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About MMA MMA News MMA Annual Meeting draws 1,100-plus local leaders
Attendees at the MMA’s 28th Annual Meeting & Trade Show Jan. 12 and 13 in Boston heard from the new governor, who throughout his campaign emphasized a message of hope and the need for change.
But as Deval Patrick’s remarks to a standing-room-only crowd made clear, there is a good deal of uncertainty at the start of what many hope will be a new era of partnership between state government and cities and towns.
Patrick was not the only speaker at Annual Meeting to draw a contrast between aspirations for change and fiscal realities. Political analyst Norman Ornstein suggested that state and local government are unlikely to see a significant increase in federal help, despite changes in Congress.
The promise and uncertainties of change was a theme heard during the two-day event, which drew 1,131 attendees to the Hynes Convention Center.
Keynote speaker Sir Ken Robinson encouraged local officials to rethink conventional assumptions about intelligence at a time of rapid technological advances.
Several of the 27 workshops centered on the need to confront technological and financial challenges. Among the best-attended was a session on municipal wireless networks, which are seen as helping communities bridge the so-called “digital divide” among residents as well as deliver services more effectively and enhance emergency preparedness. Other timely workshops focused on “Muni-stat,” the data-driven management tool now in place in Somerville and Amesbury, business improvement districts, affordable housing, and open-space preservation.
For the second year in a row, the Friday banquet dinner featured a well-known but non-political speaker. Red Sox Manager Terry Francona delighted the audience with anecdotes from inside the dugout.
Local and state officials at the dinner also honored the winner of the MMA’s student essay contest.
On Saturday evening, the Boston-based group Improv Asylum closed out the weekend with a performance of improvised comedy.
The Trade Show consisted of 239 booths occupying a record total of 27,000 square feet. Vendors this year had the opportunity to invite to the Trade Show municipal employees who might not have had the opportunity to attend the Annual Meeting itself.
For the first time, all public-safety vendors were grouped in a common area, as were vendors involved with recycling and other environmental services. Among the popular attractions this year were the state police’s bomb-detection team, brought in by the Department of Fire Services. The team featured bomb-sniffing dogs as well as a robot used to defuse explosives.
Road maintenance represented one area of growing interest. First-time vendors at this year’s show included Asphalt Zipper, maker of a machine that prepares roads for repaving; Williams Stone Company, an Otis-based manufacturer of curbs; and DeRosa Curb, a Danvers company that specializes in installing curbs.
For the second straight year, Trade Show visitors generously donated to a blood bank operated on-site by Children’s Hospital.
The MMA Annual Meeting & Trade Show, the largest annual gathering of municipal officials in the state, also featured the business meetings of the MMA and its various groups: mayors, selectmen, councillors, managers and finance committee members.
This year’s Annual Meeting theme was “Our Communities and Our Commonwealth: Partners for Progress and Prosperity.”
Next year’s Annual Meeting will be held Jan. 11 and 12, 2008, also at the Hynes Convention Center and Sheraton Boston Hotel.
About MMA MMA News MMA Annual Meeting draws 1,100-plus local leaders
MMA Annual Meeting draws 1,100-plus local leaders
Attendees at the MMA’s 28th Annual Meeting & Trade Show Jan. 12 and 13 in Boston heard from the new governor, who throughout his campaign emphasized a message of hope and the need for change.
But as Deval Patrick’s remarks to a standing-room-only crowd made clear, there is a good deal of uncertainty at the start of what many hope will be a new era of partnership between state government and cities and towns.
Patrick was not the only speaker at Annual Meeting to draw a contrast between aspirations for change and fiscal realities. Political analyst Norman Ornstein suggested that state and local government are unlikely to see a significant increase in federal help, despite changes in Congress.
The promise and uncertainties of change was a theme heard during the two-day event, which drew 1,131 attendees to the Hynes Convention Center.
Keynote speaker Sir Ken Robinson encouraged local officials to rethink conventional assumptions about intelligence at a time of rapid technological advances.
Several of the 27 workshops centered on the need to confront technological and financial challenges. Among the best-attended was a session on municipal wireless networks, which are seen as helping communities bridge the so-called “digital divide” among residents as well as deliver services more effectively and enhance emergency preparedness. Other timely workshops focused on “Muni-stat,” the data-driven management tool now in place in Somerville and Amesbury, business improvement districts, affordable housing, and open-space preservation.
For the second year in a row, the Friday banquet dinner featured a well-known but non-political speaker. Red Sox Manager Terry Francona delighted the audience with anecdotes from inside the dugout.
Local and state officials at the dinner also honored the winner of the MMA’s student essay contest.
On Saturday evening, the Boston-based group Improv Asylum closed out the weekend with a performance of improvised comedy.
The Trade Show consisted of 239 booths occupying a record total of 27,000 square feet. Vendors this year had the opportunity to invite to the Trade Show municipal employees who might not have had the opportunity to attend the Annual Meeting itself.
For the first time, all public-safety vendors were grouped in a common area, as were vendors involved with recycling and other environmental services. Among the popular attractions this year were the state police’s bomb-detection team, brought in by the Department of Fire Services. The team featured bomb-sniffing dogs as well as a robot used to defuse explosives.
Road maintenance represented one area of growing interest. First-time vendors at this year’s show included Asphalt Zipper, maker of a machine that prepares roads for repaving; Williams Stone Company, an Otis-based manufacturer of curbs; and DeRosa Curb, a Danvers company that specializes in installing curbs.
For the second straight year, Trade Show visitors generously donated to a blood bank operated on-site by Children’s Hospital.
The MMA Annual Meeting & Trade Show, the largest annual gathering of municipal officials in the state, also featured the business meetings of the MMA and its various groups: mayors, selectmen, councillors, managers and finance committee members.
This year’s Annual Meeting theme was “Our Communities and Our Commonwealth: Partners for Progress and Prosperity.”
Next year’s Annual Meeting will be held Jan. 11 and 12, 2008, also at the Hynes Convention Center and Sheraton Boston Hotel.
Written by MMA Associate Editor Mitch Evich
