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Welcome to MISAC Connect Audio, the official podcast of the Municipal Information Systems Association of California (MISAC). This podcast is your go-to resource for in-depth discussions, expert insights, and community stories that go beyond our MISAC Connect forum.
Welcome, and hello, family. Welcome to another episode of MISAC Connect Audio. I'm Alan. Hey. We're doing something different.
Allen Hammond:We are gonna come out with, hopefully, a weekly feature, maybe maybe bimonthly. I I don't know yet. But this is the first edition of what we're calling Mesack Connect weekly. So I guess we're gonna be held to a weekly standard. However, that said, this is a new feature supplementing our MESAC Connect audio podcast interviews, which clearly are far and few between.
Allen Hammond:We hope to bring out and get more episodes to you more consistently, and I've got some exciting news that's gonna help us get there. I'll share that with you at the end of this particular episode. So what is Mesack Connect weekly? Well, in this particular episode, we are spotlighting some of the more active content that is posted in Mesack Connect. So, we'll highlight some of those.
Allen Hammond:We're gonna give some love to our strategic partners. We're gonna provide some updates on what's ahead of Mesac, and an idea that came out of the state board, the last couple of weeks, and that was a narrated version of our quarterly newsletter. I think that's a fantastic idea. If you're like me, there's a lot of content to be read, and I simply don't have enough time to do it. And if somebody can just read it to me, that would be awesome.
Allen Hammond:So you get my nasally voice for that. Hey, we're all stuck in cars. Hopefully, you're a better person than me and you're on public transit. We're taking walks. We're we are listening to things more than we ever have.
Allen Hammond:And we're hoping that this narrated version of the quarterly newsletters will get some eyeballs on some really important information there that may be missed. And so, we will do that in this episode as well. So, let's get into what caught our attention this week. So, in this segment, we'll call form highlights. These are these are items that got our attention.
Allen Hammond:We're pretty active in the Mesack Connect forums. Some great conversations unfolded around them, and which I think is some space for more. Perhaps not everyone has seen these. I find them pretty engaging. And because of the activity they got, it seems to me that these are issues we're all dealing with.
Allen Hammond:And so, these are maybe four or five, and I snuck another one in there, a little self serving item that I'll bring up at the end. But starting out with number one, phishing simulation and training resources. This was a great thread that was started by well, maybe I shouldn't mention the names. We'll we'll keep this a little bit on the in a secure manner. But they brought up the fact that, hey, we're using no before or we use no before.
Allen Hammond:What are you guys doing? It's time for us to revisit what we're doing in the phishing simulation and cyber security training awareness space. Great thread. A lot of great ideas and suggestions of other solutions came out of this. I think, most of us I I would imagine no beforeers, the 800 pound gorilla in this space.
Allen Hammond:Many of us, are using that or did use it or hope to use it at various level of success. And like with any solutions, it is a your mileage may vary. So take a look at that in the MESAC member forum. Look up the the phishing simulation training resource thread. It was pretty active and a lot of great ideas.
Allen Hammond:And so, I would check that out. Another one that seems to come up very frequently, and that's matters related to our Microsoft EA renewals. This one was a little more specific and tuned into the Riverside contract, which many of us have piggybacked off of. And pretty active thread in there that covers the Riverside contract in the current state that it's in. Touched a little bit on the differences between Office three sixty five and Microsoft three sixty five.
Allen Hammond:If you're not familiar with that, I would get familiar. It may help or not help you. It depends on your situation and your organization on how those licenses, impact your organization and budget. Little discussion about g three versus g five. You know, some of us are getting by with g threes and supplementing that with add ons.
Allen Hammond:Some of you are going all in with the g five and just being able to get many of those things that you get in add ons as sort of an all inclusive, license model. Good thread in there about MS ISAC moving to a fee based model. As many of you know, lots of changes at the federal level in the area of where MS ISAC will be able to help us with their previously free services. They have now moved on to a fee based one. Some of those items are not on them.
Allen Hammond:Some of them are. But go in, check out that thread and see how it applies for your organization. Super great thread on video editing software. This is a problem that we deal with all the time and that is we all know that Adobe Premiere is I won't call it the de facto standard, but it's widely used by a lot of people. But that said, you gotta know how to use it.
