Conference Call

Join us at our breakthrough federal management forum.

By now, I hope you're aware that there are many different ways to interact with us at Government Executive. The print magazine has been around for 40 years now, and you also can find us online at GovernmentExecutive.com and Nextgov.com (where we focus on the use of technology to build the government of tomorrow). On our Web sites you can comment on our news articles and blog posts, and participate in a variety of webinars.

But you also can interact with us live and in-person at a series of events we host in Washington throughout the year. I'm not an unbiased observer, but I think our small events team, led by Andrea White, is among the most talented and productive in the business. The proof is in the numbers: This year we'll host 19 Leadership Breakfasts with high-level federal officials, a symposium featuring the winners of the Presidential Distinguished Rank Awards, and three sessions of our flagship Excellence in Government conference.

The first was in April and focused on megatrends, from attracting the best and brightest to engaging the public through new media. On July 20, we'll hold the second session, called "New Leadership: People, Policy, Programs," at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington. We've landed one of the most important of those new leaders-John Berry, director of the Office of Personnel Management-to serve as one of three plenary speakers at the conference. Another session will be led by Gwen Ifill, managing editor of PBS' "Washington Week" and author of The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama (Doubleday, 2009).

The third main session, "The Centrality of the Employee," will feature two presenters: Colleen Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, and John Gage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees. They'll offer their ideas on how managers can provide a successful experience for both employees and agencies.

On top of that, we'll have a series of breakout sessions on two tracks:

• Our New Government, focusing on how policy changes will affect the staffing, capacity-building and performance-monitoring responsibilities of key agencies
• Preparing for Change, to help you operate more effectively in the new environment

Even before the July conference wraps up, we'll be preparing for the final Excellence in Government forum, scheduled for Oct. 5. It will be called "Driving Federal Performance," and will feature a similarly high-powered roster of presenters.

We hope you'll join us for one or more of our upcoming events. For more information, and to register for Excellence in Government, go to www.govexec.com/events.