to Jeff, it was too hot, too crowded, and it took over three hours to get on their first Disney ride. 30 years later Jeff teaches a college course at Disney U and has written two books about the Wisdom of Walt and visits Disneyland every chance he gets.
Well, what changed to inspire him to become Dr. Disneyland? To hear his answer, join us at the 2020 CSMFO Conference at Disneyland Hotel on Wednesday January 29, 2020. Jeff will tell his story in person as our opening keynote speaker.
Dr. Jeffrey “Jeff” Barnes is the best-selling author of The Wisdom of Walt: Leadership Lessons from the Happiest Place on Earth and Beyond the Wisdom of Walt: Life Lessons from the Most Magical Place on Earth. Known as Dr. Disneyland, he teaches the only accredited college course on the History of Disneyland.
He is also an international Disney motivational speaker, higher education administrator, university professor, and leadership/success coach. He has more than thirty-five years of professional speaking experience and nearly twenty years’ experience leading teams in higher education and teaching more than twenty different college courses. Jeffrey lives in Riverside, California with his family. When he is not speaking, teaching or writing, Jeff enjoys spending as much time as possible in “The Happiest Place on Earth.”
Stay connected to our online CSMFO News to get the latest information about our other CSMFO Conference keynote speakers in the weeks to come. In the meantime what is your most Magical Memory of Disneyland? Send us your memory, you just might be featured in an upcoming CSMFO News feature.
David Cain – Recently retired Director of Finance from the City of Fountain Valley having worked in the cities of San Bernardino, Chino, Sierra Madre and for Moulton Niguel Water District. Active as an adjunct Professor for the MPA programs at CSUN and CSULB and occasional quest speaker for various California public sector groups and associations.
