The Victoria Conference Centre will play host to the annual Union of BC Municipalities conference from Sept 25th to Sept 28th, 2012. Delegates from every corner of the province will converge upon the capital to participate in clinics and workshops, meet with provincial cabinet ministers and hear from Premier Christy Clark, Opposition Leader Adrian Dix and leader of the Green Party Jane Sterk, among many others.
The theme of this years’ conference is communication, and given the plethora of communication tools in common use today it’s appropriate that our local governments examine their use of social technologies and other means of connecting to constituents, other municipal governments as well as provincial and federal government entities. In fact, there will be a session on Social Media and Local Government Leadership on Tuesday afternoon.
Other scheduled sessions range from a debate on the decriminalization of marijuana to local government finance (hmmm, might those be connected someday?). Provincial Policy sessions include Improving Employment for Persons with Disabilities and Community Poverty Reduction Strategies (wow, more overlapping subjects!).
For local government officials and community delegates (especially those from smaller or remote communities across the province) this annual convention offers the opportunity to connect with each other as well as BC’s power brokers. Hopefully this year’s theme will promote more conversation and coordination between these people who have the power to influence all of our daily lives.
If you’re curious about the program for this convention, you can see it here. Those of us who are living in Victoria BC would like to extend a warm welcome to all of the delegates and hope that you enjoy your stay in our beautiful city.
