With in-person gatherings still discouraged, but the need to share information and best practices never more acute, MAC has responded with a new educational series for summer 2020: Camp Counties.

Replacing our traditional in-person Regional Summits, the webinars of Camp Counties are free to all employees of MAC member counties and designed to provide practical information and tips that can be put to immediate use. All webinars will start at 11 a.m. on their scheduled dates. The webinars will be recorded for post-event, on-demand viewing on our website.

MAC thanks Enbridge (see special message from Enbridge) and Envirologic for its support of this new event and their ongoing support of MAC events.

             CAMP SPONSOR                                                           SIGNATURE SPONSOR

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Benzie’s Broadband Journey and Funding Challenges Looking Forward – COMPLETED
June 10, 2020, 11 a.m. to noon
LINK TO VIDEO
LINK TO SLIDE DECK

To expand broadband access in its area, Benzie County embraced a common-sense approach and partnered after open solicitation with a true point-to-point broadband provider who is expanding organically. Learn how its Broadband Subcommittee evaluated options, developed plans and continues to reassess. Learn how Benzie avoided the paralysis of analysis and maintained a live, active planning and oversight role.

Speaker(s): Bob Russell, Benzie Economic Development Corp.

Planning and Winning Millage Elections in a COVID World – COMPLETED
June 17, 2020, 11 a.m. to noon
LINK TO VIDEO
LINK TO SLIDE DECK

Adrian Hemond (D) and Scott Bean (R) from Grassroots Midwest will present useful information for counties about how COVID-19 will change millage elections, and who to proactively engage to pass millages. Grassroots Midwest is Michigan’s only bipartisan, grassroots organizing and advocacy firm. Our team has more than 100 combined years of experience influencing election outcomes, public opinion, and individual and group behavior. In this new era of tight budgets and intense resource competition, understanding how to effectively communicate your value case to county voters is essential to sustaining operations and building strong communities. The Grassroots Midwest team will provide practical tools for winning millage elections in this challenging environment.

Speakers: Adrian Hemond and Scott Bean, Grassroots Midwest

Using Tech to Get a Handle on Your Court Records – COMPLETED
June 24, 2020, 11 a.m. to noon
LINK TO VIDEO
LINK TO SLIDE DECK

State policymakers often contemplate changes to the criminal justice system, yet the lack of integrated data often put counties at a disadvantage. Learn from technology experts how to leverage an integrated system to make data sharing easier across county offices, as well as state databases. SolidCircle Court Case Management is a web-based application that provides Juvenile, District and Circuit Court users the ability to manage and process cases. SolidCircle Unified Justice System provides users with real-time access to an individual’s case, whether Traffic, Criminal, Juvenile or Civil, and includes seamless integration to financial and state systems, including State Police and LEIN.

Speaker: Pranay Rajgarhia, SolidCircle

How Will COVID Affect Community and Work Life in the Months Ahead? – COMPLETED
July 8, 2020, 11 a.m. to noon
LINK TO VIDEO
LINK TO SLIDE DECK
LINK TO HANDOUTS

With counties struggling to adapt to new realities in weeks and months ahead, this webinar will focus on “what will life be like for local government offices/operations and for a community’s general economy. Experts from the Center for State and Local Government Excellence will provide data from its annual workforce survey and a follow-up, COVID-19-specific survey to shed light on organizational and employee expectations.

Speakers: Rivka Liss-Levinson and Gerald Young, Center for State and Local Government Excellence

Basic Steps for Counties to Enhance Election Cybersecurity – COMPLETED
July 15, 2020, 11 a.m. to noon
LINK TO VIDEO
LINK TO SLIDE DECK

A 2018 report by the cybersecurity firm McAfee listed Michigan as one of the states where few counties have taken a basic security precaution for election purposes: adoption of the .gov website domain.

As opposed to other domains such as .com or .org, the .gov domain is controlled by the federal government and has strict rules about qualifying for its use.

This webinar will detail why counties should migrate to a .gov domain and what other common-sense measures they can take to protect their election processes and general information online.

Speaker: Rita Reynolds, National Association of Counties

Additional support from: