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Live from Reno ! Monday, May 19th, 2008 Greetings from Reno !
Sunday was spent in two back-to-back legal sessions with Ed Thomas and I was fortunate enough to be able to tape the classes and also to get hard copies of the handouts. Ed also gave me the presentations on my flash drive so stay tuned to the website for further details. Gene Henry (our Region 4 Rep) introduced Tom McDonald and I to Larry Larson, the ASFPM Executive Director, last night - and we were able to spend some time bragging on what our Association is doing in the way of training and how active our regional reps are in that effort - again, be sure and check the website out for those opportunities. Don't forget that the dates for "Coastal Connections", the GAFM Fall Training Conference, are set and will be Sept 11 and 12 in Jekyll Island, GA. This morning I am shadowing the Conference folks so that GAFM can assist the Florida Association with the ASFPM Annual Conference in 2009 in Orlando, FL. It is June 7-12, so go ahead and mark your calendars for that event. I will be coming to several of you to assist in that effort and I know already that we will have an outpouring of help at that Conference. I will be checking in with you guys all week and letting you know more about what ASFPM and this Conference are all about. Until then, I hope that your week is spend promoting the cause of sound floodplain management !! T. Tuesday, May 20th, 2008 Good Morning All ! So much has happened since we last "talked" and I wanted to share all of those things with you this morning. Early Monday morning found me meeting with Gene Henry, the Region 4 Rep, to go over his presentation for the Region 4 Meeting on Thursday morning (at 7 a.m., no less!!). Gene had to leave yesterday to get back to his job in Florida and yours truly will be attempting to walk in his (very large) shoes for a few moments and present the material for the Region 4 Meeting. Please say a quick prayer that I don't stumble all over myself trying to present his very well organized material !! The rest of the morning and early afternoon was spent promoting the 2009 ASFPM Conference in Orlando (no, I was not skipping class - Monday morning was technical workshops and I had had mine on Sunday!!), sitting in on the tail-end of a session on "Liability for FPMers and Developers", bouncing around between Committee meetings (I am on the national NAI Committee and also the Mitigation Committee), and again promoting the Orlando Conference along with the folks from Florida and Tom McDonald. Basically, we were running around putting orange stickers on everybody's name badge and telling them that they had been "juiced" and reminding them of the '09 Conference. Fun was had by all !! Monday afternoon was the General Membership meeting, where ASFPM said farewell to their beloved secretary, our very own Collis Brown, whose term had run out. Collis will be kept busy, however, since we have asked him to be our new Legislative Officer for GAFM. Consider it like jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire !! Afterwards, Tom McDonald and I met with Dale Lehman, who is the head of ASFPM's Education and Training Committee and told him all of the incredible strides being made in training and education in our state. Being the never-ending volunteers that we are, Tom and I both volunteered to join the national Training and Education Committee. We also met with George Riedel, the Deputy Executive Director of ASFPM, who is going to hook us up with the latest and greatest NAI training to be had (What is NAI, you ask ?? Come check us out in Jekyll Island on Sept 11 and 12 and you will find out !! ) Monday evening was spent hob-knobbing with the vendors and exhibitors at the Exhibitors Social and I talked with several about bringing their booths and information to Jekyll in September and to SW GA in early 2009 for our annual conference. I also got to spend a few minutes with Diane Calhoun, the Executive Director of CBOR (the certification folks for the CFM Program) and was delighted to tell her all of the training opportunities that GAFM had for the CFM week-long sessions, the CFM Refresher Courses at the Jekyll and 2009 Annual Conference and about our newly organized CFM Mentor Program which will get off of the ground as soon as the Executive Board gets back from Reno. A quick blurb about the CFM Mentor Program - I have asked Michael Blakely, one of your At-Large Reps, to serve as the CFM Mentor Program Chair. We will release more details soon, but let's just suffice to say for now, that if you are a CFM, we need you to volunteer. If you are studying for the CFM exam, help is on the way !!!!!!! I am missing the Plenary Session so I am going to sign off for now. Rest assured that your Executive Board is hard at work for you in Reno !!! And until we "chat" again...........................go forth and prosper ! T. Wednesday, May 21th, 2008 Hello - it's me again !! I really