Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
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.
Allen (00:02)
Welcome back to Mesat Connect Audio. I'm Alan Hammond with another weekly episode. All right, pause for a little bit of a laughter there. all right, quarterly episode. But I promise I am working on that. And and with some help behind the scenes here, we're gonna make it happen. more episodes on their way more frequently than you probably even thought possible.
Allen (00:32)
So, anyways, in all actuality, as I was putting this one together, I realized that there's a common thread running through pretty much everything we're going to talk about today. And that's the value of the MESAC network. The members, the people we call when we're trying to solve a problem, the industry partners that support the organization, the resources that become available when all those groups work together. So let's start there. And I will start with.
Allen (01:03)
The Northern Chapter meeting. The Mesac Northern Chapter got together last Friday. So this is hot off the press. we all met at Raymond Vineyards in Napa. Actually, I think technically St. Helena. but you know, I think you just call all the cities up there Napa Valley. And and and first off, what a fantastic venue. It is one where, you know, I'm not a
Allen (01:31)
Frequent visitor to the valley, but enough to feel like I know my way around and know the vineyards up there. Never seen this one before and super embarrassed when the person explains they've been there since the 70s. and never once knowing it existed. So s so if you get a chance, go to Raymond Vineyard in S in St. Helena. So part of our our meeting.
Allen (02:00)
Well, most of it was a chance to compete in teams to blend the next award winning wine. In the end, Tim Miso Whiney, yeah, that is the the the team name. and when you have a name like that, you usually take home top honors, and they did. So every attendee got to go home with a team Miso Wine blended wine bottle.
Allen (02:30)
One that I'm sure is already selling on eanbay for unheard of amounts. So but as nice as the setting was, the real value for me, and I think this is true, these of all these chapter meetings, and I know I believe Southern Chapter met and Central Chapter has met as well or will next week, or I probably have those backwards, but I think in in this last week and this week coming up, all chapters are going to meet.
Allen (03:00)
And I think the common thread is going to be is
Allen (03:07)
The true value of these chapter meetings in general, and it's the people in the room. Those of us working in local government IT are fighting a lot of the same battles. Cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, staffing, budgets, infrastructure that needs to be replaced, vendors, contracts, new legislation and compliance requirements, departments wanting technology yesterday. You know, we're all in our new physical year now, and so.
Allen (03:36)
That's always fun. And somehow finding enough hours in the day to keep everything running while we're all supposed to be thinking strategically about what's next. So one of the things I've always valued about Mesack is being able to sit down with somebody from another city, a special district, or public agency, and realize, okay, you're dealing with this too.
Allen (04:01)
And the conversation changes from here's my problem to here's what we tried to here's what worked, here's what didn't, here's who we talked to. You cannot put a price on that. So these chapter events give us an opportunity to have those conversations outside of team or Zoom meetings, outside of email threads, outside of the normal day-to-day noise. And so I also would like
Allen (04:30)
To give special thank you to those partners who helped make the Northern Chapter event possible. And that's Tanium, Salesforce, E Plus, and Success Metrics. You know, I wanted to just spend, I don't know, just a minute talking about each one, just to give them a little bit of love. Not a sales pitch, but because I think our partners deserve some recognition for what they bring to Mesek. And quite frankly, for bringing the checkbook to Raymond Vineyards. Let's be honest.
Allen (05:01)
that said, it was fun to rub elbows with these folks. they're humans just like us and they're they're as fun as us, if not funner. And so I just wanted to bring some recognition to them and let them know that they were a fun hang, and we look forward to talking and meeting with them again, maybe as soon as our annual conference. So, Tanium.
Allen (05:30)
Tanium lives in that intersection between IT operations and cybersecurity. At its core, Tanium is about knowing what's actually happening across your endpoints, what you have, how it's configured, whether it's patched, where you're exposed, and then being able to take action on that information. For public agencies managing hundreds or thousands of devices with relatively small IT teams.
Allen (05:57)
That real time visibility and the ability to remediate at scale is pretty compelling conversation.
Allen (06:05)
So I will have to put this next one as one of our faves. I'm sorry, Tanium and others, but this is the second time we've we've got to meet with Salesforce and have them be a partner for us in our chapter meeting. Salesforce is probably a name everybody listening knows, but the public sector story goes well beyond traditional CRM.
Allen (06:32)
Their public sector solutions platform is being used around things like constituent services, case management, licensing and permitting, grants, emergency programs, digital workflows, and increasingly artificial intelligence through Agent Force. So when you talk about modernizing the way residents interact with government or modernizing modernizing some of these internal workflows behind the scenes, Salesforce is playing in a lot of those spaces.
