We’re back with the new “New Sensation” feature. We’ve updated the questions based on your feedback. You’ll now learn about the best YouTube videos on the web, read about gift ideas for the holiday season, and learn about the career accomplishments of our new members. As a reminder, we developed this feature to introduce you to new ELGL members and as a way on connecting ELGL members with similar interests.
Vitals
Evan Groeschel
The Colony (TX), Project Management Analyst
Connect with The Colony: Facebook, Twitter, World Wide Web, and YouTube
Connect with Evan: LinkedIn
Education: The University of Texas at Arlington, Bachelor of Arts, Interdisciplinary Studies
Lightning Round
Tell us about three of your biggest accomplishments.
Having an awesome family and home
Having a great career and future in what I do and where I am. (I feel very lucky)
Getting an education and having the opportunities that I am so lucky to have.
(Complete this sentence) I feel old when I……..When I hear current top forty.
Tell us about two mistakes that you’ve made that we can learn from.
Waiting so long to go back to school to finish my degree. I wish I would have focused a little better when I was younger so that I could have started my career sooner. That being said, I guess everything happens for a reason.
Don’t buy a 1975 fishing boat that hadn’t been started in over a year.
Give us three of your favorite YouTube videos.
Sulfur Hexafluoride Blooper (1min. 43 sec. gets me every time)
This is the only one that is really memorable to me. If I named others I would just be naming stuff that I had to search on youtube for.
As part of being an ELGL member, we give you a chance to redo or change any part of your life. How would you use it?
(Note: My life is perfect, I am perfect, I would never change anything is not an acceptable response.)
As stated above I probably would have made an effort to focus more on what I “want to do” when I was younger, however I don’t know if anyone truly ever knows what they want to do. I didn’t know what I wanted to do until I was doing it.
Our annual conference will be held in October 2014. Name three topics or speakers that should be included on the conference agenda.
I would like to hear a discussion on relationships with the elected body. I think presenting to council can be pretty unnerving so it would be interesting to hear this perspective from our peers.
Another topic that I think would be beneficial to young government “up-and-comers” would be to discuss the topic of interaction with the citizenry. Some of us are not quite in a role where your voice is often heard by the citizens however this might be a realization in the future. For this reason discussing it now could beneficial to most if not all of us.
Something else that might be interesting to hear discussed is maintaining relationships with coworkers while in an environment where you are gaining more and more responsibility in the organization.
(Complete these phrases) Best thing about the….
80’s was……. Childhood
90’s was…… Music
00’s was….. technology and innovation
Last year was….. busy and exciting
Today is….cold and rainy but productive
Name two of your mentors and describe them in five words.
Leo Lavender: Colony (TX) Director of Public Services – knowledgeable, tested, loyal, friend, encouraging
Tod Maurina: Colony (TX) Assistant City Manager – smart, patient, trusting, encouraging, friend
What’s your least favorite thing about humanity? Intolerance
How did you hear about ELGL? A co-worker
Fast forward one year, what will factor into your decision on whether to renew your ELGL membership?
Formed relationships. I believe having gained meaningful relationships is the most important aspect of being in this professional organization. I believe that most everything plays second to having honest and meaningful relationships. Without relationships, career opportunities and prosperous futures wouldn’t be in the cards.
Give us two ideas for attracting and retaining talented individuals to the public sector.
- Maintain communication/ facilitate discussion with and among the members
- Offer information and developmental opportunities to the members
What questions should we have asked?
- How did you start your career in government?
- When and how did you know that you wanted to be in this career?
What one question you have about ELGL?
What do you guys envision being the end game? Where do you want the organization to be in the next five years and why?
Supplemental Reading
Debriefing the SGR Conference Experience
Denton County Boards & Committees
Everything Warren Buffett: THE COLONY