My ASPA 2009 Experience in a Twitshell

Over the past weekend, I attended the American Society for Public Administration’s 2009 Annual Conference in Miami. I was invited to speak on two topics: Web 2.0/social media and the four generations in the workforce. In addition, I had the chance to attend two great sessions that really energized me. I tweeted the proceedings live. Rather than try to restructure my immediate thoughts here, it may be easier for readers to review the Twitter stream from hashtag #aspa09.

On Sunday, I enjoyed a session entitled “Intergenerational Diversity and Recruitment“

• Michael Card “Challenge of marketing to Gen Y for public service is function of formative yrs: Iran contra, Clinton scandal…
• Michael Card: Need to re-brand (my word) public sector … bright, dynamic, digital … can’t control message, but define benefits
• Dr. Anne Zahradnik: “Intergenerational Diversity” session…now speaking is Anne Zahradnik, PhD (psychologist) from Long Island University.
• Dr. Anne Zahradnik: “Young people’s brains more facile in manipulating info, neuro studies reveal significant differences”
• Dr. Anne Zahradnik: “Neuro studies show that young people are less adept at reading people”
• Dr. Anne Zahradnik: “Increasing stress in Western work environ…unique to gov: politically defined/changing priorities”
• Dr. Anne Zahradnik: “A 4-Tier, 12-Factor Model of Organizational Health” found here: http://twurl.nl/n0lgak
• Dr. Anne Zahradnik :”Because work so tied to people’s persona, will save best behavior for work environ…family issues pub revealed ltr
• Dr. Anne Zahradnik: “Foundation of organizational health is leadership, succession planning, employee wellness”
• Dr. Anne Zahradnik: “Plaque at end of year not as effective for reward/recognition….day-to-day praise is the key.”
• Fisher Org Health research: “40% of US staff turnover due to stress; cost to replace ave employee=$3K – $13K” http://twurl.nl/qq2i0o
• “Most disaffected folks in workforce today are those 30-49…feel very alienated.”
• “Trust and respect between staff and managers real low for those 40-49…”
• Dr. Anne Zahradnik: Training/skill development for young people…but seem to ignore the middle (30-49)…contributes to discontentDr. Anne Zahradnik: Those age 40-49 are most disaffected group…and are having an impact on younger folks b/c they’re the leaders!
• Dr. Anne Zahradnik – Recommends:stabilize structure, develop ldrshp , develop cross-gen mentoring, balance cross-gen recruitment
• Dr. Anne Zahradnik – more recs: modify training (more participation), adopt comprehensive workplace wellness program
• Dr. Anne Zahradnik – more recs: more open communication and transparency needed in orgs, forums for gens to talk
• Dr. Anne Zahradnik: money is not biggest motivator…people (at all ages) want good teamwork
• Lois Redman-Simmons: 2 predictive traits of public service employment = compassion and self-sacrifice
• Lois Redman-Simmons – One of the top predictors of public service employment: the father being a government employee!
• Lois Redman-Simmons – Undergraduate programs in public administration play a key role in influencing future government employees.
• Lois Redman-Simmons Marketing for gov employees: Target the offspring of fathers in public service…murmurs in crowd: why not moms?
• Q: Any gov-employed moms here on Twitter whose children became/are becoming/interested in public sector employment?
• RT @tericee : “My parents worked for the government; I joined the military. Does that count?” It counts, Teri! #aspa09
• PLEASE NOTE…all tweets attributed to Anne Zahradnik should be Patricia Fischer (’twas confused by slides)
• More on Patricia Fisher and Anne Zahradnik of Fisher and Associates can be found here: http://twurl.nl/vjd54j
• Comment from audience at Intergenerational Diversity and Recruitment: “Need to account for retirement trends changing…”
• Comment from audience at Intergenerational Diversity and Recruitment: “High intrinsic motivation key to analyze in recruitment”
• Thank you for reading my tweets on this past session! On to the next one…

On Monday, I participated in “Chapter Strategies for the New Diversity: Voices of Young Professionals Part 2.” My tweets are below:

• In a session at ASPA Annual Conference on “Chapter Strategies for the New Diversity” – results of survey on desires of young people.
• New Diversity Survey Results: 1) Opportunities for growth, 2) More encouragement for non-doctoral students, 3) Less academic
• “New Diversity” strategies for retention: created subcommittees based on stated needs – networking and mentoring
• Internet communication tools: use Facebook, Gmail (listserv), John Jay College Blackboard, #govloop , LinkedIn
• Since started using the Web-based tools, more participation and members feel more connected…esp. beyond email.
• Using mobile technology to spread word about job opportunities – “our own networking community”
• The trouble w/ fees…how can ASPA (or any association) bring added value to members when so much is free?
• Fees allow the local chapters to do more with networking and mentoring programs.
• Pool awards points to benefit all members…
• Finding ways to mitigate financial barriers for conference attendance, like sharing hotel rooms
• At nxt yr’s conference in San Jose, CA, invite local members to open homes for folks who can’t afford hotel
• Leverage networks created by Organizing for America (and Republican equiv) to link ASPA chapter members
• Keep a tabbed list of professor members at schools to better link to current/prospective students
• Another respondent: integrate membership value into public administration curriculum at universities
• Value-add for conferences – onsite interviewing and/or resume building…worth price of admission to link to job

So that’s my ASPA experience in a Twitshell. There are some incredible nuggets of insight within these bullet points that require some discussion and I hope to explore some of these topics in greater depth in subsequent posts.

Any initial thoughts or insights from you at this point?