Allen Hammond:It's not super intuitive, and many people who are editing video, quite frankly, they're even doing it on their phone, with simple, easy to use apps. And sometimes that's all we need. We just need a simple tool that allows us to maybe embed some sound, overlay audio, but very simple simple processes with video editing. And Adobe Premiere is something that just throws the whole kitchen sink at you and it doesn't fit every everything. It's not a fit for everybody.
Allen Hammond:And so, I would I would check out this this post. It brought up some awesome ideas on some other video editing software you may have not known of or considered. A very valuable thread there. Also a good thread on Cloudflare. We had a a member organization express an interest in Cloudflare, the cost, what you can, what you can't do with it.
Allen Hammond:And I am a fanboy of Cloudflare. You may have seen some of my postings, and, it's a solution that we have moved to for various reasons. And, that's a that's a pretty good thread that I would keep an eye on as well. That brings me to my self serving one. I didn't get much activity on this one.
Allen Hammond:I did have somebody reach out to me in a, a direct message, and I will get back to you on that because I am curious to pick your brain on how you're doing cashiering systems. So that post is regarding to I feel like we're at a point in time where I need to manage our POS and cashiering solutions to something similar like we do with our printer maintenance under an MPS plan. It's just one of those devices that it is a death by a thousand cuts for us, in matters related to the actual equipment to process credit cards, to the, the payment system itself, the payment processor, the software that we lose. There's so many, moving parts in just processing a payment. And, oh, by the way, you know, you gotta integrate it with all those enterprise solutions and one offs that you have too.
Allen Hammond:And so with us, this has been a real pain point for us. And so, based on the the lack of response I'm getting, I'm gonna assume that you guys are all, doing great with your cashiering systems, and I need to talk to you guys. And so, that is what's happening in the forum. This next this next segment, is regarding our strategic partners. I wanted to make sure, that we give our strategic partners some love.
Allen Hammond:We just got back from an awesome Tahoe Summit where we had four great presentations from our strategic partners. And I'll just share each one of those in a second and just a quick note on what they do and where they may help you. But I just wanted to thank the the committee that put that summit together. It it was it was an awesome event. It it usually is, but I think they outdid themselves this year.
Allen Hammond:I was really appreciative of the group that they had. Like I've said in the past, I go into these things and I see sort of the presentations or vendor list, so I'm thinking, we're good there or, not interested. And each and every one, if I if I find one nugget of something of a takeaway out of those presentations, I consider a success. And again, each one of them hit it out of the park. They each brought value to the summit, and so I really appreciated the group that was there.
Allen Hammond:If you guys know me, I'm usually one that I will wave the rally flag around great vendors. And unfortunately, for some of those vendors, I will also give a stink eye to the ones that have done me wrong. And so I'm super transparent and honest about it, and I will, at least for this effort, I will always put a good foot forward. So let's talk about those. So we had a presentation by one zero one Voice.
Allen Hammond:I will tell you, this is one of those vendors where I've always appreciated the story they had to tell and what they had to share. But at least for me and my situation, and I'm feeling like many others in the same boat, You know, they're well, let me tell you what they do. They're a leading UCaaS provider, you know, so they have extensive experience servicing the gov sector. And I think many of us kind of think and have gone with RingCentral, maybe Zoom. But one zero one Voice, man, take a look at what they are doing.
Allen Hammond:I went there and I made this announcement in that particular presentation that I was at the doorstep of a certain solution and thought that would be the way I would go. And they have me pivoting. I am reevaluating what we're gonna do in our UCaaS space. We're a legacy ShoreTel slash Mitel shop with not just legacy, but we've got end of life hanging over our head with our with our switches. And so we are definitely late to the party with UCaaS, but I am definitely going to be talking to one zero one voice.
Allen Hammond:And so you're welcome, Brad Walker. Akamai. This one came from left field. I know Akamai as a content delivery provider. You know, these are the folks that allows us to get Netflix when we want it without a buffering no matter where you're at.
Allen Hammond:You know, I don't I'm not gonna go down the the road of Akamai's story, but that's what I know Akamai to do. Had no idea they worked in the world of cyber security solutions, cloud computing, and they gave a great presentation on you know, we we've all been trying our best at segmenting our networks. Segmentations always comes up in all our risk assessments and, you know, having great cyber security posture. Okay. Get ready everyone.
