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Leading with Focus: Collaboration and Productivity without a Billion Videoconferences

Beth Z. - Your Nerdy Best Friend

Overnight, the traditional workplace culture shifted when the pandemic forced our country's workforces into work from-home models. Never-ending videoconferences haven't helped you and your colleagues be more efficient... they're just wasting your time.

Join Your Nerdy Best Friend, aka Beth Z, for proven techniques for focus and productivity, along with the tools to lead your team to be more efficient and effective.

Although the only real trophy she ever won was for making perfect French fries at McDonald’s in high school, Beth Z has been featured on Best Speaker lists by Meetings & Conventions magazine and MeetingsNet. And she recently attained her credentials to be a Certified Speaking Professional. It’s kind of a big deal.

Since her first Commodore 64 computer, Beth has made a verb out of the word nerd. She helps computer users all over the country filter through thousands of apps, gadgets, widgets and doodads to find the perfect free and bargain technology tools for business and personal use through presentations and her books, including the latest title, The Big Book of Apps, available on Amazon.com.

Break and Networking with the Exhibitors

Holding Public Meetings During COVID-19

Eddy Beltran, Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed the way special district boards conduct meetings. Videoconferencing has become the norm and certain provisions of the Brown Act that would otherwise prohibit or limit its use have been rendered inapplicable by executive order. Yet, board meetings remain subject to certain procedural rules guaranteeing public participation. Learn how to ensure that public participation is protected when using videoconferencing.

Customer Service in the Public Sector

CPS HR Consulting

Unlike many businesses that provide customer service, public service providers are often the only game in town. This customer service training program is designed for public employees who routinely deliver services in the field. This class will explore the Three Dimensions of Service as they apply to your agency: the human dimension, the business dimension, and the hidden dimension.

Lunch Break

Building Trust with Community Engagement

Michelle Stephens, Bang the Table

Evidence shows engagement increases trust and satisfaction in your community. You will walk away from this crash-course in community engagement understanding audience identification, tool selection, the management of risks, and analysis of results in order to help you make better, data-driven decisions.

Be Brave! Learn How to Influence Peak Performance Management

Golbou Ghassemieh & Frances Trant, Koff & Associates

In this Performance Management session, you’ll learn practical methods for how to overcome fear in delivering and receiving feedback to establish a welcoming culture of communication in your agency

Lights, Smartphones, ACTION: Five Ways to Make Social Media and Marketing Videos at Home

Beth Z. - Your Nerdy Best Friend

Your team members and clients may be physically isolated during the COVID-19 pandemic, so now’s the perfect time to share videos that bring people together. Join Beth Z, Your Nerdy Best Friend, for a primer on five bargain (and free) tech tools to make cool videos for social media and marketing. Discover ideas for staff picture slide shows, product showcases, explainer videos, and more.

Happy Hour Bingo

Join your fellow attendees and our exhibitors and sponsors for a fun afternoon of bingo and prizes!

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How to Listen So People Can Hear You

Laurie Brown

This quote still describes the fundamental problem with the current state of day to day communication. Your work with colleagues, managers, vendors, customers, and suppliers requires you to be able to communicate effectively; yet communication has never been more difficult. We must contend with the various generational differences in communication styles among, many other roadblocks. In this highly interactive and fun session, Laurie Brown will provide tools and techniques to help you build rapport, trust, and dynamic listening skills to become an effective communicator.

We'll cover:

• How first impressions are formed and why this is so important
• Elements that help build rapport and trust
• Listening to understand with empathy
• How to paraphrase so that people feel heard
• Using questioning skills to get to the heart of the matter

Laurie is passionate about providing engaging facilitation, training, and coaching that makes a difference. She is the author of The Greet Your Customer Manual, The Teleprompter Manual and Brand-aid.

Break and Networking with the Exhibitors

Cybersecurity: Foundations Build the Future

Dale Badore, Rancho Water

This session will look at Cybersecurity Foundations that support future efforts. We will cover best practices and provoke skeptical thinking that can help your agency address cybersecurity challenges. We will discuss how to protect your special district from today’s threats. Threats like ´Command and Control,’ ´Ransomware,’ and even Advanced Persistent Threats (APT’s) from Nation-States. We will also talk about some of the many resources freely available to your special district, and we will discuss the ongoing ´Costs of Cybercrime.’

