APWA Bridges 1 June/July 2013

The Newsletter for Chapter Leaders June/July 2013

This Month’s Focus: CONGRESS

In This Issue

1 2013 Top Ten Pubic Works Leaders of the Year Chosen

2 Marketing APWA at the Chapter Level...It Can Be Done!

4 Will Your Chapter Win the CMA Award?

4 July 13th Deadline to Inform National of Your Chapter Dinner at the 2013 Congress

5 Congress Highlights for Chapter Leaders

5 Continuing Education Units

7 Education Calendar

2013 Top Ten Pubic Works Leaders of the Year ChosenThe Top Ten Public Works Leaders of the Year Award seeks to inspire excellence and dedication in public service by recognizing the outstanding career service achievements of individual public works profession-als from both the public and private sectors. Refer to the May 2013 APWA Reporter for more information on the Top Ten Public Works Leaders of the Year.

Howard S. Lazarus, P.E., PWLFDirector of Public Works

City of Austin, Texas

Thomas M. (Tom) MontgomeryPublic Works Director

City of Hastings, Minnesota

Allen R. PersonsDirector of Public Works

Village of Plainfield, Illinois

John A. Edlebeck, P.E.Director of Public Works/City

EngineerCity of Waupaca, Wisconsin

Melissa A. (Missy) Gentry, P.E., MBAAssistant City Manager for Operations

City of Columbia, South Carolina

William P. (Bill) HadleyPublic Works Director

Town of Lexington, Massachusetts

Donald D. Jacobovitz, P.E., PWLFPublic Works Director

Putnam County, Florida

Wylie Bearup, P.E., Ph.D.Street Transportation Director/City

EngineerCity of Phoenix, Arizona

Julia R. BuerenPublic Works Director

Contra Costa County, California

Christopher B. Burke, Ph.D., P.E., D.WRE, F.ASCE, President, Christo-

pher B. Burke EngineeringRosemont, Illinois

APWA Bridges 2 June/July 2013

By: Charles R. “Chas” Jordan, MPAManagement Analyst III, City of Largo, FloridaMarketing and Social Media Chairman, Florida Chapter

One thing that we public works professionals have always had a hard time doing is “tooting our own horn” or putting ourselves out there for the public to see. This tends to flow into the organizations we support as our membership tends to not be oriented towards publicity, public relations, and marketing. We too often are our own worst enemies when it comes to showing the value of public works to the public, and the value of APWA to our fellow professionals.

In Florida, we recognized this shortcoming and set out to do something about it.

Over the past three years, the Florida Chapter Executive Committee chose to set a new stan-dard for chapter marketing. This started with the adoption of our chapter strategic plan, which included “branding” as one of our four primary strategies for continued excellence. The idea was that APWA in Florida should not only be branding the organization to be the one-stop shop for public works professionals in the state, but also branding public works as a vital public resource and service to everyone in Florida.

The question then became, “How do we do that?”

We decided to go at this project much like the old joke about how one has to eat an elephant: one bite at a time. The first bite was communica-tion and branding. This included a new social media communication strategy that put the Florida Chapter into the social media outlets that would be the most useful to the Chapter—the

vehicles that would, hopefully provide members with immediate needed information, as well as a way to connect with one another outside of our events. This plan of action included utilizing Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and most importantly, LinkedIn. These sites all required minimal time to set up and get published, and even less time to keep updated (especially when you can share this responsibility with a number of chapter administrators).

At the same time that we rolled out our social media sites, we were working on a new chapter brand. This started with the first and most important aspect of any branding exercise: the chapter logo. Up until 2012, the Florida Chapter was still utilizing a rendition of the older APWA national logo with a silhouette of Florida behind it. This was immediately recognized as a needed change, primarily because it did not support or lift up the new national brand, as well as not being special or easily identifiable with the Florida Chapter.

Ms. Cami Travis-Groves from APWA National came to our rescue and developed a new logo that:

1. matched the national branding requirements,

2. updated the look of our logo to have a more modern feel,

3. allowed the chapter to “brand” our branches as being a part of the chapter while providing the branches a new logo that more appropriately matched their region.

This fit very well into our concept of chapter branding. It provided a way for our Branches to market and promote themselves while, at the same time, they promote and market the chapter.

Over the next year, the committee worked with each branch in the chapter (there are eleven) to develop a similar logo that also

This newsletter is published bimonthly by the APWA Chapter Relations Department and provides insider informa-tion on APWA activities for chapter leaders.Please address comments to:Bridges NewsletterAPWA2345 Grand Blvd., Suite 700Kansas City, MO 64108-2625ph 800-848-2792, ext. 5260

Bridges

Marketing APWA at the Chapter Level...It Can Be Done!

APWA Bridges 3 June/July 2013

matched the uniqueness of their branch or region. Some examples are below.