Allen Hammond:We're now micro segmenting. And so, pretty interesting what they do. They have a solution that drops into your network that allows this. So hopefully, it's not something that takes a lot of effort from your your network engineers to to micro segment, but they take a whole different look at what micro segment is or segmenting your network even further beyond the normal what we think of VLANs and physical networks. So take a look at Akamai.
Allen Hammond:Cohesity was there. Those who know them, they sort of compete in the same space as Rubrik. They're data protection solutions, you know, specializing in backup and data security. I, we are actually a customer of Cohesity as well. And so, I can't speak high enough of them.
Allen Hammond:I'm a fanboy of Rubrik as well and I get it. I get why people would choose them. We almost did. We just didn't have the budget at the time and our dance with Cohesi started really as sort of a tier third tier three need for storage. And and then we just sort of moved into their other solutions.
Allen Hammond:And so I am a fan of Cohesity. They were there. They gave a great presentation. And then another one which I shamefully have been deleting their emails and that's ThinkGuard. Had no idea they were a partner of Mesack, but they've been certainly their business development reps have certainly been doing their job of reaching out.
Allen Hammond:And I just one of those emails I just can't get to. However, I will revisit what ThinkGuard is and what they can be to me. So they are our technology risk management and Doctor experts. The thing that I valued about their presentation is they didn't they didn't sell their solutions. They ran a tabletop exercise for us, and they did it well.
Allen Hammond:It was kind of a fun exercise for us as a as a community, MESAC, you know, a bunch of tech people in the room thinking we know the best practices and the best way to respond to an incident. And and we did come with some great responses and that was sort of supplemented or reinforced or a value add was what would do. And so, so think about ThinkGuard, with the exception of the misspelling of guard. I think they're probably a very good partner to look at in the in that space that I just described. Alright.
Allen Hammond:This next segment, is what's coming up. So it was announced this past week, maybe the past couple of weeks, the 2025 MESAC Excellence Award application process. So it's now available. The application period for applying for the 2025 MESAC Excellence Award is now open to MESAC member agencies. The closing date for application is Monday, 08/04/2025.
Allen Hammond:MESAC member agencies are strongly encouraged to apply for this prestigious award, which provides applicants with a 360 degree view of their agency's IT operations. So as it was shared with us, our fearless leader Miguel, had shared that, hey, even if you don't think you have what it takes to win this award, go through the application process. The application process alone and the feedback that you get is a great road map where you may be deficient or areas that you need to work on. So we're always wondering through our assessments, you know, that we get for cyber security and and other internal controls. You know, we basically just answer those questions of what we're doing and what we're not doing, but we don't ever really get the feedback.
Allen Hammond:In this case, you do. And so I would encourage everyone to to fill out that application. We have another event coming up. It's a Microsoft Security Compliance and Identity Fundamentals course. This is scheduled for June 24.
Allen Hammond:Registration is now open. It's a Mesack sponsored event that will be held virtually. Session will begin at 8AM and will conclude at four. And this brings us to our last quarterly newsletter. It was the spring newsletter, that was recently released.
Allen Hammond:I will read the items that were in it and hopefully it sort of resonates with you and you find and appreciate having a newsletter read to you. And so, it started out with the twenty twenty five MESAC annual conference registration is now open for MESAC members. A grand time is being planned for all attendees of the twenty twenty five MESAC annual conference being held at Town And Country Resort in San Diego. MESAC members planning to attend can register now by logging in to the online MESAC account and clicking on the registration link, which can be found in the calendar section of the home page or by clicking on the conference icon, which can be found in the middle of the home page, which is just above the career center jobs link and the education link. Alright.
Allen Hammond:The twenty twenty five MESAC Annual Conference Committee is meeting regularly to finalize the conference programming, which includes four general sessions, thirty five hour long breakout sessions, five concurrent sessions during seven different times throughout the conference, and up to four half day sessions on the final day of the conference. More to follow, but MESAC members who know they will be attending the conference are encouraged to make reservations early to take advantage of the early bird rate. Also, MESAC members are encouraged to make their hotel room reservations early as well to avoid not being able to secure a sleeping room. So let's jump on that. Also featured in the newsletter, was an article entitled, the must have IT certifications for landing a CIO's attention.
