The Mayors Are In Town ... 5 of 5 >
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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.
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Award recipient included Perris,
CA Michael M. Vargas.
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Eric Stevenson, senior vice
president of retirement plans distribution
for Nationwide Retirement Plans, spoke later during the same plenary
luncheon. |
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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.
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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.
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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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