Live! Live! Live Blogging the UMANT Conference

We’re live-tweeting the UMANT Conference. Kent Wyatt will be providing frequent (somewhat) interesting updates.

Reader Question

Why is Ryan Adams at a local government conference?

A: Wishful thinking. There are at least two Ryan Adams in this world and one of them is not at the UMANT Conference.

But let’s use this opportunity to update you on the Taylor Swift/Ryan Adams CD.

Ryan Adams reveals cover of Taylor Swift’s ‘Bad Blood’ – listen

Quotables

Beyond the Session

Jimmy Stathatos, Town Manager

Flower Mound town manager chosen for track record

Lunch with Jimmy Stathatos

Rumors

The Apple Watch will be given away to those who stay for the entire conference.

Angry Door

The UMANT conference is pitching a perfect game with the exception of this poor, creaky door. The door has been crying out for a WD-40 bath. Every time the door opens and closes the door greets us with the “nails on the chalkboard” sound. I may sneak back into the building tonight and shower the door with a 12-pack of WD-40. Could get crazy tonight.
If this door was a chair, this would be its theme music.

Cheeseheads

For some reason, Texas is full of Green Bay Packer fans. To honor them, we present this video clip.

Introducing the ELGL/UTA Video

This week, we revealed the Local Government Challenge. We introduced the challenge with this video.

A Lil’ About Our Next Speaker

360 Review with Colleen Casey, UT-Arlington

ELGL-UTA: Top 5 Issues in Local Government Survey

Dr. Colleen Casey – The University of Texas at Arlington

Deep Thoughts

You should follow Matt Monedero on Twitter. He’s working on ELGL’s next Big Event.
There was a near riot when RyanKeithAdams broke out the high school football trivia. #UMANT

If there are donuts this afternoon, I’ll promise to attend every future UMANT event.
One of the UMANT conference attendees owns part of the Green Bay Packers.

Afternoon Music Break

Citizens of Pawnee

Here’s the opening video from our presentation.

More Big Event

It’s pretty impressive to have so many college students volunteering on a Saturday morning.

The BIG Event

Texas A&M is dominating the day. Luckily, the BIG Event presentation was more useful than Ryan Adams’ A&M yells.

Lunch Was Better Than Breakfast

Even if you aren’t in UMANT events, you should attend for the food. Wonderful spread of all sorts of meat, cole slaw, and other non-healthy items. Perfection. Plus there are a few breakfast tacos remaining which may end up in my pocket.

Videos from Lunch Activity

#WeBuiltThisCity: Rappin’ About Your #2

The Rest of the Story on the Whitehorse Council Meeting Ad

Bonds… City Bonds & Communicating with Round Rock, TX

Trends in Local Government

ELGL is up next. Here’s our presentation. We’re following Shahrzad presentation by using an overhead projector.

Fun Fact

Shahrzad is rockin’ Google Glasses for the presentation. Don’t see that at too many local government conferences.

Props

Thanks to Shahrzad Rizvi for the shout out. He’s right – you can join ELGL for free if you are a student. Individuals can join for $30 and organizations for $230.

Shahrzad on ELGL

My Story with Shahrzad Rizvi, Dallas County, TX

What’s On My Desk? with Shahrzad Rizvi, Dallas County, TX

Next Up

Shahrzad Rizvi, Budget & Policy Analyst….Will he wear Google Glasses for the presentation?

“Tech.gov” – Today’s tech is already old news. This session will put you ahead of the curve in day-to-day tech that will help ‘govies’ GTD (get things done) and then explore the future role of tech in local government. Discover these critical technologies before they ever hit your IT department’s radar.

Can’t Buy These Until 7:00 a.m

Little Kids Table

Roger Gibson, City of Bedford, TX, mentioned the lil’ kids table during the opening session. You might have been busy crushing breakfast tacos and missed it. If so, you should eat quieter. Anyway, here’s the ELGL take on the Little Kids Table. Bottom line: Enough of segregating the profession by age. We need to develop relationships among all levels of local government.