Allen Hammond:Which IT certifications are most in demand in the public sector? Two, Mesack CIOs and one IT manager weigh in on what they look for on a resume when they are hiring. Their responses may surprise you. When it comes to middle management, the project management professional certification, otherwise known as PMP, is on the top of their list. A quote from Kevin Gray, CIO, Southern California Regional Railroad Authority.
Allen Hammond:If I'm looking for someone to lead an application portfolio for us, I would look for lean six sigma certifications around process improvement. Greenbelt, blackbelt, we are we are an agile shop as well, so I would look for PMP or ACP certification. This quote from Nicole Gutridge from the CIO from the city of Elk Grove. If you have a PMP, I would like to see how you're using it. We can all take a test and pass, but how do you use that in your day to day job?
Allen Hammond:When we're talking about IT jobs, we are serving our customers on a day to day basis. How do you have difficult conversations? How do you work with employees for feedback and review? Anything that has to do with project and time management are important. We have this quote from Augustine Prisciato, IT manager, City of Torrance.
Allen Hammond:IT service management like ITIL are good and then also project management either as a PMP or a project plus, something around those lines that provide good foundations on how to lead projects. According to our interviewees, members aspiring to take the fast track towards becoming a CIO or IT manager should opt for a variety of leadership programs, notably the CG CIO certification. So we have another quote from Kevin Gray. He says, I think that in the public space, the CG CIO certification is good for folks to have. But there are also other leadership programs specifically provided by various universities that could eat that could really help someone grow their leadership acumen.
Allen Hammond:Strong leadership acumen is sometimes represented in certifications, but not always. Sometimes it's represented in experience and a person's accomplishments over their career. Augustine, with this quote, for upper for upper level management, I would recommend CISSP, CISM and m or PMP. Sorry folks. I'm not I don't have my readers on.
Allen Hammond:I think those are the three Augie didn't say that by the way. I'm still reading his quote. I think those are the three core upper levels and CG CIO is popular being in government. In addition to certifications, you can earn advanced degrees in public administration or IT service management. Nicole waves in with, I am constantly taking different classes like high performance leadership.
Allen Hammond:Leading on purpose is one I am currently taking right now. Often when you're in that upper level IT position, your time is spent on people and helping them succeed. I think continual learning is super important because you are setting an example. What helps someone stand out on a resume? It boils down to how candidates communicate and demonstrate their applied knowledge.
Allen Hammond:For me, I'm looking for a measurable accomplishment. If two people have the same certifications, but say one of them has clear accomplishments for which they have measurable objectives that achieve from, that is the resume that I would gravitate towards more because it indicates someone who not only has obtained a certification and learned the material, but also they've applied the material in their career. That was a quote from Kevin Gray. I think someone who could really tell a story about themselves and has a successful project while other certification or training stands out on a resume, says Nicole Gutridge. I would look at the resume to see if they have anything to do with soft skills.
Allen Hammond:I think one of the things that's important now is seeing if the individual is is in a team environment. Do they have the qualifications in cross collaboration with multiple departments outside their internal department or multiple people outside their internal department? I also wanna see if the person is a lifelong learner. That way, if I see that they're constantly getting a new certification or trying a new role continuously, then that tells me there's a growth mindset there, says Augustine. All three members agreed that it's important regardless of stature to seek a mentor or coach.
Allen Hammond:At the bare minimum, members should network with their peers at the MESAC annual conference. It's one of the best places to do so. Whatever course of action you choose to further your career, check out the course calendar on MESAC education or contact education@mesac.org to request a class. The next article is entitled Scott Swan heads up task force to update mesac website. So this is under sort of news and press general news.
Allen Hammond:Scott Swan, city of Woodland, has volunteered to head up Mesack Task Force tasked with updating the Mesack web site. Scott has handpicked his task force dream team to help fulfill MESAC's vision of an efficient and modern website. This quarter, Scott briefs readers on what they can expect from the new database. So a question from MESAC. What inspired the direction and vision of the new MESAC website and how does it align with the association's goals?
