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American Public Works Association
International Congress & Exposition
2008 Call for Presentations – Submission Deadline: September 30, 2007!

Join us in a unique opportunity to celebrate the spirit of renewal as APWA hosts the 2008 International Congress & Exposition in New Orleans, Louisiana, August 17-20, 2008.

Public works agencies in New Orleans and the Gulf States region have been going through an experience that is not only a test of engineering and technological ingenuity, but also a test of leadership and resiliency. Public works professionals are in the forefront of meeting these types of challenges in any part of the world where people rely on basic services to exist. We want to hear your story of success – both large and small.

To celebrate the progress and accomplishments made by public works agencies towards infrastructure renewal, APWA is issuing a special CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS for education sessions at the 2008 Congress. We are looking for presentations that showcase examples of public works professionals displaying outstanding qualities of innovation, leadership, and resourcefulness.

Public works renewal can be a factor of recovery from disaster, but it is also sparked by financial, technological, and organizational challenges.

• lessons learned,
• “how we did it” case studies,
• strategies for addressing emerging trends, and
• practical and relevant methods for dealing with the critical issues facing public works today.

In addition to the excellent variety of educational programming you’ve come to expect from APWA’s Congress, a special track will be reserved for presentations highlighting the renewal and recovery efforts in the Gulf States region.

So, tell us your story!

Submitting Your Proposal Is Easy!

Online: http://www.apwa.net/Meetings/Congress/2008/CallForPresentations/

Simply fill in the required fields on the Online Submission Form, then instantly transmit your proposal by clicking "Submit."

E-mail: Download the Official E-Mail Proposal Submission Form. Complete it, save it on your computer as a new file, then attach it to an e-mail addressed education@apwa.net. Within 48 hours, you will receive confirmation via e-mail of your proposal tracking number.

How are Presentations Selected?

• Relevance and Clarity: Content is interesting and useful to a significant number of expected attendees. Learning objectives are clearly stated using active verbs that describe how the presentation will help attendees.
• Practical Application: Presentation provides take-away knowledge and material that can be used by participants in their day-to-day work settings, describes how ideas and methods can be transferred for use by others, and/or offers how-to skills to improve performance.
• Leading Edge: Presentation addresses critical issues, emerging trends, innovative technologies and methodologies.
• Balance: The selection committee will conduct a review for balance to ensure that any one speaker or organization is not disproportionately represented and that any one topic area is not overrepresented in the final selections.

What Are We Looking For?

Leadership and life skills
Operational nuts and bolts
Best practices and innovative approaches
Practical applications for technologies and methodologies
Process and system enhancements
Emerging regulatory and legal trends
Future visions for the profession

Proposals are encouraged in areas of interest and importance to the public works profession. (But don’t feel limited by these suggestions – out-of-the-box thinking is encouraged!)

State-of-the-Art Operations for Every Type of Public Works Service

• Roads, streets, traffic (pavement performance and maintenance, work-zone safety, snow and ice control, street, arterial, and intersection design, traffic calming, community mobility, etc.)
• Solid waste systems and issues
• Water and wastewater systems and issues
• Stormwater management and erosion control practices and issues
• Smart growth and sustainable design
• Right-of-Way issues
• Infrastructure security and emergency management and preparedness
• Facilities management (maintenance strategies, inventory systems, condition assessments, etc.)
• Urban forestry (caring for trees and vegetation, sidewalk issues, recycling green waste, etc.)
• Engineering/Construction (public works project management, project delivery systems, etc.)
• Fleet (maintenance and replacement strategies, business plans, service level agreements, customer service, shop and parts management, etc.)
• Technologies used in public works (GIS, GPS, ITS, RFID, wireless communications, online bidding, asset management systems, pavement management systems, etc.)

• Core values and competencies
• Critical issues facing public works today and ideas and visions for the future
• Human resource issues (employee recruitment, retention, motivation, etc.)

• Public/private partnerships, contracting, budgeting, financing public improvements, citizen participation, etc.

• Stress management, improving communication skills, life strategies, etc.

Guidelines and Related Information

• ONLINE OR EMAIL SUBMISSIONS ONLY: All proposals must be submitted either online or by e-mail using the Official Proposal Submission Forms. Submit your proposal only once.
  
  
• LEARNING OBJECTIVES : All submissions must include three (3) learning objectives that complete the sentence: By attending this session, participants will be able to: (e.g. – develop a project plan, evaluate which method will work best for certain climatic conditions, etc.)
  Tip: When writing learning objectives use active verbs like: implement, evaluate, prepare, solve, identify, demonstrate, discuss. Avoid verbs like: know, understand, learn, believe, comprehend.
  
  
• SESSION LENGTH: Please indicate the expected length of your session. (50, 75, 90, 150 minutes). APWA will try to allocate your session the requested number of minutes; however, due to space limitations and time constraints, we may be asking you to shorten your session into a shorter time block, or we may ask that you combine your presentation with similar-themed submissions into a larger time block.
  
  
• SCHEDULING: Due to the complexity of determining topic placement, we are unable to accommodate specific date and time requests. Make sure that you and other speakers in your session will be available to present on any day of the Congress beginning at 2:00 pm Sunday, August 17, 2008 through noon on Wednesday, August 20, 2008.
  
  
• DO NOT REFER TO SPECIFIC COMPANIES, AGENCIES, OR PEOPLE IN THE CONTENT DESCRIPTION PORTION OF YOUR PROPOSAL: The selection committee’s first reading of all proposals is done in an anonymous format.
  
  
• COMMERCIAL-FREE ZONE: Direct promotions of a speaker’s products, services, or monetary self-interest are not appropriate for education sessions. Case studies on product applications, project management systems and services, etc. should include presentations from user agencies and organizations.
  
  
• REGISTRATION FEES AND TRAVEL EXPENSES: Speakers at APWA’s International Public Works Congress and Exposition are also considered attendees and are expected to pay their own travel expenses and the appropriate member/nonmember registration fee. If you can only attend the Congress on the day of your presentation, you may qualify for a complimentary single-day registration.
  
  
• PAID PROFESSIONAL TRAINERS AND SPEAKERS are welcome to use the Online and E-mail Submission Forms, but be sure to check the appropriate "paid speaker" box.

Deadline: The submission deadline is September 30, 2007!

Questions? Contact Karen Wilson at (816) 595-5210.