Just a few days to go before the Congress

We held our final committee meeting last Saturday and now we are busy working on the final details.

Committee members who volunteered to help set up on Friday will need to get their year, make, model and car license plate to Melvin or Thomas at DONE so they can arrange Friday parking.

Pre-Registrations are now over 450.  We've increased our catering guarantee to accommodate everyone.

Here are some other resources to keep up with the Congress.  Look forward to seeing you on Saturday !

Thank you, Cindy

http://www.NCConressLA.com
http://www.facebook.com/groups/274897035859698
http://www.twitter.com/NCCongressLA
http://www.youtube.com/NCCongressLA

Committee Meeting 9/17

A Congress Planning Committee meeting will be held this coming Saturday in Van Nuys, Braude Center.  Time to follow.

Congress Planning Meeting Agenda

Saturday, September 10, 2011, 12:30 p.m.

Historic Downtown Outreach Center

114 W. 5th Street

Los Angeles, CA 90013

1. Welcome and Sign-In

2. Review Overall Congress Day Event

Saturday morning Committee Set Up & Staff Coordination

3. Review Set Up Plans for Friday, Sept. 23

• Signage, Registration, Exhibit Tables, other ?

• Committee Volunteers on Friday

4. Review Final Workshop Sessions – Room assignments

5. Review Volunteer Coordination – Cadets, City Year, Other? Who are go

to persons on the day of the event?

6. Review Marketing the Congress – Brief review Event Signage, visits to

NCs, Website, E-blasts, Press Releases to the media, RAFFLE ? other ?

7. Review Congress Budget & Fundraising

8. Future Congress Committee Meeting Schedule

⇒ Sept. 17 Van Nuys

⇒ Sept. 23 (FRIDAY) – 3 p.m. move items and set up with DONE.

⇒ Sept. 24 (CONGRESS DAY) arrive 7 a.m. and Clean Up 4 p.m. -

- Congress Wrap Up meeting will be on Saturday, Oct. 1 following

the LANCC meeting.

Adjourn (2 pm or sooner)

September 3 Planning Meeting Notes

Site Planning - reminder to all that coordination from now forward will be with DONE staff.  The committee has completed their plans for getting all into City Hall and now passes this on to DONE and City staff.

Workshop Sessions - a few final bios and speaker names need to be turned in to Tony and Cindy.  Be sure to send in ASAP, no later than Sept. 7.

Volunteer Coordination - Name and contact info for volunteer leaders promised.  We now move on to youth volunteer confirmations, which we are waiting for final confirmation.  Jay, Melvin and Heinrich will finalize this list and map out the volunteer needs. Heinrich has the latest list as of this meeting.  Several on the committee also signed up.

Raffle --  Idea for coordinating a RAFFLE received a split vote so those interested in coordinating will present plans at next week's meeting. Committee members interested in planning for a Raffle will present their plan at the Sept. 10 committee meeting.

Registration - Randy will be getting the name badges ready from the pre-registrations we have so far.

Early Set-Up -  All on the committee are asked to help set up on Friday, Sept. 23.  A team of three will go to DONE at approx 3 p.m. to help load and move items from DONE office to City Hall.  All other volunteers for this task are asked to be at City Hall no later than 5 p.m.  Meet in the Rotunda.  We will set up as much as we can.

Marketing the Congress - check the nccongressla.com website often for updates.  We still need to visit some NCs who have not registered.  Latest is we are down to 5 NCs not pre-registered.  Thank you to DONE for e-blasts.  Thank you to Stephen/Enci Box for promos.  Press releases to the media have gone out.

Next meeting after PlanCheck at 12 noon.  Agenda to follow in a day or two.

City Council will vote Tuesday to approve the Congress at City Hall.

Thank you!
-Cindy

Aug. 27 Planning Meeting Notes

Site Planning is complete.  DONE staff will coordinate final details with City staff.

All who pre-register will receive an e-mail a few days in advance with confirmation, parking information, map.

There will be a Check-In area for volunteers, speakers, press will be in the kiosk area near the Mayor's office.

Pre-registration cut off is Sept. 22.  This will give time for last minute sign ups to have a pre-printed name badge.

