The Mayors Are In Town   ... 5 of 5 >
Jan. 24-26, 2018 - American Beverage Association President Susan Neely presented 2018 Childhood Obesity Prevention Awards to several mayors during a plenary luncheon.  It is interesting to observe the interactions of representatives of trade associations and businesses with the mayors at the U.S. Conference of Mayors meetings.  More than 30 companies and business groups support the Conference's Mayors Business Council.  Representatives of these groups attend these meetings and thus can introduce themselves and raise issues of concern directly with the mayors.  During plenary sessions representatives of some of these businesses and groups (platinum partners like the ABA) are given few minutes to plug their activities. 
Award recipient included Perris, CA Michael M. Vargas.
Eric Stevenson, senior vice president of retirement plans distribution for Nationwide Retirement Plans, spoke later during the same plenary luncheon.
Twenty or so vendors and groups set up tables along the passageway leading to the various meeting rooms. The American Bevarage Association table included a display of products and literature including information onf ABA's "Balance Calories Initiative" done in partnership with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation.  The goal of the initiative is "to reduce beverage calories consumed per person by 20% by 2025" (>).  Other groups represented included Everytown for Gun Safety, Wells Fargo, Uber, Major League Baseball, and the Chlorine Chemistry Division of the American Chemistry Council.  Several vendors offered tools to help mayors and city managers better understand their communities.  Mastercard showed platforms that map transactions and tourism.  ZenCity's product aggregates and analyzes data from social media and other sources.
It could be said that the meeting was going to the dogs.  At one end of the passageway Chelsea Brownridge and Winston, two of the co-founders of Dog Parker, showed off their product (>).  At the other end Mars Petcare's Better Cities for PetsTM program (>) had a table and deployed several therapy dogs.
Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve invited representatives of Burning Man to the Conference.   Burning Man is "a temporary metropolis dedicated to art and community" that sets up each year in the Black Rock Desert north of Reno (>).  It faces some of the same challenges as permanent cities.  The mural above is an adaptation of artist Cindy Chang's "Before I Die..." interactive murals.  (In the upper left corner of the photograph is an aerial view of Burning Man).  [In the photo, the mural was being taken down after the meeting; it is to be transported to Boston for the June USCM meeting].
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