After the basis for our chapter brand was developed, we needed a plan to take it not only to a new level, but to also disseminate it and use it to market the chapter. The marketing and social media committee developed the first Florida Chapter marketing plan with five primary objectives:

1. Establish and market the Florida Chapter “brand”

2. Increase positive name recognition and public perception of public works in Florida

3. Increase APWA membership in Florida4. Enhance social media and electronic pres-

ence of the Florida Chapter5. Increase engagement by members and

increase attendance at the Florida Chapter Conference

These objectives each came with a number of strategies for how to fulfill these objectives and with specific tactics, tasks, and responsible parties listed to achieve accountability and to guarantee follow through. The Florida Chapter Executive Committee approved this plan in

January of 2013 and, already, the committee is almost 70% completed with the plan’s tasks.

One of the outcomes from this plan was the creation of a brand for not only the APWA Florida Chapter but for public works in Florida. This included a new tagline that is simply: “First to Respond, Last to Leave,” which represents public works’ first responder responsibilities that are especially important to departments in Florida. We also developed a theme that included a “sunshine” look

that helps to recognize our chapter and the fact that we live here in the Sunshine State. This was all done with volunteer assistance, through an amazing marketing director and an art director at a member vendor firm here in the state (Thank you again!).

In the end, the chapter has now developed materials, our social media sites and more around this new look to begin exposing everyone to the chapter and to public works. Some of our best work has been in our print materials (postcards and pocket booklets) and our online videos.

If you would like to view some of our videos, feel free to join us at: http://www.youtube.com/user/APWAFlorida and e-mail me if you would like copies of our print materials. Our chapter is happy to help any other chapter in APWA, because the more voices that join the song, the better the melody.

Let’s all get out there and put a great face and image on the greatest profession in public service: public works!

Charles R. “Chas” Jordan can be reached at cjordan@largo.com

Click to download the Florida Chapter’s membership booklet.

APWA Bridges 4 June/July 2013

Chapters are encouraged to meet for dinner and fellowship during APWA’s International Public Works Congress & Exposition on Tuesday evening, August 27th, in Chicago, Illinois. APWA wants to help your chapter create a great evening with these helpful suggestions.

If you need help on determining a location to hold your chapter dinner, please contact Lacy Petticrew, Chicago CVB client services manager at 312-567-8488 or by e-mail at lpetticrew@choosechicago.com. Another contact would be

Lawrence Lux with the Chicago Metro Chapter at Luxadvisors@comcast.net. After you have determined the location, you can invite your members through your chapter website or e-mail them. Contact Diana Forbes, meeting planner/exhibit sales manager at dforbes@apwa.net for a list of people who have signed up for Congress from your chapter. If you have a dinner that has multiple chapters in one state, you will need to supply zip codes.

(continued on page 5)

July 10th the winners of the 2013 Chapter Membership Achievement Award will be announced. The 63 chapters of APWA have been separated into 6 size categories and the top chapter, in terms of net membership growth, in each category will become the winner of the 2013 Chapter Membership Achievement Award.

For a quick look at how your chapter is doing in member recruitment and retention compared to other similar-sized chapters, take a look at the Membership Statistics – By Chapter Size (all chapters) report at https://www2.apwa.net/MembersOnly/ChapterResources/reports.asp. The winning chapters receive recognition in Bridges, in the Reporter, on the Membership

Coaches Corner website, and at Congress; with a chapter banner patch; and a $500 check to be utilized for providing educational content for their chapter members.

This chart shows the May month-end statis-tics. Final award determination won’t be made until the June month-end stats are available (on July 8th)!

Contact Brad Patterson or Patty Mahan, at 800-848-APWA, if you would like ideas about how to increase your chapter’s chances of winning, or if you have questions about the award or your chapter’s online reports.

Will Your Chapter Win the CMA Award?

July 13th Deadline to Inform National of Your Chapter Dinner at the 2013 Congress

Chapter Size Category (based upon qty of members as of June 30, 2012)

Top Chapter as of May Month-End Reports

(posted online June 8, 2013)

Net Membership Increase from June 30, 2012 –

May 31, 2013(posted online June 8, 2013) Challenger(s)

100 members or less Newfoundland/Labrador 6.56% Arkansas (3.13%)

101-200 members Saskatchewan 32.04% Louisiana (14.65%)

201-300 members Ventura County, CA 7.82% Alabama (2.97%)

301-500 members Utah 5.28% Silicon Valley (3.65%)

501-850 members Northern California 3.69% Wisconsin (2.47%)

More than 850 members Mid-Atlantic 4.95% Washington (4.73%)

APWA Bridges 5 June/July 2013

(continued from page 4)

Inform National by submitting your chapter dinner information by July 13th, 2013, using the chapter dinner form located in the Chapter Leader Resources Area of the APWA website under Chapter Management, Leadership Tools.

You can also use the link provided. http://www.apwa.net/congress/Chapter-Dinner-Information

If you have any questions, please contact Rhonda Wilhite at rwilhite@apwa.net or 800-848-2792, ext. 5261.