should have brought a double dose of multi-vitamins with me because I sure am in need of them right now. So much going on and so-o-o-o-o much to learn (and great minds to learn it from!!) Tuesday afternoon was spent in classes and Tuesday night was spent enjoying the hospitality of Baker, who treated us to drinks and food at the National Automobile Museum. If you are in Reno anytime in the future, this is a "must-see". Everyone had a ball and it was a nice break from the intensity of the course material we had been experiencing all day. Got up at dark-thirty this morning to be in class by 7:00 a.m. for an Early Bird Session on the CFM Program. Several members of CBOR were there and I think they went away with a lot of insight and suggestions that would benefit the program. The biggest discussion issue was on getting the world to recognize our certification for the professional that we are. There is still a long way to go, but they are intent on working on the issue. We have had two Plenary sessions this morning - one on Managing Risk and one on Levees - the caliper of the speakers was extraordinary - sometime soon I may go into information overload !! I am off to get a bit of lunch right now, but I will check in soon ! Please be sure that you are well represented by a large number of folks from GA (I'll try and provide a list later - there's a long line waiting on the computers !! ) Until then............................. T. Wednesday, May 21th, 2008 Well, here I am again! Thought I would take a minute and let you know who of your compadres are here in Reno. Those spotted include: Tom McDonald - City of Savannah - GAFM Vice-Chair Juanita Mikell - City of Savannah - GAFM Secretary Garrett Skinner - URS Corp - GAFM Treasurer Collis Brown - GA DNR - GAFM At-Large Rep Michael Blakely - Chatham County - GAFM At-Large Rep Ranko Pudar - URS Corp - GAFM Conference Committee Chair Michael Taylor - Watershed - NAI Committee Chair Chris Budd - PBS&J - GAFM Webmaster Extraordinaire As you can see, you Board is very well represented (and it hasn't gone without notice at the Conference !!) Others spotted include:
and tons of tons of people associated with the vendors and exhibitors that I have not met yet (but I am working real hard at it !!) Hopefully, I haven't forgotten anybody, but if I do, I'll fill you in on them later....................... Georgia was also very well represented at the "Outreach for Mapping Process" session from 1:30-3:30 this afternoon, which included as the last presenters of the session, Georgia's very own, Chris Budd and Verna Yin. They had lots and lots of useful information about Georgia's DFIRM process. They don't know it yet, but they did such a fantastic job that we are going to expect them to present again in Jekyll in September ! Among the highlights of the afternoon, was ice cream, that was had at the last Exhibitors Session and the closing of the Silent Auction. Augusta and Savannah both had items at the Silent Auction so we did our part to raise money for the ASFPM Foundation. The Silent Auction is a lot of fun and hopefully, something we can incorporate into our future meetings. Well, there is a line waiting for the computers again, so I will leave you for now. But stay tuned, for many more exciting moments from the ASFPM Conference........................ T. Thursday, May 22nd, 2008 Good Morning from Reno !! First, I told you that I would miss somebody in my "Spotted in Reno" segment and sure enough I need. Noted author and screenwriter (not really!!) Stephen King is here - can't leave Stephen out so I wanted you to know that he is here In Reno and actively attending all of the sessions ! I concluded the sessions yesterday with a track on "Stormwater Best Management Practices" - I don't know where they find these people, but they are incredible speakers. I am learning so much and haven't missed an opportunity to pick up on new information at each session. Last night included two "socials" - the first was around the pool (which is a fabulous site unto itself !! ) and was sponsored by PBS&J. Unfortunately, the second social, sponsored by Watershed, eluded me since I made the mistake of going back to the room to "rest for just a minute" between functions. Yes, you Chair crashed and burned ! I am ashamed to say, that there was no more "party" left in me after that and I hid in the quiet and solace of my room for the rest of the evening. Sorry for my absence, Watershed, but I am sure that fun was had by everybody that attended !! This morning's early bird session started at 7 with the Region 4 Meeting hosted by your GAFM Chair. Nervousness was the order of the morning, but everyone was quite friendly and I finally settled in to my new-found (temporary) position in front of the group. We had about 35 in attendance, which I think is fantastic for that time of the morning, and we discussed issues pertinent to all of the Regions - mostly training and training and more training. We also did a lot of