Bag stuffing with City directories to be coordinated with volunteers from a senior center.

We have 240 registered so far.  Approx 75 NCs attending.  We need to get to 25 more NCs so all present.  This outreach effort will be shared by all on the committee.

We are planning for a definite 500 participants.  Will consider a contingency plan for 600-800.

Signs:  Suggest that we include signs on tables to encourage those seated to eat and move on to exhibit areas and networking opportunities.  Volunteers needed for table clean up.  Designate one of the rooms as a "Networking Room" (this needs more discussion).   Welcome Banner.  Ask Tom Soong re: DONE signs already available and easels.

Registration Name Tags -- Randy Waller agreed to do these on his home computer.  Need to provide him with paper.  Tags will be color coded for pre-registration, on site registration, staff, volunteers, speakers, electeds, press. Cindy will coordinate paper.

Budget:  More NCs are confirming contributions to the Congress.  Walmart is main title sponsor.  DONE is partner.  Law Offices of Ron Galperin is sponsor.


Room Assignments - Reviewed number of registrations and capacity.  May need to move some sessions to larger

Volunteer List - Volunteer youth to be confirmed.  Committee volunteers needed for Friday for set up and after 4 p.m. for clean up.   On day of Congress everyone will know where and what they are doing.

New form for non-website registrations.

Promotion -- Phone, personal visits, personal contact by all on the committee.  DONE e-blast should include that all should plan to arrive early to have a leisure breakfast and networking opportunity.

Raffle - we will discuss this at next week's meeting as an incentive to pre-register.

Workshop Sessions -- All session rooms will have equipment needed but we still need to know.   We are coordinating film and audio recording sessions to be posted to the website.

Event Schedule for the day (Production) - Cindy is drafting this timeline so we know who's doing what when. 

Program book -- Bios need to be sent in to Tony Wilkinson and Cindy ASAP.  Deadline to layout is Sept. 6, to printer is Sept. 15.

Thank you to the WLANC for hosting our meeting.

Next week's meeting at 12:30 after LANCC.

Thank you all for your hard work! 

--Cindy

Congress Planning Meeting - August 27, 2011 at 10 a.m.

This Saturday's Congress Planning Meeting will be held in West L.A. where the West L.A. Neighborhood Council meets:   The WLANC offices are located in the West L.A. Municipal Building, 1645 Corinth Avenue (Civic Center plaza) in West L.A.. Please note that the entrance is on the west side of the building, opposite the Court House (not the main entrance).


At this meeting we will finalize the following:


City Hall -- After several walk-thru meetings with the City's Special Events staff, Fire Marshal, DONE staff and Catering we will review the final plan for the day's event.  Need final map for printing in program.


Registration - Count is at 240


Signage for the Day's event


Workshop Session Speakers - All sessions should be completely organized and include someone to introduce the session.  Review sessions to be sure they match to the original theme and plans.  Review sessions for number of registrants to see if any sessions need to be merged or speaker / content revised.  Review handouts to be provided on day of the event by speakers / moderators and also that they are available in PDF format on the day of the event.  Speaker bios/photos -- not all are coming in.  May only have room for short bios only


Volunteers -- Last Saturday Jay volunteered to help with confirmation of volunteer list.  Need 25 volunteers confirmed for the entire day.


Promoting the Congress - Reaching out to the NCs not yet signed up or those with only one or two sign ups.  See website at nccongressla.com


Event Schedule for the day -- Cindy will review the timeline for the day's event and who is doing what when.


Full agenda to be posted later today. 


BIG Thank you to all our Committee volunteers for their hard work in organizing this year's Congress.


-Cindy Cleghorn
818-429-6699

Walmart is title sponsor for the 2011 NC Congress!

Thank you Walmart for sponsoring the 2011 NC Congress!

Congress Planning Meeting - August 20, 2011 at 10 a.m.

This Saturday, August 20, 2011 the Congress Planning Group will meet at


Tom Bradley Family Source Center
5213 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles  90019
10:00 a.m. - 12 noon

Workshop Sessions

Thank you to all committee members who came out to last Saturday's meeting.  We voted to approve the sponsorship categories.  Some committee members are working hard to get that $5,000 sponsor!