If you are attending the 2013 International Public Works Congress & Exposition in Chicago please note the following educational and program sessions:

Saturday, August 247 a.m. – 4 p.m., House of Delegates Annual Meeting at the Hilton Hotel

Sunday, August 258:30 – 10 a.m., Young Professionals Steering Group at the Convention Center

2 – 3 pm, Chapter Leaders Forum at the Conven-tion Center

Monday, August 2610 a.m. – Noon, Chapter Website Template Training – Convention Center

5 – 7 p.m., Awards & Recognition Ceremony and Reception, Convention Center Arie Crown Theater

8 – 9:30 p.m., Young Professionals Networking Reception at Buddy Guys, Level Two

Tuesday, August 2710 a.m. – Noon, Chapter Website Template Training – Convention Center

1 – 4 p.m., Chapter Website Template Training – Convention Center

2 – 4 p.m., Chapter Treasurers and Administra-tors – Ask National – Convention Center

For a complete list of educational offerings please visit the APWA website at www.apwa.net/congress.

The Continuing Education Unit (CEU) is a nationally recognized method of quantifying the time spent in the classroom during professional development and training activities. Ten hours of instruction = 1.0 CEU. One hour of instruc-tion = 0.1 CEU.

The Professional Development Hour (PDH) is a term established by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) in their “Continuing Professional Competency Guidelines.” In these guidelines, NCEES defines the relationship between CEUs and PDHs as: 0.1 CEU (1 hour of instruction) =

1 PDH; 1.0 CEU (10 hours of instruction) = 10 PDHs.

What Can CEUs Do for You?The primary purpose of the CEU is to provide

a permanent record of the educational accom-plishments of an individual who has completed significant non-credit educational and career enhancement experiences. CEUs are needed by many individuals to obtain or renew industry certifications or licenses. However, CEUs are not only limited to these professionals.

(continued on page 6)

Congress Highlights for Chapter Leaders

Continuing Education Units

APWA Bridges 6 June/July 2013

(continued from page 5)

CEUs are a great way to enhance one’s profes-sional portfolio as well. The process provides printable validation and acknowledgement of the extra learning sessions you are participating in outside of the normal work environment. This can help when you are preparing to move up the corporate ladder, ask for a raise, or simply grow your own personal knowledge of your industry.

IACET Authorized CEU Provider The American Public Works Association has

been accredited as an Authorized Provider by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET), 1760 Old Meadow Road, Suite 500, McLean, VA 22102; 703-506-3275.

CEUs and APWA ChaptersCEUs are a great way for chapters to

provide an added value to their members when attending chapter events. For only $35/workshops and $50/conferences due from the chapter, you can provide your members with a CEU opportunity at an event they would likely already be attending. Make sure your chapter is taking advantage of some of the lowest prices per CEU in the industry.

To apply for approval to issue CEUs for APWA chapter events, please click on either the “Work-shop/Seminar” or the “Conference” application form located in the left navigator bar.

CEU Approval for APWA Chapter EventsTo apply for approval to issue CEUs for APWA

chapter events, chapters can submit a CEU application for a chapter Workshop or Confer-ence via our website.

• ChapterWorkshops: (non-concurrent sessions): http://www2.apwa.net/Education/CEU/CEU_Form_ChapWork.asp APWA chapters must submit a separate form for each workshop/seminar for which they wish approval to offer CEUs to participants. Application for CEU approval must be submitted to APWA at least 10 working days prior to the event date. APWA will notify the chapter contact of approval by e-mail and include all of the procedures, participant forms, and validation stickers as e-mail attachments. A $35 application fee is due to APWA for approval of this application. APWA will send an invoice to the chapter treasurer for payment of this fee.

• ChapterConferences (multiple concurrent sessions): http://www2.apwa.net/Education/CEU/CEU_Form_ChapConf.asp APWA chapters must submit a separate form for each conference for which they wish approval to offer CEUs to participants. Application for CEU approval must be submitted to APWA at least 10 working days prior to the event date. APWA will notify the chapter contact of approval by e-mail and include all of the procedures, participant forms, and validation stickers as e-mail attachments. A $50 application fee is due to APWA for approval of this application. APWA will send an invoice to the chapter treasurer for payment of this fee.

Please direct CEU questions to Karen Wilson, senior manager-continuing education, kwilson@apwa.net, 816-595-5210, or to Heather DelaCruz, professional development coordinator, hdela-cruz@apwa.net, 816-595-5215.

APWA Bridges 7 June/July 2013

If you have expertise that you would like to share, please use the online Call for Presentations form to describe your expertise and perspective on the topic: www.apwa.net/callforpresentations.

2013

EDUCATION AT YOUR DESKTOP

July 18 An Introduction to MicroPAVER

EDUCATION AT YOUR DESKTOP

August 15 MicroPAVER FieldInspector Overview

August 25-282013 International Public Works Congress & ExpositionMcCormick Place, Chicago, Illinois

For more information about these programs or to register online, visit www2.apwa.net/events. Program information will be updated as it becomes available. Questions? Call the Professional Development Department at

1-800-848-APWA. If you have expertise in any of the upcoming live topics, please use the online call for presentations form to describe your expertise and perspective on the topic. www.apwa.net/conferences/cfp.

Education Calendar

= Click, Listen, & Learn program (free to members and available to nonmembers for a registration fee)EDUCATION AT YOUR DESKTOP

= Live Conference (paid registration)