It is a little bit like the Academy Awards, the drama, the acceptance speeches, the rowdy fun, you get the idea.
So, live, from the Marriott Waterside in Tampa, here are the winners of the 2009 All-America City Awards, posted as they are announced:
This morning’s project from the nominees inthe 2009 All-America City Awards conference coming to Tampa starting next Wednesday is not an entirely new idea: community visioning. The difference, as our in-depth coverage continues, is that is sounds like Wichita is not letting its vision document sit on a dusty shelf:
Wichita, Kansas
Visioneering Wichita
Visioneering Wichita (VW) is about achieving far-reaching, but attainable goals to make the region an excellent place to live. In 2004, residents from throughout the region gave input on efforts and priority to issues, including creating jobs, increasing per-capita income, ensuring education at every age and various quality of life initiatives. A process was created where the community could reach consensus on major issues of local, regional and statewide importance. Thousands of volunteers and hundreds of organizations worked together to create a long-term plan. Ten community issues were selected for the VW working document, and strategies were set for each goal, with over 500 organizations and community groups attaching themselves to one or more strategies. These vision partners agreed to work together to commit time, staff and resources to making individual strategies reality. Although the accomplishments to date are impressive, it is Visioneering Wichita’s process that is remarkable. Visioneering Wichita is about the gift of collaboration, the realization of a dream and the empowerment of a community.
Thirty cities, towns, neighborhoods and communities are vying for recognition as an All-America City at the June 16-19 conference at the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel. Each will give a short presentation on three public-private civic projects they undertook before a panel of judges names the best. Tampa is one of the finalists. CL and this blog will provide live tweeting and blog coverage from the presentations on Thursday and Friday morning.
Former Tampa Mayor Sandy Freedman is the president of the National Civic League this year and a big proponent of these kinds of partnership projects. During her tenure, in 1990, Tampa was named an All-America City. Creative Loafing CEO Ben Eason is also involved, as a member of the Host Committee.
