There’s less than one week left until Accela Engage 2013 kicks off in San Diego, but don’t panic. Although the world isn’t coming to an end like in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, time is running out to carefully plan your schedule to ensure you make the most of your time during the conference.
If you haven’t nailed down your must-attend sessions and events, here’s a quick guide to a few things that may just help round out your experience next week:
- Haven’t registered yet? Not being able to attend Accela Engage would obviously have a serious impact on your entire experience. You can register until 11:59 pm on Wednesday, August 7. All hands-on training classes must be selected by then as well.
- Speaking of Hands-on Training Sessions: These training classes require preregistration to attend and space is limited to 35 seats per class, so reserve your spot before they fill up! For example, you can learn how to leverage mapping integration with Beginner Accela GIS (Wed. 8/14 at 1:00p), improve analytics with Ad-Hoc Reporting (Wed. 8/14 at 3:30p) or polish your developer skills with Basic Scripting Concepts (Fri. 8/16 at 1:30p)—or choose from several other options. Classes are scheduled Wednesday afternoon through Friday and are noted with a Fee icon on the registration site.
- App Demo Room: Learn how you can extend the power of your Accela solution by viewing one or more 15-minute demos of existing apps and prototypes that can integrate with your Accela solution. Apps to be featured include those from Accela, Buildingeye, CityGovApp, Civic Insight, Code for America, SeeClickFix and VuSpex.
- Special Abu Dhabi Presentation and Panel: The United States isn’t the only country making significant gains in civic engagement. Join Khaled Jaouni with Accela in Abu Dhabi and two guest speakers from the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development in their Monday afternoon Best Practice session, The True One-Stop Shop Experience: Taking Government Service to the Customer, and learn how they’ve centralized all business licensing across the Emirate.
Networking and Getting Involved
- User Group Meetings: There are plenty of opportunities to meet attendees from other agencies during the conference. Join one of the Regional User Group Meetings on Monday to make the acquaintance of other agency officials in your neck of the woods, and attend the National User Group Meeting on Tuesday to learn what agencies in other parts of the country are doing.
- Birds of a Feather Lunch Tables: Not sure who to sit with during lunch or what to talk about? Find one of our topically themed lunch tables to find like-minded peers and discuss what you’re doing in your community or city around Licensing, Asset Management, Open Data and more. You’ll already have something in common to break the ice and you may learn a thing or two you can take back to your own agency.
We’ve worked hard to create interesting educational and networking opportunities on top of the great keynote speaker (Steve Largent!) and general sessions, fun activities like the Customer Appreciation Dinner at the San Diego Zoo and an extensive list of Best Practice, How-To, What’s New and Special Sessions. Take a few minutes to plan your agenda so you can be sure to get the most out of Accela Engage!
