Role Reversal: CPBB Puts ELGL Through the Lens

ELGL was founded at the inaugural ELGL meeting at Oswego Grill on September 14, 2010. This meeting was attended by the ELGL “Founding Fathers“, a group of 16 local government aficionados with a common goal to build connections among all areas of the government arena. Most professional associations are limited to one function such as finance officers, planner, or city managers. ELGL breaks down those labels and encourages involvement from any and all professionals involved in the government arena.

Oregon ELGL Expansion
ELGL’s expansion plans are based on member interest. The newest chapter, Midwest ELGL, would be the third chapter along with Central Oregon and Willamette Valley. They’ve had preliminary discussions in expanding into California and South Carolina. Their future expansion ambition – in the spirit of the ongoing 50 Nifty Initiative, is to have a presence in all 50 states in the next ten years. Government is the one profession where almost everything is public record and can be shared among cities and county; however; based on the track record, government has not done a good job utilizing this advantage. ELGL’s hope is to begin to make these connections and encourage collaboration whether it is between two Oregon cities or an Oregon city to a small town in South Carolina.

Twitter is the most important for outreach to the media. It also enables ELGL to proactively communicate their message. For example, they recently announced a leadership panel with former Governors Gregoire (State of Washington) and Kulongoski (State of Oregon) to be held at the ELGL annual conference in October. They “tweeted” this information and it was quickly posted by OregonLive.com and then included in the next day’s print edition. That said, ELGL has a presence on Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, and Pinterest and each outlet attracts a different audience. They use these social media tools to draw readers to their website, ELGL.org, which attracts 10,500 hits per month.