How to Successfully Use Social Media (Without Burying You or Your Staff)

Jennifer Harrison, Pando Public Relations

Social media is an effective way to communicate with stakeholders and improve goodwill: however, it can be overwhelming to get started, especially without understanding potential trouble spots and impact on the management team. There are ways to use social media properties effectively without burying your staff in endless hours of monitoring and writing posts, and we’ll teach you how to do it. We will walk through the most current social media properties and situations for which they are best suited. Managers and support staff will leave with a check off list for how to evaluate their own district’s needs, tools to make it easier to manage social properties, understanding how to create an editorial calendar, and easily find or create content

Lunch Break

What Microsoft is Serving Up to Us Next...What it is For, and How to Use it

Diane Gladwell

Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, Delve, Sway, Power BI, and more. Explained in language you understand, plus helpful tips and tricks for each. It’s important to keep up with your IT department and the technology you will be asked to use now, and in the future. An Interactive session with an engaging, real-world expert who has assisted over 200 local governments in California.

Diane Gladwell has assisted over 200 California local governments, including numerous Special Districts, with electronic records management, e-mail, records retention, and document imaging programs (ECMS). Diane has been the President of Gladwell Governmental Services, Inc. for over twenty years. Prior to that, she was the City Clerk for two different cities, managing organization-wide records management and document imaging programs (and elections, of course.) Diane has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and is a Master Municipal Clerk.

Developing and Implementing a Records Retention Schedule

Emilie Costan, South Placer Municipal Utility District

This session will cover the various components of a Records Retention Schedule and provide you with practical tips for developing, implementing, and maintaining a retention schedule that works for your organization. In this session, you will learn how to simplify the records retention process and increase compliance in your Records Management Program.

Understanding and Maximizing How to Partner with the American Red Cross

Norma Vega & Jeanne Woo, American Red Cross

The American Red Cross’ (ARC) mission is to prevent and alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies. We do so in partnership with key government agencies and elected officials. This webinar will provide:

• Basic understanding of ARC services
• Understanding ARC’s role as a “Mass Care Lead” Partner
• How ARC works with partners in steady-state conditions and emergency response operations.
• Updates on changes to service delivery during COVID-19

Exhibitor Demos

Virtual TRIVIA

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Government Code Section 1090 - What You Don’t Know Could Hurt You

Steve Churchwell, Churchwell White LLP

The courts recently extended the coverage of Section 1090 to contractors and consultants to public agencies. The prohibition can also make drafting an RFP for a design-build contract a nightmare. But understanding the rules, and the numerous exceptions, will make everyone’s life at a district easier. We will also discuss the differences between Section 1090 and the other conflict laws: the Political Reform Act and common law conflicts of interest.

Effective and Legal Meetings in a Technology World

Richards Watson Gershon

Use of technology by board members, and during board meetings, can lead to more efficient and accessible meetings, but it can also open a Pandora’s box of pitfalls. This presentation will explore how districts can harness the value of incorporating technology into the board room, while minimizing the potential risks. Topics will include best practices for cloud-based document storage, electronic agenda packets, use of social media, compliance with the Brown Act, accessibility, and more.

Break and Networking with the Exhibitors

Train Your Brain for Positivity

CPS HR Consulting

This session reveals how our brains can lock into positive thought patterns. You will learn techniques to build your confidence in rechanneling your thoughts to more constructive outcomes. See how shifting your perspective can keep you out of the rabbit hole of negativity and into the open field of thinking more positively about yourself and your life.

How to Lead just about any Internal Project - Successfully

Sloane Dell’Orto, Streamline

If you have a hard time getting buy-in for projects you want to tackle at your district, this talk will help! Whether it’s cranky board members, reluctant staff, or members of the public that are getting in the way of tackling and completing your dream project, the tricks we’ve learned from our robust, inclusive “discovery” process can help you lead conversations that will get everyone on board and pulling in the same direction.

Event Adjourns