Light Breakfast and Lunch will be provided.
| 8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. |
WelcomeRegistration and Breakfast |
| 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. |
What Drives the Narrative in Your State- Top County Issues in Your StateParticipants will spend the morning sharing information about the main challenges facing counties in their state, the messaging their state association uses for these topics and what type of information collection/analysis their association is currently using and/or is planning for the rest of this year and next year. |
| 10:30 a.m. – 10:45 p.m. |
Break |
| 10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. |
What Drives the Narrative in Your State- Top County Issues in Your State (continued) |
| 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. |
Lunch with Matt Chase, NACo Executive Director |
| 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. |
2016 County Priorities: How NACo Builds “Counties Matter” Reports and SurveysNatalie Ortiz, NACo Senior Research Analyst For the first half of the session, Natalie will do a short presentation on the results of the newly released Priorities in America’s Counties 2016. Then, she will explain the steps in the process behind that project as an example of how NACo Research puts together surveys and studies on the role of counties in different policy areas. The second half of the hour will be dedicated to Q&A and examples the state associations have of how they conduct surveys and reports on the role of counties in specific policy areas. |
| 2:00 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. |
Break |
| 2:15 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. |
County Explorer and More: How NACo Collects Information and Responds to Research RequestsDaniel Handy, NACo Research Assistant Jonathan Harris, NACo Research Associate For the first part of the session, Dan and Jonathan will talk about County Explorer, the sources from which information is collected and the process NACo goes through in updating County Explorer. They will also explain how NACo builds state profiles and how the department responds to research requests. The remaining time will be dedicated to Q&A and examples the state associations have of how they collect information. |
| 3:30 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. | Break |
| 3:45 p.m. – 4:45 p.m. |
Telling the County Story: Multiple Audiences, Different Research ProductsEmilia Istrate, NACo Director of Research and Outreach Emilia will discuss how to tailor research to target different audiences, potential challenges and the capacity required to accomplish these goals. She will explain the different types of outreach necessary to render the research products relevant and the role of communications and design in successful releases. The second half of the session will be dedicated to Q&A and examples of research conducted by the state associations. |
| 4:45 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. |
Concluding ThoughtsBill Peterson, Iowa State Association of Counties Executive Director |