Congress Flyer

Planning Meeting - Saturday, Aug. 13 - Downtown LA

Congress Planning meeting this Saturday, Aug. 13 at 1 p.m. at the Historic Downtown Outreach Center.  Parking is available for $5 on Spring Street.

Saturday, August 13, 2011, 1:00 p.m.

Historic Downtown Outreach Center

114 W. 5^th Street

Los Angeles, CA 90013

1.  Welcome and Sign-In

2.  Congress Event Schedule (see reverse side)

3.  Congress Budget Update:

• Fundraising - Jay Handel / Mary Garcia 

• NC Funding Update / City Hall costs - Thomas Soong / Melvin Canas, DONE 

4.  Registration Update – Registration Count so far

5.  Volunteer Coordination – John Stammereich

6.  Workshop Sessions - Tony Wilkinson– Final Updates on Sessions so we can move on to promotion of speakers & topics

7.  Congress Event Logistics - Heinrich Keifer – updates from City Staff

8.  Marketing the Congress - Cindy Cleghorn / Nina Royal

Website (NEW) / NC visits / BONC / City Council / Press / Media / E-blasts

9.  Day of Event Program Line Up

10.  Next Planning Meeting:  August 20 – 10:00 a.m.  – Tom Bradley Family Source Center, Conference Room, 5213 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles 90019

Adjourn

Next Planning Meeting - Sat. Aug. 6 at 8 a.m. at Hollywood Constituent Center

Our meeting will be Saturday, Aug. 6 at 8 a.m.

I know its early! Our time will be limited so we will get right to our meeting. Bring your coffee!

If you are coordinating a Workshop Session, please come prepared with the latest updates as to speakers (confirmed or invited) and if you need help with anything.

We will also talk about the venue set up. Heinrich has updates from meetings with City staff. This will also relate to the Workshop sessions and room coordination.

Thank you to all for helping with Fundraising and Promoting the Congress -- we have received more

2011 Congress of Neighborhoods Session Topics & Descriptions - 7-29-11

2011 Congress of Neighborhoods
Session Topics and Descriptions
July 29, 2011

Making the most of your Congress:

(1) Plan to get to the Congress EARLY. You will need to park in the garage under City Hall East and then walk to the Congress at City Hall. Continental breakfast will be served from 7:45 to 8:30 am. There will be a roll call of all 95 neighborhood councils promptly at 8:30 am. You want to make sure that someone from YOUR neighborhood council is there! The roll call and the keynote speaker will take only 45 minutes.

(2) There will be three 75-minute sessions, two in the morning and one in the afternoon. Seven programs will be offered during each session. You chose the three programs you want to attend. Bring more people and plan to attend different programs. Everyone is welcome. Parking and lunch are free.

(3) After the afternoon session there will be a "Congress of Neighborhoods" from 2:35 to 3:30 pm. This is an experimental way to return to the intent of the City Charter Article IX, Section 901(c) provision that neighborhood councils can come together, discuss issues, and possibly take collective action at a Congress. For example, in September, the City Council may be considering legislation to regionalize control of neighborhood councils and to switch from an equal funding allowance to a competitive grant system. Might these be issues for councils to discuss and about which to possibly take joint action?

The Congress programs:

There are 21 different programs offered at this Congress. All of them have been designed by neighborhood council people to be practical, how-to types of sessions. In each you will receive a broad overview of the subject and a hand-out with resources you can use to learn more and to take local action.

Ten programs cover basic information that is important for new Board members. Eleven programs cover more advanced topics that may be of interest to experienced Board members OR specialized subjects that may be attractive to anyone with that specific interest. These advanced or specialized programs are indicated with an asterisk (*).

For convenience, the programs are categorized here in sets of three that have something in common. Each set of three is listed in the sequence that it is offered (Session #1, Session #2, Session #3).

There is no magic in the groupings, or in the basic and advanced/specialized categories. Feel free to select any program that interests you during any session. The only exception is the pair of Ethics and Open Government programs in Session #2 and Session #3. You MUST take BOTH in order to obtain a certificate for this state-mandated training.

