2027 Call for Session Proposals
ICMA is holding a Call for Presentations for sessions to be held at the 2027 Annual Conference (September 25-29, 2027 Philadelphia, PA).
Proposals will be accepted October 1- November 13, 2026. No proposals will be accepted outside of these dates.
We invite you to share your expertise and insights as a presenter at our upcoming conferences. Your unique perspectives are crucial to advancing the field of local government management and leadership.
How It Works
1
Submit your session proposals through the online portal. Submissions may be considered for multiple events.
2
Our committee will evaluate each proposal and make selections based on topic, content, and alignment with the 14 Practices for Effective Local Government Management and Leadership. All those who submit proposals will be notified after the selection process.
3
Deadline for submissions: November 13, 2026
Submission Deadline: November 13.
113th ICMA Annual Conference | Philadelphia, PA
September 25-29, 2027
The ICMA Annual Conference brings together local government management professionals from around the world to discuss key issues, share new strategies, and discover solutions for the challenges they face. The conference features over a hundred educational sessions and is a primary opportunity for local government leaders to network, learn from peers, and acquire new tools and techniques to help their communities thrive. All sessions are aligned with the 14 Practices for Effective Local Government Management and Leadership to ensure the program is comprehensive and relevant. The following provides guidance for those submitting session proposals to be considered for the 2027 ICMA Conference in Philadelphia. Under each of the ten conference themes, you will find suggested topics that align with each theme. Review this list prior to submitting your session proposal to ensure you select the theme that most closely matches your session.
Strategic Governance and Policy
- Council-manager relations and effective governance
- Roles, responsibilities, and expectations of elected and appointed officials
- Governing in politically complex environments
- Decision-making in times of crisis
- Policy development, implementation, and evaluation
- Strategic planning and long-term visioning
- Ethics, transparency, accountability, and public trust
- Intergovernmental relations and regional collaboration
- State-local relations and legislative advocacy
- State preemption and changing legal environments
Practice Areas:
- [1] Personal and Professional Integrity
- [6] Strategic Leadership
- [7] Strategic Planning
- [8] Policy Facilitation and Implementation
Future-Ready Organizations
- Strategic foresight and scenario planning
- Artificial intelligence and generative AI
- Data-informed decision-making
- Technology strategy and governance
- Smart cities and connected communities
- Cybersecurity and data protection
- Organizational agility and adaptability
- Innovation and experimentation
- Preparing for demographic and societal change
- Emerging technologies and their implications for local government
- Organizational transformation and change-management
- Building adaptive and learning organizations
Practice Areas:
- [4] Staff Effectiveness
- [6] Strategic Leadership
- [7] Strategic Planning
- [11] Technological Literacy
Workforce and Culture
- Recruitment, retention, and talent attraction
- Building healthy workplace cultures
- Employee well-being
- Workforce shortages and talent pipelines
- Compensation, benefits, and total rewards
- Succession planning
- Building high-performing teams
- Leadership development, coaching and mentoring
- Developing the next generation of local government leaders
- Labor relations and collective bargaining
- Automation and the future of work
- Managing hybrid and remote work
Practice Areas:
- [4] Staff Effectiveness
- [5] Personal Resiliency and Development
- [6] Strategic Leadership
- [13] Human Resource Management and Workforce Engagement
Community Engagement and Belonging
- Building and rebuilding public trust
- Engagement beyond public meetings
- Public participation and inclusive decision-making
- Civic education and civic literacy
- Community conversations and dialogue
- Navigating polarization and political division
- Civility in public meetings and community discourse
- Social media and community engagement
- Communicating during controversy and conflict
- Building community partnerships
- Volunteerism and civic participation
- Belonging and social cohesion
Practice Areas:
- [2] Community Engagement
- [3] Equity and Inclusion
- [9] Community and Resident Service
- [14] Communication and Information Sharing
Innovation and Service Delivery Excellence
- Customer experience and municipal hospitality
- Service design and redesign
- Process improvement
- Performance management and measurement
- Innovation labs and experimentation
- Building innovative cultures
