We hope that you all had a happy and enjoyable holiday season. Even though the 2012 Conference is still quite a ways off, as Co-Chairs, we can assure you that the planning process for the event is well underway. The conference kick-off meeting was held on January 6th at Minnetonka City Hall. Minutes from that meeting can be downloaded below.

If you haven't heard, we are bringing the conference back to Arrowwood Resort in Alexandria this year. The conference has been held there on more than a few occasions, so you know it’s a great place to meet. How can you go wrong in the heart of Lakes Country? Here is the link to their website so you can see this magnificent facility for yourself: http://www.arrowwoodresort.com/

Didn’t make the kick-off meeting? Don’t worry, there are still plenty of opportunities for you to get involved and help out with this year’s conference. A new subcommittee is being implemented this year. We are calling it the Technology Committee, with the intent to integrate social media and new technological applications into the conference that will allow for, among other benefits, quicker feedback and access to resources. So, if any of you have wanted to see the conference implement more technological approaches, now is your chance to join the new committee and have some input. Just contact one of the Conference Co-chairs.

We are especially interested in increasing student representation on the committee as well as at the conference and will be considering possible discount incentives for those who wish to participate.

If your current schedule doesn’t allow you to get involved at this point, there will be plenty of volunteer opportunities at the conference, so please keep that in mind.

In these times of tight staffing and slim budgets we are working to provide you with a valuable conference experience. As the conference committee continues to work on developing the conference, we will keep you informed through newsletter and email updates on what is happening with this year’s conference.

Looking forward to seeing you in September.

Stephanie Scott-Sims and Greg Wagner, AICP, 2012 Conference Co-Chairs

Kickoff Meeting Minutes >