CSMFO ‘s Keynote Speakers

Yesterday, Today and Finance’s Keynote Speakers

David Cain, Retired Director of Finance – Adjunct Professor CSUN, CPP & CSULB

For those of you that may have missed a keynote or two due to the need to make it to the newest Disney attraction “Rise of the Resistance” we wanted to provide a briefing on all three keynote speakers. By the way, (and don’t tell anyone I told you this) the new ride is not just a ride but an experience. From getting your boarding number at exactly 8 am inside the park, to the que, to the actual ride and then an amazing ending. So, now let’s get back to the stories and lessons learned from our three keynote speakers. All three of our keynote speakers provided us with some practical advice that we have been able to take back to our own finance world. We heard from Jeffery Barnes talking about “Making Choices” using the Wisdom Walt Disney to Rebecca Ryan defining for us Strategic Foresight and Future Trends we should pay attention to in our organizations. With a Friday wrap-up from Steve Gross on “Life is Good”.

JEFFERY BARNES – The Wisdom of Walt $40, a single suitcase and a one way ticket . . . . Where is your life taking you? What is your dream? Jeffery used the five original A, B, C, D, E coupons to share with us about “Five Life Changing Choices” which include: • Keep moving forward • Use courage to confront conflict • Stop looking and start leading • Let go of limiting beliefs • Dismiss your doubts and doubters We also got to learn about the Walt park bench, choosing our favorite Disney ride (Rise of the Resistance) and Disneyland song (It’s a Small World After All)! We were reminded about the importance of other people in our lives such as Walt’s brother Roy. We all know that Disneyland will never be complete. Walt Disney lived his dreams because he took steps – action – towards making those dreams come true. How many steps are you from your dream, but you must take action—any action—to bring you one step closer. List, right now, the steps you need to take to make your dream a realization.

REBECA RYAN – The Future is Yours to Create Well the “Human Sparkplug” did not let us down as she energized us to be “Futurists”. Aka Ready, Set, Future! Rebeca talked about how foresight can give our communities and organizations an advantage in the future. Also, we need to look at top trends with low impact and uncertainty and focus on those with high impace and greater certainty on our organizations. We looked at the six step foresight process as a tool that can give our communities a competitive advantage. She noted that senior executives use the 40/30/20 rule and therefore devote less than 3% of their time to building a perspective on the future. Where is your organization spending its time?

Each one of us should be asking the following question:

If a city next door announced that they were going to become the best in the state, resolute on stealing your best employees, attracting your residents and businesses, what would they do to make you irrelevant? Next, Rebeca notes that America is Seasonal, and we are in the Winter season (2009-2030). Ryan emphasizes two things winter’s leaders should provide: perspective and control. We want people not to give into fear and fall into nonproductive pandemonium. We can do that by reminding others that we’ve been through all kinds of crises before and always made our way out. During this season we as leaders can help build a better future. For winter to change back to spring, people have to change, and you have to give them the space to change.

The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new! Rebeca Ryan then led a break-out session following the keynote where the topic was “Putting Foresight to Work: Are you Future-Ready? This was a roll-up-your-sleeves session were everyone had the opportunity to practice some of the foresight tools shared in the keynote session. Top future trends facing communities in the US and Canada focus on four forces: 1.) Resources 2.) Technology 3.) Demographics 4.) Governance Everyone participated in The Big Sort, a table top card game, to discuss and debate the trends most likely to affect our agencies in the future. The CSMFO Conference Guidebook has an outstanding document entitled “The Next Twenty Years in Local Government” from the Alliance for Innovation.

STEVE GROSS – Life is Good Let’s look back at what Steve had to share with use in the final closing conference session. Can I just say . . . Life is not easy. Life is not perfect. Life is Good! • Optimism is the single most important trait that a person can have. – See the good in yourself. Look a life from a child’s perspective – even when you are playing right field. • Toxic stress can destroy optimism – you need an enriched environment. • Optimism can be grown – focus on the opportunities. Optimism is a powerful and pragmatic strategy for accomplishing goals and living a fulfilled life. Over the past twenty years, the benefits of optimism have been validated by a large, growing body of scientific research. Studies have demonstrated a strong link between optimism and increased metal and physical health, greater resilience in the face of stress and adversity, and a higher overall quality of life. The optimal environment for healing and learning is Oasis + Play = O’Playsis Optimism is built on the foundation of joy, internal control, active engagement, social connection but the outgrowth is the superpowers. Think and picture your own “Superhero” . . . . now that you have that picture in your head, remember they have special powers. Their superpowers include openness, courage, simplicity, humor, gratitude, fun, compassion, creativity, authenticity, and love. These superpowers help each of us overcome obstacles, drive forward with greater purpose, and enjoy the ride. For more detail about each of these superpowers take the time to read “Life is Good – The Book” by Bert and John Jacobs. Finally, • You can’t spread what you don’t have, and it impacts your longevity. • No smile = 72.9 years of life • Partial smile = 75 years of life • Full smile = 79.9 years of life – proof that your outlook on life impacts your longevity! What does your face tell everyone else about you? Unleash the power of optimism to lead your best life! “If you don’t live it, it won’t come out your horn.” Charlie Parker As part of the conference theme of “Giving Back” the fee paid for the keynote speaker Steve Gross was 100% given to the non-profit Life is Good Kids Fountain. The Life is Good Playmakers support childcare professionals and organizations to create life-changing relationships and optimal environments where the most vulnerable kids can heal, learn, and grow.

THE FUTURE IS 2021 To close out the final general session our shoeless and tieless President-Elect Marcus Pimentel told us “the way to San Jose” was via the CSMFO 2021 conference to be held at the San Jose McEnery Conference Center and hotel complex. Please put February 16-19, 2021 on your calendars as we look forward to another great CSMFO annual conference. The goal is to exceed our 2020 conference attendance of just over 2,000 members. So plan to set aside time to attend the 2021 conference with more pre-conference sessions, over 60 plus general breakout training session opportunities and of course the great keynote speakers. See you in San Jose!

CSMFO Conference Magazine 38

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CSMFO Giving Back

This year’s 2020 Conference included special touches of gratitude and giving back to others. In honor of giving back, Tyler Technologies made a $5,000 donation to the Orangewood Foundation. Conference attendees were asked to share what they had achieved in 2019 or hoped to achieve this coming year. Blank cards were available on a story wall to fill out and turn in. The booth’s theme was “you share, we donate.” The Orangewood Foundation, a non-profit organization in Orange County strives to prepare youth transitioning from foster care, support those experiencing homelessness, and aid community youth needing innovative support to reach their greatest potential in our society. Additionally, CSMFO purchased 1850 FEED bags four our attendee swag bag at registration, resulting in 18,500 meals provided to children who need them. We recieved the following letter from FEED:

Thank you for ordering FEED bags for the CSMFO Conference this year! Because of your support, we were able to donate 18,500 meals to kids around the world and in the U.S.. Many thanks and happy holidays! - Lauren & Team Feed. And of course, being the global conscience organization FEED is, they wrote this letter on a recycled piece of cardboard.