- Cross-departmental collaboration
- Public-private and nonprofit partnerships
- Digital services and e-government
- One-stop government services
- Equitable and accessible service delivery
- Technology to improve the resident experience
- Data-driven service improvement
Practice Areas:
- [4] Staff Effectiveness
- [9] Community and Resident Service
- [10] Service Delivery
- [11] Technological Literacy
Financial Stability
- Economic forecasting and long-term financial planning
- Budget development and strategic budgeting
- Revenue forecasting and diversification
- Reimaging revenue and sources of revenue
- User fees and cost recovery
- Capital improvement planning and financing
- Grants and alternative funding strategies
- Debt management
- Fiscal impacts of state and federal policy
- Shared services and regional efficiencies
Practice Areas:
- [6] Strategic Leadership
- [7] Strategic Planning
- [12] Financial Management and Budgeting
Personal Leadership, Growth, and Resilience
- Leadership development
- Executive presence, influence and effectiveness
- Emotional intelligence
- Adaptive and situational leadership
- Difficult conversations and conflict management
- Building political acumen
- Lifelong learning and development
- Leadership assessment and reflection
- Career planning and transitions
- Leading through crisis, uncertainty and adversity
- Managing stress & building personal and organizational resilience
Practice Areas:
- [1] Personal and Professional Integrity
- [4] Staff Effectiveness
- [5] Personal Resiliency
- [6] Strategic Leadership
Economic Development and Community Resiliency
- Business attraction, retention, and expansion
- Workforce development
- Small business and entrepreneurship
- Downtown and commercial district revitalization
- Housing affordability and availability
- Community land use and development strategies
- Placemaking
- Tourism and destination development
- Innovation districts and emerging industries
- Infrastructure and economic competitiveness
- Regional economic collaboration
- Public-private economic development partnerships
- Disaster preparedness, mitigation, and recovery
- Climate resiliency and adaptation
- Community preparedness and recovery
Practice Areas:
- [2] Community Engagement
- [7] Strategic Planning
- [10] Service Delivery
- [12] Financial Management and Budgeting
Leading Public Safety
- Public safety leadership and organizational management
- Police, fire, EMS, and emergency management collaboration
- Data informed approaches to public safety
- Public safety technology and innovation
- Recruitment and retention of public safety personnel
- Public safety employee wellness
- Community-oriented public safety
- Building public trust in safety services
- Crisis leadership and emergency response
- Community mental and behavioral health response
- School and community safety
- Violence prevention and intervention
- Alternative response models
- Regional public safety partnerships
Practice Areas:
- [6] Strategic Leadership
- [9] Community and Resident Service
- [10] Service Delivery
- [13] Human Resources Management and Workforce Engagement
Emerging Issues (or other things not fitting a category)
- Rapidly emerging technologies
- Evolving cyber security and digital threats
- Political polarization and its impact on local government
- State and federal policy trends affecting local government
- Changing legal and regulatory environments
- The evolving future of local democracy
- Immigration and changing community demographics
- Global events with local implications
- Emerging public health and social challenges
- Lessons from other sectors
- Innovative approaches that challenge traditional local government practices
Practice Areas:
- [2] Community Engagement
- [6] Strategic Leadereship
- [8] Policy Facilitation and Implementation
- [11] Technological Literacy
Submission Deadline: November 13.
Presentation Formats
Educational Session
Session Length: 60-minutes, 45-minute presentation + 15-minute Q&A session
Limited to FOUR (4) speakers per session.
This session type consists of a formal presentation by one or more individuals well-versed on the subject through experience and/or research. Experienced CAOs or other practitioners are welcome to submit proposals.
Presenters are encouraged to prepare a PowerPoint presentation using the template that will be provided by ICMA upon acceptance. Sessions may be presented by a single speaker or a panel of up to four (4) presenters.
Intended Outcome: Interest in the topic, insights, awareness, understanding, reflection, and/or knowledge
Discussion
Session Length: 60-minutes
Limited to FOUR (4) discussion leaders/facilitators per session
A Discussion is a group conversation among a small group of participants on a specific topic or issue. Sessions typically begin with a 5- to 10-minute introduction by the organizer to introduce the topic, followed by participant discussion and feedback.
