In Impact Networks: Create Connection, Spark Collaboration, and Catalyze Change, author, David Ehrlichman, notes that “[n]early all of the most impactful networks we have seen have taken the act of convening very seriously.” (p. 58). He goes on to say that:
Successful convenings create a generative space where people interact, think, talk, and collaborate together in new ways. Because they transform the nature of relationships across the network and create moments when participants can envision and build their future together, convenings are critical touchstones for emerging and mature networks alike. (Ibid).
1. 2025: Cleveland, Here We Come!
That’s right – we’re headed to the Rock and Roll Capital of the World, although I am not aware that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame sports any green stormwater infrastructure (GSI). Between Sunday, May 4 and Wednesday, May 7, we will, however, see a lot of GSI elsewhere. Thanks are owed to this year’s Annual Meeting Committee, including Chris Hartman (Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD)), Chair, Robb Lukes (City of Vancouver, BC), Claire Maulhardt (Capital Region Water, Harrisburg, PA), John Brosnan (King County, WA), and Jessica Engel (King County, WA), for planning what we know will be a great experience. A few highlights are as follows:
- Location: We will be staying in the beautiful “University Circle” neighborhood of Cleveland, near Case Western Reserve University, where there are numerous museums, eateries, hotels, and other attractions. Among them is the Cleveland Botanical Garden, where our morning meeting sessions will be held. Hotel accommodations will be nearby at Glidden House and Courtyard by Marriott, both of which are located near the rail line that goes to the airport.
- Tours: Chris Hartman and colleagues from NEORSD have a number of tours already planned: On Monday afternoon there will be opportunities to visit (1) the Pepper Luce Creek stream stabilization and culvert replacement project or (2) the Doan Brook Walk and Fairhill/MLK Green Infrastructure Plaza, Doan Valley Tunnel, Carnegie RTA Bus Station, and Doan Brook Stream & Bank stabilization projects. On Tuesday afternoon, we will visit the Watershed Stewardship Center and West Creek Conservancy’s Stearns Native Nursery and Art House GI Grant Project.
- Other Programming: While the morning sessions are still being developed pursuant to results from our Educational Resources and Needs (ERN) Survey, Kyle Dreyfuss-Wells, CEO of NEORSD, has been confirmed as a speaker on Tuesday morning to help kick off the meeting. If you haven’t yet taken 5 minutes to complete the ERN survey, you can do so by clicking here.
Primary members will receive an invitation to register up to two members from each organization this week. Any seats that are unfilled after February 17, 2025 will be made available to additional members who want to attend via a lottery process. Preference will be given to those organizations that have been active in other programs (e.g., peer learning participation, committee/task force service, responding to surveys) of the Exchange in 2024. Please consult the Annual Meeting webpage for additional details as they evolve.
2. Sponsorship Opportunities
We are once again inviting members and non-members to enhance their visibility and help to underwrite the costs of hosting the meeting by purchasing a sponsorship. Numerous opportunities are detailed on the Annual Meeting Sponsorship webpage. We appreciate that new member HDR, Inc. jumped at the opportunity to be our first Annual Meeting sponsor for 2025. Sponsorships are critical to providing scholarships for less-resourced organizations to attend the meeting.
3. Changes in Annual Meeting Policy
As the Exchange adapts to a new fiscal reality in which philanthropy plays less of a role in our financial model, it is necessary to re-think our approach to the Annual Meeting. To that end, the Strategic Planning and Policy Committee (SPPC, the Exchange’s governing body) charged this year’s Annual Meeting Committee with developing recommendations about the meeting’s size, funding, timing, and location. Over the summer and fall, the Committee conducted extensive research on how other environmental networks similar to the Exchange manage their annual convenings. It presented its recommendations in October and the SPPC adopted them in November. A summary of them is as follows:
- Convening Size: Among the organizations studied, the Exchange’s meeting is the smallest. With the pressing need evidenced in national surveys for best GSI implementation practices as well as our own need to grow our membership, we should expand the size of the meeting to 150 in 2025 and 250 in 2026.
- Funding: The Exchange spends a large share of its budget and roughly 75 percent of the member dues it collects subsidizing the costs of attendance for roughly 25 percent of its members. This practice of generous subsidization is out of step with the policies of other organizations surveyed, most of whom require attendees to pay the full cost of lodging and travel and cover the costs of the meeting with a combination of registration fees and sponsorship revenues. The Committee recommends for 2025, that (1) a modest registration fee be charged. This fee will be waived for one attendee per local government/stormwater agency this year as the registration fee requirement is phased in; (2) that members should be asked to cover the full cost of their lodging and travel expenses; and (3) that up to 15 scholarships should be offered to active members who are local governments/stormwater authorities, nonprofits, or educational institutions on a first come, first-served basis if covering some or all of the costs of lodging and travel would be a hardship. The staff was asked to make recommendations to the SPPC on the amount of the registration fee and enhancements to the sponsorship program for FY 2026 by June 30, 2025.
- Timing: Given our need to visit functioning green infrastructure installations, to avoid the summer heat, and to avoid the very busy fall “water” conference season, the Committee recommends sticking with the spring as the time for the Annual Meeting.
- Location: The Committee recommends varying the location across the U.S. and Canada, considering as additional factors (1) member recruitment needs; (2) opportunities to connect with new philanthropic and other partners; (3) the value of the U.S. dollar relative to the Canadian dollar and other economic circumstances that may affect affordability from one year to the next; and (4) local issues relevant to the mission of the Exchange (e.g., the opportunity to co-locate the meeting to take advantage of another water conference, as is happening this year, with Ohio’s statewide conference starting the day after the Exchange’s meeting ends).
The staff and the SPPC are hopeful that the foregoing changes will allow us to open the meeting to more members and to continue to offer a robust, engaging experience for years to come. If you have questions or comments about them, please reach out to me directly at barbara@giexchange.org.
