Yesterday & Tomorrow

January is a beautiful month of the year.  With changes in temperature, the hanging of new calendars in our homes and offices, and proudly wearing or bringing our holiday gifts to work; it’s a great time to think about the year ahead while reflecting on the past 12 months.

Like many of you, your CSMFO Communication Committee took some time to consider our 2020 resolutions, to reflect on those who were important to us personally and professionally, and to look back to understand what went well and what we might have missed in 2019.

Meet the new Team

As our committee is preparing to finalize our 2020 resolutions and goals, we are proud to announce our new Communication Committee leadership:

• Karla Romero, Chair and Finance Director and Treasurer for the City of La Quinta. Karla has been on our committee for several years and served as Committee Vice Chair in 2019.  She was literally recruited as she exited the stage after receiving CSMFO’s 2017 Volunteer of the Year Award at our 2018 Conference.  Karla finds inspiration from those she works with and enjoys actively mentoring staff with a focus on helping them find personal passion and fulfillment.
• James Russel-Field, Vice Chair and Assistant Finance Director for the City of Benicia. James has served on various committees and roles supporting CSMFO and concluded 2019 as the Communication Committee Vice Chair.  His tennis skills are legendary, and he has been a strong advocate in pushing CSMFO into a bigger social media presence as well as a regular supporter and author of special features.
• Nitish Sharma, Vice Chair and Chief Administrative Officer for the Cosumnes Community Services District. Nitish has helped author and bring to CSMFO Magazine and News numerous special features for years.  Nitish joined the Committee in 2018 after standing out in CSMFO’s 2018 Strategic Planning session as a strong advocate for brining on-time content in an engaging manner to members.

Our 2020 Resolution – Align features to your needs

For 2020, we want to identify and bring you the timely content you need to make your department look good, be prepared, and support your community.

To help us, be sure and take our CSMFO News quick poll.  We hope this 2 minute quick poll will prioritize the key topics you and our members are most interested in.

So far, for 2020, CSMFO News will focus on these essential features to start you on a promising path for 2020.

• January: Help you and your agency be better prepared for opportunities and threats
• February: Active planning for fiscal sustainability in your organization
• March: With “Asset Management Month” we’re focusing on tips on asset management and financing
• April: Aligned with budget presentation season & “Finance Literacy Month”, will provide tips on communicating finances within your agency and to your community

What to expect in January

We borrowed inspiration from “National Mentoring Month” to provide some mentorship to our readers on preparing for opportunities and against some threats.

• How Great Decisions in CSMFO Got Made. In a special feature, we reflect on and honor the two decades of success Don Maruska has brought to CSMFO.  Learn how our list serve, webinar training, and coaching & mentoring programs got started and positioned CSMFO as a national leader.
• From Job Search to Saying Yes. We conclude our 3-part job search series on preparing for the different types and levels of interviews a candidate may face.
• 8 Tips to protect you from cybercriminals. We hope to inspire you to proactively engage on the topic of Cyber protection.  Over 170 city, county and state agencies have been impacted by cyber-attacks.  Learn the 8 Steps you can take to avoid being #171.
• Unlocking achievement in your agency. Learn the insider tricks for your work or home on how CSMFO’s partner SMA uses tasks management systems to keep CSMFO humming.
• 2020 Conference. You got your room, registered, and reviewed our top 10 tips to prepare for the CSMFO Conference. Now get more insight from our President and President Elect on what else you might do to maximize your conference experience.

2019 in hindsight

Had we had 20-20 vision, we might not have been so ambitious for 2019.  Nonetheless, we’re proud of our committee’s successes in meeting CSMFO Strategic Goals and our committee’s own goals and objectives.  But, as with any forecast or goal-setting process, it’s important to look back and see what you got right and what you can learn from about what you might have missed.

Here’s what the Communication Committee got right in 2019 and what we missed:

• We did it.  Go Live with a new online magazine platform by May 2019.  On October 2, 2018, the CSMFO Board gave their first support towards converting the “every other month” CSMFO Magazine to a new, fully web based, weekly CSMFO News platform.  CSMFO News went live in May 2019 and has exceeded all expectations as far as readership, sponsorship, and advertisements.
• We did it.  Hire a professional production manager/editor.  The 2019 CSMFO Strategic Plan directed that the Communication Committee present to the CSMFO Board for consideration a contract to support the success of CSMFO News.  On December 5, 2019, the Board approved a contract supplement with SMA to serve as CSMFO News professional manager.
• We did it. Create an online resource page to provide guidelines and tips to future authors.  Our committee recently finalized a 2pg primer to guide new potential authors on how easy it can be to become a published author.  You can find this and other CSMFO guidance and policies in our online Policies & Procedures Manual section.
• Not quite. Create new member engagement features for CSMFO News.  While we partially hit the mark by introducing a new feature on highlighting CSMFO Board meetings and published a few features on CSMFO Member career changes, we still have more to do.  We look forward to introducing you to Coach Ella in 2020 who will step in as a virtual coach and give advice and tips to questions or challenges our members are facing.  And we will look to return to celebrating our member’s career milestones, from promotions and retirements, to moving to other agencies.
• Missed it. Roll out guidance and education on proper use of CSMFO’s Logo, email practices, and branding.  One of the Communication Committee’s responsibility is to ensure a common branding experience for all CSMFO members.  A future initiative will be to provide regular updates on the guidelines within our 2018 CSMFO Style Guide.

In the end, while there are always leaders, managers, and professional support who are critical in the success of any endeavor, it’s only through the efforts of an entire team that any success can be achieved.   So, it is our honor to thank and acknowledge the entire CSMFO Communication Committee.  We ask you to join us in thanking them each for their dedication, passion, and all their volunteer time they gave to provide you and all our readers content all year long.

James Russell-Field, Vice Chair (City of Benicia)

Karla Romero, Vice Chair (City of La Quinta)

David Cain, Senior Advisor (CSMFO Lifer)

Ernie Reyna, Board Liaison (City of Perris)

Pamela Arends-King (South Coast Water District)

Maria Blanco (City of Ontario)

Wing-See Fox (Urban Futures Inc.)

Darrylenn Prudholme-Brockington (Riverside County Flood Control & Water Conservation District)

Andrew Ruiz (Western Riverside Council of Governments)

Matt Schenk (March Joint Powers Authority)

Nitish Sharma (Cosumnes Community Services District)

Carol Williams (City of Ontario)

David Garrison, SMA (spiritual and inspirational guide and now Editor)

Dayna Dixon, SMA (advertisers’ best friend and logistical genius)