networking between the Chapters and offered ideas for what works and what doesn't. Spotted this morning was Laura Algeo from Region FEMA IV Office and also Gabriela Vigo from FEMA Region IV. The Early Bird Session was followed by a Plenary (large group meeting) on "Tools for Tomorrow's Floodplain Manager", which included NAI, Data Management and Training Options - specifically how EMI is planning to bring more courses to the local level. I almost forgot to tell you - the Silent Auction ended yesterday afternoon and GAFM brought in a total of $68 for the ASFPM Foundation ($38 from Savannah and $30 from Augusta's donation). Thanks to all who got together a package for the Silent Auction. It's time for class again, so I will leave you for now. Hope your Thursday is a good one !! T. Thursday, May 22nd, 2008 News Flash !!!!!!!!!!!! GAFM's very own Jen Marcy won the John Ivey Award at the Awards Ceremony today !! Congratulations Jen !! Collis Brown also received a going away plaque as outgoing Secretary - ASFPM's loss is our gain - don't forget that Collis has accepted the Legislative Officer's role with his At-Large position. 5/22/2008 p.m. This afternoon was spent in a Chapters Meeting learning about 501-(c) -3 's and all of the legal ramifications, thereof. It was "informative" and something we will be doing in the very near future as a Chapter. If you want the details, see any of the Executive Board since all of us were in attendance. The final "social" is tonight sponsored by ASFPM. There will be food and raffle prizes and lots of networking - these conferences are invaluable for that. I have more business cards and information for presenters and vendors/exhibitors, etc than you can shake a stick at. I am absolutely all "networked up" here in the closing hours of the Conference. It seems kind of sad right now, but we will all be heading home tomorrow. The knowledge and information we will be bringing back is staggering ! Look for new training and new ideas in conferences and workshops to come. I will try and send one last correspondence in the morning before my flight. Again, thank you all for the opportunity to be here - it has been an awesome experience ! T. Friday, May 23rd, 2008 Greetings fellow GAFM members ! I am sad to say that this will be the last glimpse you will get of the ASFPM Conference in Reno. It has been a blast and, again, thank you for the opportunity and privilege of my being here to represent our Chapter at this Conference. So much good has come out of this week and so many opportunities for future training and experiences for our GAFM members. I can’t wait to share all that I have learned and all that I have experienced here with you all when I get back home. Last night was the closing “social” sponsored by ASFPM. They started the event with the song “Another One Bites the Dust” and the Conference staff had a good time “cheesing” to the song for all in attendance. I personally think that something more melancholy should have been played, maybe something like “The Party’s Over………………………….It’s time to call it a day……………………………….”. At least that song would have better exemplified my mood, I can’t believe that it’s all but over for another year. I will say that the week went very quickly, much too quickly in some cases. However, I will be glad to return to my own time zone – this waking up at 3 in the morning is for the birds !! Going home is a good thing, though. I feel like we are bringing everyone home a souvenir (of sorts) and you will see evidence of your “present” at upcoming conferences, both in Jekyll in September and in SW Georgia early in 2009. I promise that your “present” will be worth waiting for…………………………….just you wait and see !! And speaking of souvenirs, hopefully in the near future, we will have all of the pictures from the ASFPM Conference posted on our website. Several of us spent the week, cameras in hand, trying to capture the essence of the Conference for you. I think at times, I may have gotten a little carried away, but I didn’t want you all to miss a moment of what went on in Reno ! Tom McDonald will tell you that he has a “payback video” on his cell phone – I am denying even being there (JJJ) – the only person recognizable on that video is Collis Brown “doing the twist” (at the Thursday evening social) – Collis’ dance partner never showed her face (for good reason !!) – take from it what you may (and if I have anything to do with it you WON’T see that on the website !!) Hopefully, Tom’s cell phone will go on the fritz before we all go to Jekyll !! I thought in closing that I would share a few random thoughts from this week (in no particular order)……………………….
Well, it’s time for me to go……………………………………… Again, thank you for the opportunity to be here in Reno and to experience all ASFPM and this Conference had to offer – I am a more informed and better educated floodplain manager for it !! I can’t wait to see you all and tell you in person what a great time I had. Until then…………… T. |