Allen Hammond:Scott says, Mesac president Miguel Guardo voluntold me to lead this project. When Miguel told me to take on this project, he said we don't need a committee, but a task force to help you. It sounded so fancy and official. Because of this, we needed a name, Mesack Smile, an acronym for site modernization improvement and layout enhancement task force. I first began digging through the website to see what's there because we have Mesack Connect.
Allen Hammond:A lot of people spend more time on it and I think they don't remember the web site is still there. I have been a MESAC member forever and I want to help people become more involved. The website has some limitations that I think could be improved. For example, there's no easy way to sign up for the committee unless you know someone or unless someone convinces you. And on top of that, there are some perks some people aren't aware of.
Allen Hammond:So being able to lay all that out in the site and help people get more of the association is part of the goal. Miesak asks, how do you balance input from members and industry best practices while developing the website blueprint? Scott answers, when I did receive feedback, there were some things I had never considered. For example, as a new member, what is Mesat Connect? I know what Mesack Connect is.
Allen Hammond:It's the new list server essentially, but new members don't know that. So looking at the website through a different set of eyes helps me helps my thought process while designing the website. And I think that's why it's good to have a group versus person doing it. Meesak asks, speaking of which, tell me about the website task force. Scott answers, I recruited Christina Falk, San Joaquin County Mosquito and Vector Control District from the communications committee because she seemed like she wanted to make a difference.
Allen Hammond:I then recruited a website guy on my team and then Chris Skelly from South Tahoe Public Utility District because I trust his judgment. We're a group of four plus Gretel McLeod from the Musek staff and it's been good so far. Right now, we are sharing our layout preferences with the designers. I think our biggest challenge is still ahead of us because we look at all the content on the website. I'm sorry.
Allen Hammond:Because we must look at all the content on the website. Not only must we consider what we what needs to be updated, but how to navigate it. We're trying to determine where people are going on their website and then put those items front and center. We wanna look at things that are useful but aren't visible and make though make sure those are on people's radar. Miesak asks, what key features or functionalities are being prioritized to improve member engagement and user experience?
Allen Hammond:Scott answers, I think a number one is simplifying navigation. When you click on the buttons on the top, there are so many options. My web guy says people will typically look at the first five and then the next one. And then number two is making a full overhaul. We need to figure out what the committees are, how often they meet.
Allen Hammond:I think a lot of people are scared of committees because they don't understand the time allotment involved. If they understood it was an hour a month essentially and they're interacting with fellow members, I think we might motivate more people to join. But more importantly, how do you join? What is expected of me if I join? We'd like to have an easy way for us to click on a web preferably the form would allow members to determine which committees they'd like to join and which ones they which ones need the most help.
Allen Hammond:And finally, we need to work on the document repository, but I haven't a 100% figured that out. Misak then asks, when does the task force expect to premiere the new website? Scott answers, I don't think I've told anybody this, but my goal is to have it done before the conference. I think it would be a nice thing to launch ahead of the conference, but all depends on the designers. I think our biggest challenge is we can't make any changes to the site because it affects what everyone sees.
Allen Hammond:So we need to wait for our mock site to get created before we can do anything else. But we still have lots of time. Also in this, quarter's newsletter, we had a member highlight and Scott Khan was featured. This interview was done by Lisa Petrie from the MESAC Committee or MESAC. For this edition, we highlight Scott Khan, CIO of the City Of Mesa, Arizona.
Allen Hammond:Since becoming the head of the City of Mesa's IT department over a year ago, Conn's agency has won eight prestigious industry awards. Although he may credit his newly inherited team, he's no stranger to the steering wheel. In fact, his leadership skills have been recognized recognizable throughout the years with the MESAC involvement with his MESAC involvement. Between annually chairing the joint central and northern chapters Lake Tahoe summit and participating the MESAC communications committee, Khan knows how to influence others through his warm and confident demeanor. Lisa asks, you were employed at the city of Modesto during its cybersecurity incident and have done a great job sharing that story with MESAC members.
Allen Hammond:How has that experience shaped your approach to cybersecurity in Mesa? Are there any key reasons or I'm sorry. Key lessons from the incident that you're applied to in your new role? Scott answers, it really became the blueprint for a cybersecurity response plan that has that was only in draft form in Mesa when I arrived. In fact, Mesa not only had lost its CIO who became a deputy city manager in another agency, but they also lost their CISO, security officer, and became a CIO at a different agency.
