Hello. I’m Paul Danczyk, President of the American Society for Public Administration.

October is an exciting month for advancing excellence in public service.  This month’s theme is 2020 Vision for Leadership and Management.

Speaking of leadership in action, bravo to Professors Michael Ford, MPAC president; Lois Warner, chair-elect of ASPA’s Section on Public Administration Education; and Jared Llorens, Louisiana State University, for their very successful regional conferences in Indianapolis for MPAC and Baton Rouge for SECoPA, respectively. What excellent forums to foster engaging conversations!

I look forward to the Northeast Conference on Public Administration’s conference on November 8 to 10 in Brooklyn New York with special gratitude to long-time ASPA members Steve Rolandi, Pace University, and Helisse Levine of Long Island University's Public Administration Program, LIU-Brooklyn Center for leading the efforts. Both are long-time champions for the field and Steve has served in many ASPA leadership roles, including on the National Council. Thank you for your efforts.

As you begin to plan your spring travel, be sure to add this year’s annual conference in Anaheim, California, April 3 to 7. Our timely theme is “2020 Vision for Politics, Policy, and Administration.” Early bird registration is now open.

A few deadlines to keep in mind:

With the proposal period ending on October 4th, we will share future highlights after the peer review process and as the agenda gets set. We are excited about the sessions that are in the works. Our goal is to make each session academic and practitioner relevant and the overall conference family-friendly.

If you are, or if you know of, a young professional who would make a great Founders' Fellow, the nomination deadline is October 11th. Now into its sixth year, there are many perks to being a Founders' Fellow including covered registration and hotel costs, an opportunity to present research and linked with an ASPA mentor.

And, we have many exemplars within ASPA and our networks. Consider submitting them for a national award by November 1st. We give out more than 20 awards, honoring public servants and academics across the profession. Make sure you nominate individuals and organizations that you feel should be recognized for their work!

These and other details can be found at our conference website, www.aspanet.org/annualconference .

For upcoming events this month, our BookTalk featuring Women Veterans: Lifting the Veil of Invisibility will be on October 10th. Professor Gigi Harris, Portland State University and Commissioned Officer in the U.S. Air Force Reserve, will share insights on the current service-related policies and gender in the military’s hierarchical power structure.

On October 23rd, our student and young professional webinar will be on the Methodological Approaches When Doing Research. The star-studded panel includes Hannah Lebovits, Cleveland State University; Ashley Nickels, Kent State University; Nathan Favero, American University; and James Wright, Florida State University.

On October 29th, we partner with the Center for Accountability and Performance on: Real-Time Performance Audits: Helping Governments Solve Problems, Manage Risks and Improve Operations. The panel includes Devin Braun and Adam Miles from the US Government Accountability Office, Kip Memmott, Oregon Secretary of State’s Office, and Alexandra Fercak, City of Portland Oregon.

As a nod to the 2019 conference, this month’s video highlight is “What the Public Sector of the Future Must Look Like”. This dialogue spoke directly to the challenges we all know exist within the public service pipeline. It can be found on our website.

For Chapter highlights, the fall means fun kick-off events as we gear up for the coming year of activities. Thanks to everyone who hosted events—and especially to the Central Florida Chapter, who hosted a networking party at the brand-new downtown campus for the University of Central Florida; the MassASPA Chapter, where Suffolk University hosted the Chapter’s annual meeting; and the Sacramento Chapter, hosted by the University of Pacific, with over 100 attendees. How cool is that! Look for more Chapter events coming up in October.

For our Partner Focus, I recognize the Senior Executives Association and its president, Bill Valdez. SEA represents senior execs in the federal government and ASPA has enjoyed a terrific partnership with them this past year, as we all work to think through public service’s most vexing problems. ASPA will be attending the December Leadership Summit this year. We look forward to continuing to partner with SEA in the years to come.

For these and other opportunities, check out our website at www.aspanet.org .

Have a great month and I look forward to seeing you at an upcoming event!