"Thank you" to everyone who participated in the Smart+Connected  Communities Institute Member Engagement Survey.  We received some great  feedback about the content you find valuable and what additional  resources we can provide.

Highlights

• Organization of Content
• Types of Content: More case studies, city examples and white papers focused on economic, environmental and social sustainability, information and communication technology
  
• Majority of members visit the site often in a 3 month period
• This audience sees the most value with this online community in learning and getting materials/information

We Are Listening

• Content: We constructed a new section of the site called Resources. Check out the new Resource section that includes collections of white papers, case studies, presentations, videos and more. This will be a one-stop shop for you to access the content in the format of your choice.
• City Examples: We are in the process of putting together a city/ICT E-Book with many global examples of how cities are using technology to be more sustainable. Look for this release next month!  We will also host upcoming webinars with city examples.
• Live Case Studies: In addition to city examples, we plan to launch city live case studies on the site so people can see the partner network and the implementation in process.
• Participation: Please send me your case studies, white papers, presentations to add to the Resource section. Also, I am looking for bloggers. We have added some great new bloggers to the site and we would like the idea sharing and innovation to continue. Contact me to blog!

Congratulations to the three community member prize winners.  I will contact you via private message to capture your contact information where I can send your gift card.

As always, even though the survey is closed now, please send your suggestions to me.

If any of you live near or in the Austin, Texas area, I will be speaking at the NARC Executive Directors conference September 30.  The conference is for city executive directors, senior staff and deputies who are interested in networking with colleagues, sharing best practices in management, programs,  finance, budget, governance and hearing several experts present on these topics.

I will present "How to Create and Maintain Collaborative Communities: Communities of Practice":

• Learn how to make your teams more efficient and productive with Communities of Practice. Hear from a Cisco Systems representative and learn from real-world examples of how organizations are using Communities of Practice to drive to solutions. Experience innovative collaboration tools and see them in action on the Smart+Connected Communities Institute, an online community that will connect you to the world conversation about sustainable urbanization. This session will include time for discussion amongst attendees and presenters alike, providing an opportunity for immediate idea-sharing.  discuss next steps to creating your own Communities of Practice within your regions.

I hope to launch Communities of Practice here on this site as well.  The idea is to facilitate conversations or projects with small working groups about urban sustainability and implementation. I say "working" because these group do something. They drive toward learning, collaborating on innovation, or working together on a project. These working groups could be a based on industry, job title- CIOs, System Integrators, Mayors, Urban Planners, or it can based on a city project, say a city is implementing smart transportation or measuring energy use.  We can use these groups to learn from each other, implement sustainable solutions, highlight subject matter experts and more.

In a former life, really it was just a few years ago but it seems like a long time ago, I launched communities of practice inside corporations to help with collaboration and to drive productivity and effectiveness.  It is a nice tool. And... as the Austin conference attendees will learn, I am a meeting stickler.  I think we have all attended "empty" meetings with no direction or substance, and we question the time spent for the team.  Communities of Practice (term coined by Etienne Wenger at Harvard) will help eliminate those meetings and drive to solutions, learn from others in a structured format with scheduled agendas...and some times a follow up of action items.

If you are interested in participating in these groups or offering your city as a project group, comment below or e-mail me.

The National Association of Regional Councils is offering their Executive Directors' Conference and Regional Metropolitan and Urban Policy Forum September 27-30 in Austin, Texas.