06/12/2018

Good Afternoon MTAS,

Today was the last day of the TML conference. For those that did not attend, I can tell you it was packed full of good information, educational speakers (seven presentations involved seven MTAS staff), fabulous networking and an exhibit hall where Armintha rocked the MTAS booth. This was the first conference I attended in my new role. You all made me so very proud – I can’t tell you the number of times I was pulled aside and told what a wonderful job MTAS does for the municipalities across the state. I was given stories of extraordinary customer service and praise for your knowledge. What a great four days I’ve had; and I have you to thank for it!

The conference concluded this morning with the annual awards ceremony. I always love this part since it’s a celebration of our customers doing what they do, really well. It struck me today more than ever, that when we say we improve the lives of Tennesseans – we really do - and this ceremony is the proof. No, we aren’t out there doing the work that the cities and towns get credit for, but we do nominate the cities for consideration. This ceremony wouldn’t be the same without the consultants taking the time to research and write thoughtful nominations. Further, we are involved enough with our customers to know who is doing what and who is excelling. We are involved enough with our customers that they know they can call on us when they have an innovative idea and need help executing it. Maybe sometimes we even suggest that innovative idea and the city or town experiences tremendous success as a result of following through with that kernel of thought. In the end, these cities that are doing great things have residents and stakeholders who feel the positive impact. Congratulations to all the municipal award winners and all the staff who had a hand in their success.

Also during the conference, the MTAS Advisory Board met. It was a quick meeting, and we briefly discussed communications, revisions to the group’s bylaws, the upcoming budget, the MTAS reorganization, the work toward a new MTAS strategic plan (you’ll hear more about this at the MTAS retreat), the biennial customer satisfaction survey results, financially supporting the agency, and then a sharing of what is happening in each member’s community. The board is currently made up of three elected and eight appointed officials from a variety of municipal departments, in addition to four standing members representing TML, The Pool, the TMBF and IPS. That gives us a total of fifteen members; seven females and eight males. Of the eleven city officials, four are from west TN, four from middle and three from west. It’s a wonderful group who is familiar with us, uses our services, and is willing to give us honest feedback from which we can improve. If you have any questions about who is on the board or what they do, please let me know. I’ll gladly share with you.

I mentioned the upcoming MTAS retreat a few sentences ago. The retreat will be June 25 – 27 in Franklin at the Drury Plaza. A huge thank-you goes out to the conference planning committee who put together a strong agenda. The committee is comprised of: Frances (chair), Rex, Paige, Gary, Armintha and Michelle T. The basic outline of the retreat is attached with the full/specific agenda coming next week.

Also, LEIC is hosting an online auction right now of some of the cool things that have been donated to them that are no longer needed. This list includes a couple of Hummers, antique microscopes, beautiful artwork and even some furniture. Here’s a link to the auction site:
https://www.igavelauctions.com/auctions/law-enforcement-innovation-center-university-of-tenn

Before I leave you for the week, I want to celebrate our office birthday (Melissa on the 8 ^th ) and work anniversaries for John C. on the first and Honna on the third. Congratulations to the three of you.

In honor of the consultant with the most award winning nominations at the TML conference this week, here is a quote from one of Pat’s favorite musical artists, Bruce Springsteen:

"Talk about a dream
Try to make it real
You wake up in the night
With a fear so real
Spend your life waiting
For a moment that just don't come
Well don't waste your time waiting." (Badlands)

Have a great remainder of your week,
Margaret