Allen (07:03)
E Plus, while not there, they were joined at the hip with Tanium. and E Plus is a little different because they really span the technology stack. They're an integrator and a technology service partner with a significant state, local, and government and education practice. Networking, cybersecurity, cloud, data center, collaboration, AI, professional services, managed services, they work across pretty wide range of things.
Allen (07:33)
That those of us running public sector IT organizations have to deal with every day. And Success Metrics was there. Successmetrics is a California-based engineering and consulting company with particularly deep expertise around Salesforce. They describe themselves today as an AI native engineering partner using automation, accelerators, and AI assisted development to shorten the path from an idea or requirement to something actually working in production.
Allen (08:03)
And they've worked in the California public sector, including Cal ES and other state and local organizations. So they're coming into these conversations with an understanding of our environment as well. And so here's the larger point I wanted to make. Events like the one we just had don't happen for free. Me Sachs industry partners help make it possible for us to get together, learn from one another, and build these relationships. Brad, you would be proud of me.
Allen (08:32)
let me add, this doesn't mean you have to buy something you don't need. But I do think there's a little bit of a kind of a reciprocal act here. and that is if an organization is investing in MESAC and making these opportunities possible for us, I think they've at least earned a few minutes of our time. So return that email, pick up the phone, have the conversation, learn what they do. Maybe there isn't a fit today, maybe there is.
Allen (09:01)
Maybe six months from now, you're looking for exactly the thing they provide. Relationships work both ways, and our vendor community is an important part of the Mesac ecosystem. So again, thank you to Tanium, Salesforce, E Plus, and Successmetrics. And thank you to everyone involved in putting together another great Northern Chapter event. And when I say everyone, I I'm really talking about Jeff Burtonney, who I joked at the
Allen (09:31)
at the event that man, if you need an event plan, that is your guy. Reach out to him and he'll put something together for you together and it will be top shelf.
Allen (09:42)
So something that came across my feed today was an item highlighted by MESAC Cybersecurity Committee along with the state CIO advisory. And this one I really want our California agencies to pay attention to. So Cal OES through California Cybersecurity Integration Center, or Cal CSIC, I guess, is sponsoring statewide MSI SAC enrollment for eligible California public entities. In other words,
Allen (10:12)
If you're a qualifying state, local, tribal, or territorial public agency in California, there is now a path into MSISAC under the statewide membership without your agency paying the individual membership cost. And there's a lot of value sitting behind those acronyms. MSISAC is the multi-state information sharing and analysis center. So you can see why we say MSISAC, operated by the Center of Internet Security.
Allen (10:42)
And focus specifically on state, local, tribal, and territorial government. Among the resources included are cyber threat intelligence, early warnings regarding potential incidents, incident response, forensic resources, access to a 24x7 SOC security operations center, vulnerability and threat notifications, and the member connect community. And I want to emphasize that last one.
Allen (11:11)
Tools are important, but once again, we come back to community. Member Connect gives participating public agencies another trusted environment in which cybersecurity professionals can communicate, coordinate, and share information with another. There are enrollment steps and participation requirements, so don't just hear free and assume somebody else at your agency has already took care of it. The recommendation from MSI SAC, I'm sorry, the recommendation from MESAC.
Allen (11:41)
Is that one person with a good understanding of your agency's cybersecurity posture handle the organizational enrollment? Once the agency is enrolled, additional staff can create accounts and participate as well. So if you're the CIO, IT director, CISO, Security Manager, or you're the one person who usually gets forwarded things like this, I'd put this one on your action list. Check whether whether your agency is enrolled. And if it isn't,
Allen (12:09)
Take a look at the Cal OES MSISAC information page and the announcement posted throughout MISAC. You should have received an email or you can find it in the MESAC Connect forum. This is one of those rare occasions in government technology where somebody is saying, here's a collection of useful cybersecurity resources, and the statewide cost has already been addressed. So please take advantage of it.
Allen (12:41)
Moving on to the annual conference. Just just a quick conference reminder. So at this point, I hope most of you have already have Monterey on your calendar. If you don't, the 2026 MISAC Annual Conference is September 27th through 30th. And this year's theme is
Allen (12:59)
IT makes the mission possible. So, of course, like we do in all the conferences, when you see IT, it reads, it makes the mission possible. So, just providing some audio context for you. And judging from what the conference committee has put together, there is going to be a lot happening. General sessions, dozens of breakouts, deeper dive workshops, and a huge exhibit hall twice the size of.