Allen Hammond:When I got here as a new CIO, I wasn't sure where to find our security officer. I interviewed several people outside the agency and didn't find what I needed. I had an excellent security officer in Modesto and it set the standard for me because of the attention to detail and knowledge of different security protocols and methods. I wound up finding an internal person at Mesa. He was concerned that he really wasn't up to snuff or would not be able to give presentation to counsel, but we convinced him otherwise.
Allen Hammond:Jason Bennett is his name, and he has been spectacular. He and I sat down and formulated a very similar exercise to do the one we did in Modesto. We invited the entire executive team to participate. There are 28 different departments in the city of Mesa, including fire and police. Fortunately, every single executive showed up for our three and a half hours of training.
Allen Hammond:We invited other agencies near us here in the valley and representatives from the Department of Homeland Security, CISA, and the FBI. All of them participated in person as we went through the same tabletop exercise. Since then, we've been able to create a refined and comprehensive response plan for any cyber attack. The exercise proved they really needed to revamp their own department's recovery continuity plans. It ultimately had a domino effect on multiple fronts for all departments in the city.
Allen Hammond:And much of that work has already been completed. Our manual for how we respond is in spectacular shape, and, naturally, we are keeping under wraps because we don't want the bad guys to get a copy. Lisa asks, since becoming the City of Mesa's CIO, your agency has won seven technology related awards within one year. What changes have you implemented in the city of Mesa since you stepped in? Scott answers, multiple changes.
Allen Hammond:And to be clear, I inherited a talented team. By no stretch of imagination did I walk into the city of Mesa and then we suddenly won all these awards. What I did do was encourage our various teams to apply for some of these awards to see where we stood. We were a little shocked that we were being rated one of the top 100 IT shops in the entire country and that we won a smart 20 innovative government award. My team had been working on these projects for a year and in many cases, two years prior to my arrival.
Allen Hammond:All I did was encourage them to throw their hat in the ring. Now, we just need to figure out how to top ourselves this year. Suppose we don't win eight awards this year. So that's weighing on everyone's mind right now. Lisa asks, how do Arizona local government IT department differs from those in California?
Allen Hammond:Scott answers, we're not burdened with as many strict regulations as California, which may not come as a surprise to most MESAC members. For instance, while we were completing the MESAC Excellence Award application last year, one of the questions asked was if we posted a list of the software we used on our web website because it's not a requirement here in Arizona. The awards committee allowed us to ignore that question. California is a lot better and a lot clearer about how they protect the various security functions, designs, and architectures of the government agencies in California. The language out here in Arizona is very loosely written, and it's wide open for interpretation.
Allen Hammond:Thankfully, our city attorneys here in Mesa saw it the way we did and support us, not disclosing sensitive security and infrastructure information in public request access forms. But overall, California is ahead of Arizona in that regard. Lisa asks, what has been the biggest surprise about working in IT leadership in Arizona? Scott answers, it's been the culture of innovation and encouragement. Mesa's city management and city council encourage the adoption of new technology, so it's not as guarded or conservative form from a I don't wanna try until somebody else tries it kind of culture.
Allen Hammond:It was a little bit surprising, but at the same time, I joined Mesa because they were known for being innovative and moving the ball forward. I inherited a great team, and I and it didn't take much effort to get them to try new things. Lisa asks, what advice would you give to other IT professionals in public sector to enhance their effectiveness and impact within their organization? Scott answers, I gave a speech at the Gov IT leadership symposium out in Minneapolis last December concerning creating the proper environment to make people want to be at work, want to come to the office, want to produce here, and want to show it off to others. So it had to do with the physical environment, like paint on the walls, lighting on the ceiling, video walls to share important information, building a culture where we had a bunch of what I call seed planners.
