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2012 CAMA E-Brief Partner: January 6, 2012            

President's Message

Happy New Year Everyone! 

2012 is going to be a great year -- one with challenges, no doubt, but with opportunities as well.  Municipal managers across Canada will be watching the ongoing economic uncertainty closely to match their strategic plans and responses to the best advantage of their community.  For years we have talked about the need to be innovative, nimble in our decision making and clearly customer-focused.  I am sure that we will have many opportunities to demonstrate our skills in all three areas as we continue to meet the needs of our communities.
 
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Board members Don MacLellan, Robert Hughes, Ron Shaw and Marie-Hélène Lajoie for taking the lead on developing a new Strategic Plan for our organization for 2011-2016.  I will be making a detailed presentation at the upcoming 2012 Annual General Meeting being held at our Conference in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, however I would like to provide you with a brief overview at this time.

As part of the strategic planning process, 78 CAMA members responded to a Needs and Preferences Survey in October 2011.  The primary objective of this survey was to assess your needs and preferences in a broad range of questions in order to improve the services provided by CAMA, and to ensure that the action plan for this five year Strategic Plan was in line with the desires of the membership.  Thank you to those who completed the survey and provided us with some excellent feedback and ideas that were added to our plan.

Our new Strategic Plan focuses on four strategic themes:  Professional Development, Networking, Advocacy and Governance.  I am satisfied that our activities in all of the strategic areas move us toward our vision of being “recognized nationally and internationally as the premiere Canadian organization representing municipal administrators”.

Professional Development.  Ensuring that the Annual Conference will remain the premiere national professional development opportunity; best practices will be identified and promoted through discussion papers and other resources; our profession will be promoted to external organizations (i.e. schools, municipal intern programs, the media); and webinars and other educational opportunities will be provided.

Networking.  Establishing and promoting the benefits of more formal relationships with international, national and provincial associations continues to be a high priority for the Board.  Also, the launch of our Social Media Tools in December 2011 is a great step towards providing our members with another way to communicate through our Blog, Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Advocacy.  Ongoing efforts to advocate with the federal government on local government issues will continue.  CAMA will also review legislative provisions governing municipal administration across the country.  As well, we will continue to work closely with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to increase the knowledge of Councils on the role of the Chief Administrative Officer.

Governance.  CAMA is in a very strong financial position, however a five year Financial Plan is being developed based on the activities of the new Strategic Plan to ensure that we maintain our success. 

Our upcoming conference in Saskatoon will provide us with time for information-sharing and networking, but that isn't our only opportunity.  We will continue to do satisfaction surveys and report back to you on a regular basis.  Stay in touch with your fellow municipal administrators, provincial and territorial organizations and CAMA board representatives; let them know about local challenges and solutions.

This will be an exciting year, and I am looking forward to hearing your stories in the months to come.  On behalf of the Board and staff at CAMA, I wish you all the best in 2012. 

James Toye
CAMA President 

 

Social Media Update

Welcome to CAMA Link - CAMA's new social media home base. CAMA Link is a collection of social media tools, designed to help you get the latest news and information important to Canada's municipal administrators. There are many ways for you to connect with the CAMA staff, board and other members, so you can choose the tools that work for you.

If you are already familiar with social media tools, just look for the red text below about how to link up with us. If you are new on the social media scene, follow the detailed instructions below about how to plug in to the tools.  And because you choose to connect with us through our new social media tools we want to reward you for your support!
 

The first 100 followers on Twitter will be entered into a draw to win a FREE registration for the 2012 Annual Conference in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan AND, if you retweet us, or mention us in one of your tweets, you get an extra ballot.  Our Facebook fans get a chance to win too! The first 100 people to “like” our Facebook page will be entered into a draw for a free conference registration as well.
 

Also, our Social Media Use and Privacy Policy is available on the blog and in the Members Section of the website. If you have questions at any time about any of the tools, our social media strategy, or suggestions for what you would like to see included through our tools, please contact our Social Media Specialist, Ms. Alycia Morehouse at [email protected] 

Follow us on Twitter:  Go to www.twitter.com.  If you have not signed up for a Twitter account, you will have to do so before you gain access to Twitter features.  CAMA’s Twitter handle is @camalink. To follow discussions about the 2012 Annual CAMA Conference in Saskatoon, use #cama2012 

“Like” us on Facebook:  Go to www.facebook.com.  If you do not have a Facebook account, you might sign up for one prior to accessing CAMA’s Facebook Page.  The CAMA fan page can be found at http://www.facebook.com/CAMALink.

CAMA’s YouTube Channel.  CAMA’s YouTube Channel is not currently active, but will come online as we get closer to the Conference.  You can access CAMA’s channel here: http://www.youtube.com/camalink.

How to sign-up for the CAMA Link Blog:
If you would like information about how to access the Blog please contact our Social Media Specialist  at [email protected], and she will provide you with login details.

 

2012 CAMA Conference Program & On-Line Registration Available at the End of January 2012!

The 2012 Annual CAMA Conference will be held in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan from May 28-30, 2012.  The  program and on-line registration for this event will be made available at the end of January 2012. CAMA members will be able to register online for the Conference once again this year - watch for details in the future.

 

2012-2013 CAMA Membership Renewals

The membership renewal invoices for the 2012-2013 year were mailed out to all CAMA members last week.  All invoices are due by March 31st, 2012 and can be paid on-line by using your CAMA ID number (noted on the invoice) or by sending a cheque made payable to the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators. 

New this year:  Please note that you will need your membership email address to register for the 2012 CAMA Conference.


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