NDACo Annual Conference Goes Online

Posted 9/28/20 (Mon)

It's official: the NDACo Annual Conference will be held October 12-13 as an online event. The decision to step back from a live event was not easy, and had to be made far enough in advance to allow making all the necessary – and mostly unknown – changes.

“There’s no question this was a difficult decision,” said NDACo Executive Director, “I don’t think anyone on the Board of Directors or staff wanted this, but it became clear the risks were too high to proceed as normal.”

On Wednesday, October 7, we’ll do a little “sneak preview” to give everyone an opportunity to test their link and to launch the silent auction, which will be this year’s fundraiser for the NDACo/ILG Scholarship Fund. The auction will end on the last day of the conference, one week later. Watch for information coming soon on how your county can contribute an item to the auction.

As for the online conference, much will be familiar, but on screen instead of on stage. Ryan Gellner, NDACo’s Vision Zero Outreach Program Manager will be our emcee as usual. The day one agenda will be pretty close to identical to what attendees are accustomed to, with Ryan introducing speakers, awards and of course our Keynote speaker, Dr. Terry Lyles, “America’s Stress Coach.”

The theme of the conference was changed to “Counties Care,” in recognition of how counties have stepped up to continue serving the public through these trying times, whether through masks, plexiglass, by appointment or any other means necessary.

To encourage maximum participation, individual registrations are FREE of charge. Instead, all counties with registrants will be billed a flat fee of $500, which they can cut in half, thanks to the generosity of NDIRF. To get the lower fee, a county must have two commissioners and two other officials in attendance at the NDIRF-sponsored workshop at 2:00 Tuesday (You may recall we do something similar in the traditional conference). BIG thanks to the ND Insurance Reserve Fund for this generous sponsorship. The topic is, “Flatten the Curve: Riding the Waves of Diversity, Stereotyping and Change.

NDACo is also encouraging “watch parties” in counties that can provide a safe-distanced gathering room with a large screen and good speakers. We’ll be in touch on that with each county soon.

Registration is now open at www.ndaco.org/conference.