Retool, Reconnect, Reenergize
In my “Save the Date” message last year I focused on the challenges we face in our communities – demographic changes, mortgage chaos, economic dislocation, fiscal austerity – summed up in the ominous warning that “Change is Coming”.  In my “Welcome” message prior to our planned November date I used the metaphor of a “coming wave of activity”.  Little did I suspect how literal these phrases would become as Sandy slammed into our waterfronts and into the practice of planning.  As a profession we had to react quickly to the disaster and engage in recovery planning, and as we have reflected on the things we are doing day-to-day, an unfamiliar vocabulary and approaches are being discussed.  We are learning, refining and implementing concepts like disaster preparedness and resiliency, and we are struggling to find the language and approaches to allow us to discuss complex decision-making through cost-benefit concepts with uncertain data and in compressed time-frames.  

To assist our membership we have brought together a coherent set of tracks to address these issues.  On Thursday we have two informational sessions focused on the immediate permitting issues in rebuilding and funding availability.  On Friday we offer global experiences from the Netherlands and beyond to help us understand the paths that others have taken during lunch.  Sessions have been developed throughout the day on climate change, recovery planning, resiliency and related topics bringing together regulators, practitioners, academics from NJ as well as the expertise of the APA Hazards Planning Research Center, who will be working with APANJ post-conference on additional regional workshops and planning assistance teams for those communities who understand the importance of looking to be more resilient for future storms.    

And while we have retooled to respond to the urgency of Sandy and recovery/preparedness, we continue to provide the breadth of content originally promised.  Our Thursday programming offers training in conjunction with the US Green Building Council, New Jersey to prepare attendees to register for the exam and earn the LEED-GA designation.  We are also continuing the popular GIS basics/refresher program in a full day format that includes a half day at the computers, a session on the role of GIS in planning firms and the new GISP designation, and ending with our ethics seminar.  

The core of our Thursday program is a full day of planning law sessions.  For those of you that fondly remember the annual land use conference that Tom Hall orchestrated before the recession, we are working hard to rekindle that spirit of integrated practice.  Working with Donna Jennings of Wilentz Goldman & Spitzer, and Henry-Kent Smith of Fox Rothschild, we are able to provide a full day of programming that examines land use decision-making from both practicing legal and planning perspectives.  The day will culminate in an ethics panel that will examine the inter-profession working relationships that are needed to bridge the differing ethical requirements.  And thanks to the support of the New Jersey Builders Association, we are able to provide continuing legal education credits as well as planning credits for attendees.  A benefit of the rescheduling is that our Thursday programs are not as space restricted as they had been in November, and we are able to open registration to these events again.  

Finally, I invite you to scan the rich and diverse offerings on Friday.  We have a strong core of sessions seeking to improve the quality of our long term planning efforts, introduce new and updated planning tools and guides, and provide necessary retrospectives in looking at what has worked and what has not.    

I know the team that has worked to prepare this conference and the moderators preparing their sessions are very excited about the content we have assembled.  Join us and you will pick up new tools and tips, reconnect with your fellow colleagues, and leave at the end of two days a bit tired, but intellectually energized.

Make your hotel reservations online here or call 
888-421-1442  and mention the APA-NJ Block for the NJ Planning Conference to receive the discounted rates - - over $50 savings!  

Single Occupancy: $ 149, Double Occupancy: $ 149, Triple Occupancy: $ 174, Quadruple Occupancy: $ 199