Dear Members and Friends of MML:
In light of the restrictions imposed by the ongoing coronavirus crisis, the MML Board of Directors has just voted overwhelmingly to reimagine our traditional Summer Conference into MML’s first ever Virtual Summer Conference. Details are forthcoming as our dedicated and creative MML staff works with our leadership and our partners to plan an exciting and transformational experience for all of our members. For now, please know that we are committed to hosting something truly special in these challenging times, with educational and networking opportunities like nothing you’ve encountered before, while still honoring our responsibility to keep our members safe, respecting the directives and guidance from state officials, and remaining sensitive to the financial strains that the crisis is placing on our cities and towns.
MML’s 2020 Summer Virtual Conference will be accessible -- hopefully giving even more municipal officials and staff who otherwise haven’t been able to come to Ocean City a chance to participate -- and it will be much more affordable. If you have already registered for the traditional Conference, your registration will be automatically cancelled, so there is no need to contact MML at this time. Fees will be refunded or can be applied to Virtual Conference registration, and details for that will be circulated soon. We do recommend, however, that you cancel your hotel and travel arrangements as soon as possible.
Just like the decisions each of you are facing in your municipalities and your personal lives, this was not an easy one, but it was the right one. We understand there may be some natural uncertainty about something so different and bold as a Virtual Summer Conference, but rest assured that our team -- including MML’s staff, leadership, and hardworking Conference Planning Committee -- has been preparing for this contingency for some time. And we have the chance to lead the way yet again, with a transformative approach to providing the connections, resources, and benefits that you take home from the Summer Conference every year, with some unforgettable new additions. We will work with our members to ensure you have access to the technology needed to attend the Virtual Conference and that you are comfortable with it.
When we chose the theme Reimagine Tomorrow for the League and for the Summer Conference, we could not have envisioned embarking on this path, but it turns out to be the perfect theme to meet the moment. All of us are rising to the challenge to reimagine the ways we govern, serve, connect, teach, learn, and care for each other -- and Maryland’s cities and towns are the front lines of these innovations. Now more than ever, it is vital that we as municipal leaders convene to support each other.
We are all in this together, and we will get through it together. We are grateful to everyone who has worked tirelessly to plan this year’s event and who will continue to assist with next steps. Stay tuned for more information very soon, and contact registration@mdmunicipal.org or (410) 295-9100 if you have questions. The entire MML Board and I are excited to connect with you at our first ever Virtual Summer Conference; we know that MML members possess the enthusiasm, leadership, and dedication to make it a huge success.
Let’s Reimagine Tomorrow, together.
Yours in Municipal Service,
Ryan Spiegel, 2019-2020 MML President Ron Sitoula, CPC Chair
Councilmember, City of Gaithersburg Vice Mayor, Town of Indian Head