Kudos to the city of Champaign / Urbana for hosting and being involved with the Regional Neighborhood Network Conference 2016!
This conference, taking place on September 29 – October 1, 2016, is a three‐day event hosted by one of 24 Midwestern cities. It’s a place where community leaders, volunteers, corporations, local government agencies, and businesses gather to exchange information with one another in order to gain valuable ideas to take back and help improve or transform their own communities. RNNC features a wide variety of workshops about state of the art approaches to neighborhood improvement, led by experts in urban and neighborhood development. In addition to these informative workshops, RNNC is a great opportunity to network with peers and enjoy great food and entertainment!
From www.2016rnnc.com
RNNC History
RNNC was formed in 1986 when the City of Louisville invited several major Midwestern cities to gather in Louisville for an exchange of information and ideas about improving neighborhoods and communities. During this first 2-day event, representatives from cities within a 400 mile radius of Louisville gathered to collaborate and share ideas. The concept of establishing a regional organization emerged from this first successful event. It was decided that the organization would have two objectives:
- To provide a framework for government officials to collaborate on issues of importance to neighborhoods and others related to managing municipalities.
- To encourage member cities to create an environment in which neighborhood leaders could interact and share information with each other about shared topics and issues of concern.
The result was the creation of the Regional Neighborhood Network Conference – RNNC.
Network Structure
The Regional Neighborhood Network has existed for 30 years representing Midwestern cities of all sizes. There is a Regional Neighborhood Network Steering Committee that operates without bylaws, officers or membership dues. Participation is solely based on the commitment of member cities and come from a variety of governmental structures, philosophies, and political parties. Despite the diversity of the composition, the RNNC has endured through mayoral changes, liaison changes, and fluctuating levels of commitment and participation by the member cities. Though its initial membership started out with only seven cities, there are currently more than 20 member cities representing five states (Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, and Tennessee).
Representatives of the member cities interact face‐to‐face at twice a year at Steering Committee meetings, and the resulting friendships have become long‐standing opportunities for resource sharing through RNNC and other events. All conference collaborations are conducted in a non‐partisan manner. This interaction among the city representatives transcends party politics and is based simply on trust, respect, and the genuine friendships that have evolved.