Discussion and direction regarding reinvigorating the YED Talks organized by LAFCo

Discuss and provide staff direction regarding the following key questions (discussed in more detail in the Background Section):

• Who should be invited? 
• How can we enhance engagement in both the planning committee and summit attendance?
• Where should meetings be: rotate hosts among cities and the County, negotiate one central location, or virtual? 
• Anything else?

Engagement and attendance at the YED Talks has waned post-COVID. Yet, the Commission discussed and agreed that these summits are very valuable for creating a culture of collaboration, and prioritized reinvigorating these summits as a strategic planning priority. 

Previously known as "Yolo Leaders", YED stands for "Yolo, Education and Discovery" and its name borrows from the well-known TED-Talks. The summit is "where local city, county and school leaders self-organize community learning and innovation to foster a culture of collaboration from which positive change can flourish." This culture of collaboration was credited for helping create the foundation where public campaigns such as Healthy Yolo Together and Hate Free Yolo could thrive. 

History
Staff's understanding is the first summit was organized circa 2010 and brought the cities and County together in Winters to discuss a countywide sales tax measure. The summits then continued 3-4 times per year and were organized by former District 2 Supervisor Don Saylor's Office. In 2012, responsibility for organizing these events shifted to LAFCo as part of its shared services portfolio. Beginning in 2014, the regularity of these summits settled into two events per year, one in spring and fall, because engagement in the summer and holiday seasons posed a challenge. In 2016, Yolo Leaders was rebranded as YED Talks. Over the years, these summits have offered a diverse range of topics of interest to our local agency community, such as broadband, cannabis regulation, poverty, transportation funding, mental health, and standing against hate rhetoric/incidents (see attached agendas and speakers). During the COVID pandemic, these summits were offered virtually, and in-person attendance has languished somewhat since.  

Key Questions

Who should be invited?
The distribution list for summit announcements has historically included elected officials from the cities, County, and school districts, plus these agencies' executive staff and County department heads. In addition, the State Assembly/Senate staff and UC Davis government relations staff are included, plus any topic stakeholders who are invited as speakers. One issue (as a consequence of the organization role transitioning from the District 2 Office to LAFCo) is that LAFCo doesn't work with school districts in our normal course of business, so there is presumably little familiarity with what LAFCo is and why they should engage. Consequently, school district attendance has been low over the years. Selecting topics of interest to cities and the County that would also be of interest to schools has sometimes been a challenge. Staff is not necessarily suggesting schools drop off the invitation list, but LAFCo staff need assistance bridging stronger connections with the school district's elected officials. 

How can we enhance engagement in both the planning committee and summit attendance?
Once the audience for YED Talks has been re-calibrated, the planning committee needs to be reformed. Selecting topics and speakers of interest will directly correlate with higher attendance. Staff will need help from commissioners finding engaged representatives from a cross-section of these agencies to form a planning committee to select topics and speakers for the summits. The time commitment is typically only a one-hour virtual meeting several months before each summit, two times per year. 

Other than staff sending emails and meeting invitations, what can we do to bolster meeting attendance? For example, when this event was led by the District 2 Office, the supervisor would make personal phone calls to solicit attendees. One suggestion from the Strategic Plan discussion was to secure higher profile speakers to draw greater attendance. This is a great suggestion, and staff would like to point out that this is something a strong planning committee and/or commissioners need to take on because LAFCo staff don't necessarily have the needed connections. 

Where should meetings be: rotate hosts among cities and the County, negotiate one central location, or virtual? 
Before COVID, YED Talks rotated among the cities and the County. We've also occasionally held summits at special locations, such as the Yolo County Office of Education conference center or at UC Davis. Staff recalls attendance at events in both West Sacramento and Winters were relatively low, but this could be a topic issue and not a geographic one. During COVID, events were virtual, and there was a recent Commission discussion when we adopted the Strategic Plan indicating in-person was preferred. Therefore, the remaining question is whether we continue to rotate hosts around the county or find one central regular location such as the Woodland Community Center, subject to their approval, of course. The City of Woodland has allowed LAFCo to use their facility for free on occasion, but it may not if this becomes a regular occurrence. 

Anything else?
Please offer any other ideas and suggestions this staff report may have missed.