APWA prides itself on selecting speakers who will impart knowledge, experience, motivation—and humor.

Sunday, 10 a.m.–Noon

Add this item to your Personal Schedule

Speaker: Dave Barry, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Humorist...Best-Selling Author

Get ready to laugh! From the daily grind to headline news…everything is fodder for humorist Dave Barry. Dave will kick-off the 2007 Congress with his wacky point of view on relationships, work, kids, technology, and life in general. His wit cuts right to the core of life’s absurdities. Well-known for his formerly internationally-syndicated column, Dave won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1988 and immediately demanded a recount! He has also written more than 25 books, including Dave Barry’s Money Secrets and Dave Barry Slept Here: A Sort of History of the United States and has successfully ventured into mystery and children’s book genres. Two of Dave’s books were the basis of the CBS TV sitcom Dave’s World, in which Harry Anderson played a much taller version of Dave. In his spare time, Dave is a tongue-in-cheek candidate for President of the United States and also plays lead guitar for a literary rock band, the Rock Bottom Remainders.

8:30–9:45 a.m.

Add this item to your Personal Schedule

The Adventure of Change: Timeless Certainties for Uncertain Times
Speaker: Jeff Salz, PhD, Anthropologist, Explorer, Mountaineer

Jeff will share the lessons learned in more than 35 years of exploration and expedition leadership. He’ll deliver stirring tales drawn from the legends, myths, and personal lives of the people he has encountered in remote regions around the world. Jeff will help you understand how to redesign both your attitude and environment so that you can face life’s challenges with a sense of adventure. His best-selling book, The Way of Adventure, is a manual that helps organizations keep the flames of adventure fanned every day.

8:30–9:45 a.m.

Add this item to your Personal Schedule

Making an Impact!
Speaker: Rick Rigsby, PhD, President and CEO, Rick Rigsby Communications and Impact World Group

Rick has learned that creating an impression does not measure up to “making an impact.” He has moved from going through the daily motions to living each day with the goal of “impacting the world by empowering its people.” Rick is recognized as one of the most dynamic speakers in America; addressing audiences as diverse as congregations in the remote jungles of Africa to executives in America’s top corporations. He is an award-winning professor and currently serves in the role of Chaplin for the Texas A&M football team.

11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.

Add this item to your Personal Schedule

Fostering Sustainable Behavior: Community-based Social Marketing
Speaker: Doug McKenzie-Mohr, PhD, McKenzie-Mohr & Associates, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada

Doug will explore the public works functions and responsibilities that require resident behavior change to operate more efficiently and effectively. He is a pioneer and leader in the rapidly growing field of community-based social marketing with more than 15 years’ experience in the discipline. As a professor at St. Thomas University in Canada, Doug has assisted in Canada’s public education efforts on climate change. His book, Fostering Sustainable Behavior: An Introduction to Community-based Social Marketing, has become requisite reading for those who deliver programs to promote sustainable behavior.

To learn more, don’t miss Dr. McKenzie-Mohr’s afternoon workshop, Beyond Brochures: Community-based Social Marketing.

The Future—How Will Public Works and APWA Help To Shape It?

Sunday September 9, 2007, 2–2:50 p.m.

Add this item to your Personal Schedule

Speaker: Larry Frevert, PE, President-Elect, American Public Works Association and Senior Municipal Program Manager, HDR, Kansas City, MO

Our future will be dramatically different than today; it will also probably be different than we think it will be. How should the public works profession and the American Public Works Association step up to the challenges we face today and in the future?

A member of the public works profession for nearly 40 years and APWA for 20-plus years, Larry Frevert will take office as the President of APWA on September 9, 2007. Please join him in this special conversation that will help shape public works’ future agenda on such issues as our aging infrastructure, funding challenges, global warming, technological advances, a changing and diminishing workforce, increasing public pressure, and the continuing need for environmental stewardship. The world is at a crossroads and the public works profession and APWA are uniquely positioned to have enormous influence and impact on our communities’ well-being. Larry will share his vision and ask for your input to this essential conversation.

The Perfect Storm: Recruitment, Retention, and Engagement

Monday, September 10, 2007, 2–3:50 p.m.
(Repeated) Tuesday, September 11, 2007, 1:30–3:30 p.m.

Add this item to your Personal Schedule (Monday)

Add this item to your Personal Schedule (Tuesday)

Speaker: Greg P. Smith, Founder and President of Chart Your Course International, Conyers, GA

One of the most urgent issues facing public works leaders in this decade is workforce development. A convergence of prevailing winds is creating a “perfect storm” of concerns which need to be addressed now. Among them: a shrinking leadership pool due to an aging workforce, competition with the higher wages being offered by the private sector; less skilled workers entering jobs that require increasing technological and communication abilities; a highly diverse workforce bringing different values about job satisfaction.

Greg P. Smith, well-known management consultant and author, will offer ideas for how to attract star-performers into the public works profession, and for creating a high-retention culture offering employees a sense of purpose and job satisfaction.

Leadership Skills for Developing Workforce Resiliency

Monday, September 10, 2007, 2–3:50 p.m.
(Repeated) Tuesday, September 11, 2007, 1:30–3:30 p.m.

Add this item to your Personal Schedule (Monday)

Add this item to your Personal Schedule (Tuesday)

Speaker: Al Siebert, PhD, Director, The Resiliency Center, Portland, OR

The pressure is on to get more work done, of higher quality, in less time, with fewer people and less budget, while managing constant, disruptive change. Public works professionals know this scenario all too well.

Dr. Al Siebert, founder of The Resiliency Center and author of The Resiliency Advantage, will provide practical guidelines for increasing resiliency in yourself, your work teams, and your organization. You will learn: how to hold up under pressure and be resilient during times of change; why some employees are more resilient than others; how to encourage your workforce to work with inner attitudes of service and professionalism; how to bounce back from unexpected difficulties and gain strength from distressing experiences; how resiliency is related to long life and good health.