Program descriptions by category:

Planning Meeting Saturday July 30

Meeting is confirmed for this Saturday at 10 a.m., Glassell Park.

We will focus on reviewing the overall budget, event logistics for the
Rotunda and Forecourt and progress on Workshop session speakers/panels
and moderators. This week is the deadline to finalize session
presenters.


If you have not been as involved in planning the Congress, now is a great time to step forward. Looking forward to seeing you Saturday morning.

Cindy

City Hall Walk Thru

Committee member Heinrich Keifer set up a meeting with City staff regarding the City Hall Rotunda and Forecourt layout for the Congress. DONE rep Melvin Canas also met with us. Some great ideas and changes to the layout and set up of tables for the city department reps and food area were discussed. Heinrich will be writing up a synopsis and the committee will discuss in more detail at Saturday's meeting. Thank you Heinrich for setting up the meeting.

July 23 Congress Planning Meeting Notes

July 23, 2011 Meeting Notes

DONE GM, B H Kim emphasized need for volunteers to help with follow-up regarding all details for the day of the Congress. This includes call backs to vendors, audio, speakers coordination, etc. At the July 30 meeting we will update the task list with names.

56 have signed up to RSVP for the Congress in just the first few days since the registration info was sent out. This is a good sign we will reach our 500 attendees.

City Department tables at Congress – Marlene Savage. Consensus is that all City Depts will be invited to participate with a table at the Congress.
Congress Funding Update – NCs are continuing to agendize and fund Congress expenses. An update on income and expenses to date and anticipated will be discussed at the July 30 meeting.
We have received offers to fund some expenses from non profits. Consensus is that organizations can sponsor and will be recognized in the program and acknowledgement and signage at the Congress. Mary Garcia is coordinating sponsors.
Finalize Food Menus, Costs – Jay Handel presented LA Spice proposal for handling all food at the Congress. They are already a City vendor and will include everything in their quote for 500. Consensus agreement that LA Spice will be the food vendor. Jay will finalize details and fine tune costs in time for July 30 meeting.
Workshop Sessions – Committee Report - Tony Wilkinson is continuing to write up the descriptions. We took a great deal of time going through each of the topics and reaffirming who’s organizing them and status reports. See Session Planner sheet.
Marketing the Congress – Nina Royal presented a draft press release for marketing the Congress. Also the distribution. We talked about asking nonprofits to re-distribute our notices. DONE e-blasts, etc. (see Marketing Plan below)
Cindy will continue to visit NC Alliances and NCs as she can. Anyone is welcome to join her or do the same around the City.
We talked briefly about getting more diversity involved in the Congress. Are we representing diverse community views in all sessions.

Next Meeting – July 30 at Glassell Park.

2011 Congress Marketing Plan -- as of 7/19/11

Save the Date – Change to simple flyer -- continue to use with updates.
This item to be used by Congress Volunteers, DONE staff, BONC, NC’s to promote the Congress to other NC board / committee members as well as stakeholders.

Weekly E-Blast – By Wednesday of each week Nina Royal will have the next paragraph ready to send to DONE for e-blast weekly. This same announcement will be mass distributed to various news media sources, Council offices, alliances, NCs to encourage their resending out to their lists.

Contact non profits who have benefitted from NCs financially. Ask them to help promote the Congress.

Contact the Center for non profit management. (Melvin at DONE will get contact info) to get word out for the Congress.

Volunteers working to plan the Congress. Divide up the City so we are making sure to visit each NC. Cindy is visiting several but we need more volunteers helping with these personal visits. Please let us know who you are or will be visiting?

Congress Planning Meeting Agenda for July 23, 2011 at 10 a.m.