Discussions are designed to be interactive between the facilitator and attendees. They are not formal presentations and should be structured to encourage group participation. These sessions are held in rooms set for up to 60 participants seated at round tables.
Intended Outcome: Targeted feedback, engaging conversations, and/or networking with participants who share similar interests
Skill-Building Workshop
Session Length: 120-minutes
Limited to TWO (2) instructors per session.
These workshops are intended to be skill-focused, active, and engaging. The content should directly support one or more of the ICMA Practices for Effective Local Government Management and Leadership.
ICMA’s Professional Development staff will provide instructors with guidelines for developing their workshop, including flow, activities, PowerPoint slides, participant guides (strongly recommended), and suggestions for post-session follow-up.
Skill-Building Workshops must be interactive, encouraging active participation from attendees. These sessions are held in rooms set for up to 60 participants.
Intended Outcome: Clear, performance-based skills that participants can apply in real-world settings
Quick Bite
Session Length: 30-minutes
Limited to TWO (2) instructors per session.
Bring a concise, impactful idea or program from your community to share in an engaging 30-minute session. This format is designed for active participation, often breaking the information into short bursts with interaction in between. Presenters are encouraged to go beyond a traditional lecture by incorporating polling, audience Q&A, or small-group discussions.
What Is Reasonable in 30 Minutes
A 30-minute session can support microlearning or situational learning goals that focus on:
• Awareness: Introduce a new idea, approach, or tool
Example: “Explain how our city used behavioral nudges to reduce late utility payments.”
• Inspiration: Spark curiosity and interest in a new practice
Example: “Describe a creative strategy for engaging residents in zoning updates.”
• Application-lite: Offer a short opportunity to reflect or connect to participants’ context
Example: “Identify one element of this program that you could test in your community.”
• Exchange: Encourage peer learning or feedback in small-group formats
Example: “Discuss with a partner how this strategy could work (or not) in your own city.”
What May Not Fit Well in 30 Minutes
• Deep skills practice or group decision-making
• Multi-step processes with reflection and feedback loops
• Complex simulations or stakeholder role plays
• Detailed walkthroughs of lengthy policies or plans”
Intended Outcome: share and gain expertise, walk away with fresh ideas, interactive.
Lightning Talk
Session Length: 6-minutes/40-seconds
Limited to ONE (1) instructor per session.
This high-energy storytelling format uses 20 slides that auto-advance every 20 seconds, keeping presentations sharp and visually engaging. Ideal for sharing compelling ideas, personal narratives, or lessons learned. These presentations are highly scripted and rehearsed, and are followed by a brief audience interaction (e.g., Q&A or reflection), helping participants process and apply what they’ve heard. Session Length: 6 minutes, 40 seconds (plus up to 5 minutes for Q&A or interaction)”
Here are some topic examples, based on the PechaKucha format this session type is modeled after:
• A personal story of civic innovation (“What I Learned from My First Year on Council”)
• A visual journey of a community transformation (“From Parking Lot to Pollinator Garden”)
• A case of creative public engagement or rapid problem-solving (“The Day the Lights Went Out”)
Intended Outcome: audience engagement, focused central point conveyed
Honoraria
It is an honor to present and speak in front of an audience of your peers, thus ICMA does not provide honoraria or reimburse for travel or housing expenses.
Commercialization Policy
ICMA strives to provide a forum for objective presentation of ideas and knowledge free of commercialism—presentations are not meant to be sales pitches. The use of trade names, company identifications, or product names in oral and visual presentations, abstracts, and papers should be avoided.
Sponsorship Opportunities
Several sponsorships opportunities are available. Prospective sponsors should contact Megan Sherman, Senior Manager, Corporate Partnerships at msherman@icma.org
Have Questions?
If you have any questions or need assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We’re here to help you make a lasting impact at the 2026 ICMA Annual Conference and/or Local Government Reimagined Conferences. Please email Felicia Littky, senior program manager of conference education programming, at conferenceteam@icma.org.
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