As part of the editorial schedule I will periodically be writing something myself for the Informer. I may write to briefly provide an update on IAMU activities, to talk about industry issues or to spotlight a member or employee I think you should get to know. This time I’d like to update you on some of our activities as an association.
The IAMU Board of Directors and staff spent two days this week kicking off the associations biannual strategic planning. This year IAMU enlisted the help of Tim Blodgett with the American Public Power Association’s Hometown Connections to facilitate these important kick off sessions. Working together the Board of Directors and staff identified five strategic operating areas for the association to focus on going forward. Staff will now set out to establish proposed goals for Board approval, and ultimately will develop action plans for achieving those mutually agreed upon goals. There is lots of work to be done but it’s all a part of our continued effort to improve our focus on bringing value to the members.
As part of our planning process we recently completed our member survey with the help of Iowa State University. While the results have not been officially analyzed yet I want to thank those who participated for their input. It’s always enlightening to get direct feedback on the things that we could be doing differently or better as the case may be. Look for more information on this in the future as we learn more.
Lastly I want to be sure that you sign up for the 2014 Energy Conference on October 1st – 2nd (http://www.iamu.org/index.cfm/52940/52597/2014_energy_conference) We have an exciting array of speakers on a number of interesting topics. Please join us for the pre-conference seminar on Municipal Utility driving Community Solar Projects.