Allen Hammond:I don't just have people who show up and eat the nice warm bread when it comes out of the oven. I'm creating a culture here where the team goes out in the field and plants the seeds, harvests the wheat, grinds the flour, makes the bread, breaks the bread, and then everybody gets to eat the bread together. So they do it from the beginning to end as opposed to a small group that always seems to get assigned all the jobs and everybody else gets to reap the benefits when the job comes to comes in successfully. We're trying to build a group out here that are seed planners, where everybody's start to finish makes this place successful and so far so good, we're certainly on the right path. People are enjoying that sense of accomplishment.
Allen Hammond:Seeing when something starts to win something delivers the desired result and then they get the accolades and awards. And again, thus the eight major awards this last year. Lisa asked, any additional comments? Scott ends with, only that me sack as an organization is spectacular. One of the best things that I did when I got to Mesa was ask Mesack to allow an Arizona city, city of Mesa, to become a member.
Allen Hammond:And my team here has thoroughly enjoyed the collaboration on Mesack Connect, the various newsletters and so on. So much so, we're looking on starting something similar in Arizona and beyond. So we wanna thank Mesack for everything. It's a great organization and I hope the folks who are members see all the positive work they have done, and they don't just take it for granted. There's nothing like it from when we've seen elsewhere.
Allen Hammond:It's certainly an organization to be emulated and applauded. It's great to be a member of NESAC. And finally, we have this last article in the newsletter entitled The Power of MESAC, Real Stories of Connection, Growth, and Innovation in Public Sector IT. Earlier this year, communications committee member Scott Sawan posted posed the following question on MesAC Connect. Has MesAC helped you navigate a tough issue, save time, or implement a better better solution.
Allen Hammond:A flood of responses poured in from members expressing how MesAC has helped them overcome challenges, build community, and drive progress in municipal technology. Zach Ruiz, Dublin San Ramon Services District shares why MESAC Annual Conference is unrivaled in the public sector realm. He says, the conferences are one of the best ways to learn new things. Compared to public sector focused conferences, everyone you talk to at a MESEC conference has seen the same issues and can usually offer a solution of some kind instead of just suggesting you buy some expensive solution. And in between conferences and meetings, you can always hop onto the forum and get a quick answer.
Allen Hammond:Truly great resource. Kevin Gray, Southern California Railroad Authority, reveals how relationships with Mesack peers have helped him motivate his staff. He says, Mesack is the connection for some of the most impactful relations I've made in my career. Larry Kingman recruited me to the Southern Chapter Board. Hong Seh inspired me to get involved.
Allen Hammond:Agi Prisaudio motivated me to lead impactful chapter meetings. The chapter board supported our big ideas. There is simply not enough time to drop all the names of the people who positively impacted my career via Mesack in recent years. It's also serving as a motivating force for my teams from which we've gained incredible insights, received great ideas, and learned valuable knowledge from training and peers. Anart Ziolov sorry Art, I'm sure I jacked that name up, from the city of San Fernando, shares how the input he's found on Misek Connect has provided him with creative solutions while running a small shop.
Allen Hammond:Art says, Misek has played a crucial role in providing the much needed mentorship in my current role, as well as allowed me to access a network of highly skilled and experienced IT folk. In addition to establishing direct network connections with many great MESAC members, the MESAC list serve slash member forum is by far the biggest value add that MESAC provides as part of being an active member. Being that I'm practically a one man shop at our agency, while our current IT MSP is experienced in supporting several small municipal agencies, their knowledge of municipal policies, procedures, and certain technologies might be limited. I faced numerous head scratching scenarios where MESAC members came to the rescue and provided guidance in identifying a a resolution path or direction. Some of the success stories that I have through being an active MESAC member are implementing the KnowBe4 platform for our cybersecurity awareness, training, simulation, refining our IT equipment use policies, and applying best practices that have been proven successful in other agencies.
Allen Hammond:There are many other tasks and projects where I will credit the MesAC community in elevating my knowledge. So if you have any MESAC success stories, please share them in the forum. And that ends the spring newsletter. So that's a wrap. That's it for this week's MESAC Connect Weekly.
Allen Hammond:If you heard something useful, drop a post reply in the forums. We love to keep the conversation going. You can always find us at Mesat Connect member forum. And as I, tease at the beginning, here's something to look forward to. Mesat Connect audio will soon feature more voices from across our community, bringing you even more consistent, diverse and insightful content.
Allen Hammond:So stay tuned for more details. Until next time, stay connected.