Saturday, July 23, 2011, 10:00 a.m.
Constituent Service Center
3750 N. Verdugo Rd. Los Angeles, CA 90065

1. Welcome and Sign-In
2. Congress Event Schedule (see reverse side)
3. City Department tables at Congress
4. Congress Funding Update
5. Finalize Food Menus, Costs
6. Review Congress Planning Timeline – WE ARE EXACTLY TWO MONTHS AWAY FROM THE CONGRESS !
7. Workshop Sessions – Committee Report
•Status on Workshop Descriptions
•Update from volunteers organizing sessions
8. Marketing the Congress - Save the Date cards & promotion, DONE website, promoting at NC meetings, other
9. Next Meeting – July 30

Adjourn

Save the Date

The Congress is Coming !
Save the Date
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Increasing Public Participation in Government
City Hall
200 N. Spring Street, Los Angeles
7:45 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Tentative Schedule

• Roll Call of Neighborhood Councils
• Two Morning Workshops & One Afternoon Workshop

==> Meet City Council Committees, City Departments
==> Ethics Training - DONE / City Attorney
==> Emergency Preparedness, Animal Issues
==> Green / Sustainable / Gardens
==> How NCs Work, Who and What to Know
==> How to Run a Meeting, Effective Outreach
==> Difficult People/Board Conflict
==> Working with Volunteers
==> NC Collaborations / Mentoring
==> Perspectives: Role of NC's, Creating Partnerships
==> Land Use / Planning 101, Online Resources for NCs

• Congress of Neighborhoods – Action Session
• Congress Closes

Parking by prior reservation and arrangement

For more info & registration Call DONE office: 213-485-1360
To volunteer your expertise, services and ideas contact:
Cindy Cleghorn, Chair, Congress Planning Group
818-429-6699 or e-mail: cindycleghorn@me.com

PURPOSE OF NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCILS: n“To promote more citizen participation in government and make government more responsive to local needs” – Los Angeles City Charter Section 900

Congress Planning Update - July 9

Workshop sessions reviewed and committee members now have their assignments: [deadline for finalizing sessions is 7-31-11]

Next Congress Planning Meeting July 23 and July 30. Location TBA.

Meet Your City Officials - Cindy Cleghorn
City Council Committees - Ankur Patel
City Departments - Marlene Savage
Ethics Training - DONE / City Attorney - Cindy Cleghorn
Emergency Preparedness - Nina Royal
Animal Issues - Charlotte Laws (recommended)
Green / Sustainable / Gardens - Glenn Bailey / Ankur Patel
How NCs Work - Ivan Spiegel
Who and What to Know - Tony Wilkinson
How to Run a Meeting - Judith Daniels (recommended)
Effective Outreach - Nelson Williams, Jr.
Difficult People/Board Conflict - Maggi Fajnor / Thomas Soong (DONE)
Working with Volunteers - Dee Olomajeye
NC Collaborations / Mentoring - Dee Olomajeye
Perspectives: Role of NC's - Nelson Williams, Jr.
Creating Partnerships - Tony Wilkinson / Ankur Patel
Land Use / Planning 101 - Maggi Fajnor
Online Resources for NCs - Terrence Gomes

Planning Meeting - July 9, 2011

PLANNING MEETING AGENDA
for the
CITYWIDE CONGRESS OF NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCILS
“Increasing Public Participation in Government”
to be held Saturday, September 24, 2011
Saturday, July 9, 2011, 1:15 p.m.
Historic Downtown Outreach Center
114 W 5th Street

Los Angeles, CA 90013



1. Welcome and Sign-In
2. Congress Event Schedule (see reverse side)
3. Review Congress Planning Timeline
*we are less than 90 days away from the Congress
4. Review Food Menus and Costs
5. Workshop Sessions – Committee Report
6. Marketing the Congress - Save the Date cards & promotion, DONE website, promoting at NC meetings, other
7. Logistics, Volunteers, Parking -- Hold til July 16 meeting
8. Next Meeting - July 16 (after SLANC meeting) - Location TBA

Adjourn


Event Schedule


Tentative 2011 Congress of Neighborhoods Schedule
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Los Angeles City Hall
200 North Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Parking by prior reservation and arrangement
07:45 [45m] Mixer and continental breakfast
08:30 [45m] NC Roll Call and Welcome
09:15 [10m] (break)
09:25 [75m] Session 1
10:40 [10m] (break)
10:50 [75m] Session 2
12:05 [65m] Lunch and Networking (lunch provided)
01:10 [75m] Session 3
02:25 [10m] (break)
02:35 [55m] Congress of Neighborhoods (action session)
03:30 [30m] Networking
04:00 Congress Ends