The American Planning Association (APA) is a professional organization with approximately 40,000 members, and whose annual national conference attracts over 6,000 planning professionals and planning officials. This year’s annual conference, held in April, was in Seattle, Washington, with a record-breaking attendance of 6,400 from all over the nation and worldwide. The conference offers hundreds of sessions for professional planners at all career levels and areas of expertise. Realizing that young planners are the future of the profession, APA offered a full-day institute for “emerging professionals” – those who were still in school looking for how to succeed in getting that first professional job, or those who were in entry-level positions, looking for tips in how to advance to the next level of their career.
The 2015 Emerging Professionals Institute was sponsored by Leland Consulting Group (LCG), and LCG’s senior project manager David Siegel, FAICP was among the five faculty members conducting the Institute. This year’s Institute engaged attendees in exercises and discussions on a broad range of topics, including: constructing an effective resume; developing a succinct “elevator pitch”; preparing for the interview; dressing for success; effective communication skills; and career avenues and decisions.
The 2015 Emerging Professionals Institute was attended by 50 young professionals – a true measure of success for APA, who is looking forward to the 2016 Institute, to be held in conjunction with the APA national planning conference in Phoenix, Arizona. For more information, contact David Siegel (dsiegel@lelandconsulting.com, 503-222-1600) or Monica Groh, APA’s Director of Emerging Professionals (
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Want to know more about the American Planning Association?
Click here: https://www.planning.org/