ILAPA News BURST! 2006 Upper Midwest Four State Conference

2006 Upper Midwest Four State Conference

The 2006 Upper Midwest Four State conference was a huge success! The conference was held in St. Charles, Illinois at the Pheasant Run Resort and Spa and attracted nearly 400 planners, students, public officials and others. The conference featured 18 sponsors and exhibitors whose generous contributions made the conference a financial success for the Illinois Chapter as well (see below). The conference program featured over 30 conference sessions, 3 mobile workshops, several keynote speakers, and a wonderful opening reception at the historic Hotel Baker in downtown St. Charles.

Being the good planners that you all are, most of you took the time to fill out the surveys that were available. Of the 81 surveys collected, nearly 80% of you felt that the conference sessions were informative and timely for today’s planning issues. In particular, many individuals responded that the Effective Communication with the Media session given by National APA was the most beneficial to them. This workshop focused on the APA Communications Plan and offered techniques for interviewing with the media in a way that allows you to control the interview and get your message across. Also very well received was the Thursday keynote address by Roger Waldon. Roger offered insightful highlights of his new book “Politics in Planning” which is now available through the APA Press. The book follows the career paths of several different planners across the country and illustrates what motivated them to become planners and the lessons they have learned in their positions. Many other positive comments were given for the sessions that related to downtown redevelopment, zoning law and planning technology tools.

All the conference proceedings are currently being assembled and will be available for review at http://www.ilapa.org/conf/2006conf_hlite.html soon. As you know, this conference replaced the Illinois

Chapter State conference for this year. Although the conference was a “Four State” conference in joint cooperation with Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, most of the attendees were from Illinois. Less than 30 attendees were from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa combined. Although higher attendance from the other states would be been nice, this conference demonstrated what is possible for the Illinois Chapter State conference every year. The Chapter is currently considering dates and venues for next year’s state conference. Traditionally the conference has been held in Starved Rock State Park in June. Consideration is now being given to a fall date at another location that would accommodate a larger group than Starved Rock can handle. If you have any suggestions, please do not hesitate to e-mail any Board member. Thank you again for your participation with making the 2006 Upper Midwest Four State Conference a success!

Co-Sponsor

Platinum Sponsor

Gold Sponsor

Foxford LLC

Rob Kowalski, AICP
Upper Midwest Four State Conference Co-Chair
102 N. Neil St.
Champaign, IL 61820
Phone: 217.403.8800
Rob.Kowalski@ci.champaign.il.us