City Trees is a premier publication focused on urban + community forestry. In each issue, you’ll learn how to best manage the trees in your community and more!
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/30662
President’s & Executive Director’s Message Ed. Note: This issue, SMA President Doug Still and Executive Director Jerri LaHaie co-wrote their Officers’ Message to bring us exciting news. you about our conferences in 2012 and 2013. Although the locations have not yet been decided, the SMA Board has voted to hold our SMA Annual Conference in conjunction with the Partners in Community Forestry Conference for the next two years. While we will con- tinue to offer the networking, camaraderie, and lat- est advances in municipal arboriculture that the SMA Conference has come to be known for, we believe there will be many advantages to this decision. A First and foremost, we are convinced of the need to reach a wider audience with the educational content of our conference. Given the current economic climate and the budget crises that many cities are experienc- ing, we know that your education and travel dollars are limited. Many members tell us they can only attend one conference per year. We believe we can combine the 47 years of tradition of the SMA Conference with the rela- tively new Partners Conference, thereby enriching the educational value to all attendees. In its short five-year history, the Partners Conference has been successful in attracting a wide audience of practitioners in all realms of urban and commu- nity forestry, many of whom have never attended an SMA Conference. Increasing the understanding of the unique role municipal arborists play in U&CF is one of the greatest benefits of holding our conference at the Partners Conference. In addition, we believe the larger audience of the Partners Conference will offer us the opportunity to increase our membership base. As you know, in 2011 we have expanded our member categories to include municipal and affiliate members. In order to have a louder voice, we must have a larger and stronger voice. Hosted by the Arbor Day Foundation, the Partners Conference attracts a large number of these potential SMA members and offers us all the opportunity for collaboration with many other individuals and organi- zations. You will be able to interact with a wide range of UF professionals and volunteers, perhaps meeting someone with whom you will want to work on a proj- ect or grant proposal. Increasing the reach and influ- www.urban-forestry.com s we look forward to this year’s conference in Milwaukee, we have exciting news to share with ence of our members and our organization is a real benefit of holding our annual conference at the Partners Conference. Yet another advantage that we see is the opportunity to meet with allied groups who will also be holding meetings at the Partners Conference, organizations like the Utility Arborist Association, Alliance for Community Trees, National Association of State Foresters, Forest Service Coordinators, and others. Their members may be speakers at our program and vice versa, creating more value for everyone’s travel and educational dollar. Being budget-conscious is also something we think our sponsors and exhibitors will appreciate, since many of them struggle with supporting all of these organizations. And we anticipate being able to develop regional work- shops in order to offer more specialized and in-depth training on topics of interest to our members around the world. As we move forward with plans for our 2012 SMA Conference at the Partners in Community Forestry Conference, we will be working with the planning com- mittee to ensure the continuance of the key elements that have made our conference unique. The pre-confer- ence workshop, annual meeting, awards banquet, tours, and educational sessions that address the role of the municipal arborist in U&CF will still be part of our pro- gram and, we expect, will be even better. We will also be discussing the role and support of the Forest Service in helping our members transition to this new format, making even better use of our grant dollars. We hope you will join us in Milwaukee this fall and we hope you will plan to attend the SMA Conference at the Partners in Community Forestry Conference in the fall of 2012. We think you will find both to be the unique and excellent educational experiences you have come to expect from SMA, and we encourage your participa- tion in helping SMA grow in both size and influence. As always, our members’ feedback is important to us and we ask you to let us know how we can make your con- ference experiences a worthwhile investment of your time and money. We believe we are on the way to pro- viding you an even greater return. 5