By Amanda Lilla, Associate Director, Janus Institute
There is something to be said about the feeling of friends gathering and spending quality time together. Something to be said about the opportunity to catch-up on the latest news, tell perhaps somewhat embellished stories, and share smiles and laughter with each other. There is also something to be said for the aforementioned to be what I am fortunate enough to call my job.
When I first started working for the Janus Institute in 2011 to plan Forum events, I never could have imagined that what I was actually doing was joining a family. Not just any family, but a family of economic developers from all over the nation who have an overwhelming passion to bring about the best practices in the economic development profession.
The Janus Forum, now in its sixth year, is the perfect setting to bring these professionals together to share their enthusiasm and desire to cultivate the profession. The 2014 Rabun Janus Forum was held June 8-11th in its original home at Lake Rabun in the North Georgia Mountains. Yet another successful event, Forum participants enjoyed a variety of venues during the Forum and had the opportunity for some dynamic discussions on topics that are directly impacting the economic development profession.
Participants selected two topics for in-depth discussion including: National Target Industries and Product Development. In breakout sessions participants discussed specific issues for each of the topics and how to approach the issues moving forward. The final notes from these discussions will be compiled into the Janus Journal, which summarizes the valuable discussions from the Forum and is distributed to all that are interested in reading about best practices developed by the practitioners themselves.
This year, the Janus Forum also held its first State Directors Forum, in which participants from state economic development organizations were able to participate in interactive discussion with one another in a one-day workshop and then share the outcomes of their discussions with the entire group in a panel discussion during the Forum. This was a superb event and we are planning to hold another State Directors Forum in the near future. We are excited about the possibilities that exist with best practices being developed at the Forum from the state level and shared throughout the entire economic development community.
With great expectations and success, this is just the beginning of what the Janus Forum family has established as a foundation to build on. We look forward to holding several Janus Forum events in 2015 and to welcoming additional professionals to our family.
Thank you to the sponsors of the 2014 Rabun Janus Forum: Convergent Nonprofit Solutions, Norfolk Southern, McCarthy Building Companies, and the Development Authority of Rabun County. We appreciate their generous support and look forward to continuing our relationship with them.
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