The COVID-19 health emergency has prompted revisions to the MGA and its regulations, enabling council meetings to be held entirely by electronic means. For many municipalities, this is uncharted territory and raises many questions. How do we align electronic meetings with our procedural bylaw? How can we still involve the public? How might this new practice impact our other policies? What are the most effective practices for chairing the meeting and ensuring that everyone who wants to speak has a chance to? How do we continue to support transparency and demonstrate accountability? How do we ensure we can securely have in camera discussions?
In collaboration with our partners from Emerge Solutions, Inc. and Strategic Steps, we are pleased to invite you to participate in a free one-hour webinar on Thursday, April 9, 2020 from 2:30 to 3:30 pm to support your transition to electronic meetings. During this webinar presenters Maria deBruijn and Ian McCormack will:
- Identify what’s changed with the revisions to the MGA;
- Share a framework for effective virtual meetings;
- Describe key considerations in preparing for virtual meetings;
- Outline roles and responsibilities in the virtual realm;
- Describe good practice when conducing virtual meetings; and
- Offer recommendations to support transparency and accountability during and after the meeting.
To ensure that the information shared is as relevant as possible and help prepare for the webinar, please submit any questions in advance to tasha@RMAlberta.com by 4:30 pm on Wednesday, April 8.
To join this webinar, please click here and utilize the meeting ID 893 893 357. NOTE: You do not need to pre-register to attend this event.
If you aren’t able to attend this event, there are some great online resources available to help prepare for running virtual meetings, including this article from the Harvard Business Review.
For enquiries, please contact:
Tasha Blumenthal
Director of External Relations & Advocacy
tasha@RMAlberta.com
Gerald Rhodes
Executive Director
gerald@RMAlberta.com