Allen (13:27)
I understand as previously done. and of course probably the most valuable part of any MESEC conference, four days of conversations with people who understand exactly what you do for a living. If you haven't registered yet, regular registration runs through September 16th. So now is probably time to stop saying, Yeah, I need to do that and actually do it. You know, tied into that conference is something else. It's
Allen (13:58)
an event called tea off with MISAC. And for those of you who like to start the conference a little early and maybe settle important technology decisions somewhere around the back nine, there's another event to call out. And that is an unofficial MESAC annual conference golf event. It is formally referred to as the leadership event. So when it's formally referred to as something you can assume that it's not a leadership event. You can
Allen (14:28)
Get out there early and swing clubs with anybody. it's happening on Saturday, september twenty sixth, the day before the conference begins at Laguna Seca Golf Ranch in Monterey. Shotgun start is at one. You've got eighteen holes, a box lunch, tea prizes, and probably most importantly another opportunity to spend some informal time with MESAC members and industry partners before the conference gets underway.
Allen (14:57)
Jeff Burtonney, there's that name again. posted the information. And by the way, Jeff, I'm sorry if I'm I'm messing messing your name up, but I'm reading it or saying it as I'm reading it.
Allen (15:14)
That said, Jeff has posted more than once on Mesat Connect and made one thing very clear. Space is limited. So if you've been thinking about it, don't wait until you're standing in the lobby at the Portola to decide you want to play. So check out Jeff's post on MeSat Connect and get your name on the list. So this brings us to the final segment. And it's
Allen (15:41)
Mesak Presidents Chris Skelly's recently published summer 2026 President's Message. So this message is sent out by email and posted on Mesak Connect. And as you know, I like to give this a Misak Connect audio version of this. So we'll do that again. I've adapted Chris's message slightly for audio and condensed a couple of things we've already covered. but the message and the thoughts are his.
Allen (16:11)
So if you're driving, walking the dog, sitting on Bart, people still still take Bart. Anyways, or or maybe pretending to work while listening to a podcast. I I know, I know some people who do that. here is the summer twenty twenty six president's message from our fearless leader, Mesak President Chris Skelly.
Allen (16:37)
It's been a busy summer for MESAC members between ongoing legislative discussions around Senate Bills 122 and 707, the continued acceleration of artificial intelligence and all of the day-to-day work happening back at our agencies, local government technology leaders certainly haven't had a shortage of things to navigate. But through all that, MESAC continues to demonstrate why this organization is such a valuable resource.
Allen (17:04)
Subject matter experts continue to participate in the monthly AI task force meetings. The Legislative Committee continues to keep members informed through updates on MESAC Connect. And maybe most importantly, MESAC members continue helping one another work through the challenges we're all facing. Bringing people together and keeping members informed is what MESAC does best. Earlier this summer, members gathered in Lake Tahoe for the annual summit, combining professional development with the networking and relationship building.
Allen (17:34)
That are such an important part of this organization. Looking ahead, the annual conference is coming up September twenty seventh through the thirtieth in Monterey. And Chris encourages members to be there, to learn from the speakers, meet with our industry partners, and reconnect with colleagues from across California.
Allen (17:53)
Another development this summer was a new partnership approved by MESAC Board with Public Technology Institute or PTI. That partnership gives MESAC members access to significantly discounted PTI memberships. Another way the association is working to bring additional professional development resources and value to its members. The MESAC Education Committee also has been busy preparing fall training opportunities, including courses on AI governance.
Allen (18:23)
For IT managers and leaders, business analyst fundamentals, and AI prompt engineering specifically for state and local government IT professionals. And those topics probably tell you something about where our profession is right now. We're simultaneously dealing with governance, operations, new skills, and rapidly changing technology, which makes the ability to learn from another even more important.
Allen (18:50)
Chris closes his summer message by thanking MESAC members for the work they do, not only for the association, but for the communities each of us serves. And he points to something I think is worth repeating. Having a network of people we can learn from and lean on makes a difference. That's really what MESAC is. And Chris says he's looking forward to seeing everyone in Monterey, catching up, spending time together, and continuing the work we're doing as an organization. So.
Allen (19:20)
I think that's a pretty good place to end this episode because it also brings us right back to where we started. The technology changes, the cybersecurity threats change, the products change, the legislation changes, and AI seems to change about every 15 minutes. But the value of having a network of people you trust, people doing the same work, solving the same kinds of problems and willing to share what they've learned, that hasn't changed. That's me sack. Again.
Allen (19:49)
Thank you to everyone who helped make the Northern Chapter meeting happen, particularly our partners Tanium, Salesforce, E Plus, and Success Matrix. Take a look at the statewide MSI SAC opportunity if your agent hasn't enrolled. Get yourself registered for Monterey. And if you're a golfer, maybe I'll see you at Laguna Sake on Saturday. I'm Alan Hammond, and this has been Mesac Connect Audio. We'll talk again soon. I promise.