{"id":2468,"date":"2020-04-08T15:00:12","date_gmt":"2020-04-08T15:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iawatercenter.wordpress.com\/?p=2468"},"modified":"2020-04-08T15:00:12","modified_gmt":"2020-04-08T15:00:12","slug":"the-iowawater2020-welcome-speech-that-will-never-be-given","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/the-iowawater2020-welcome-speech-that-will-never-be-given\/","title":{"rendered":"The #IowaWater2020 Welcome Speech That Will Never Be Given"},"content":{"rendered":"

Post written by Melissa Miller, Associate Director for the Iowa Water Center<\/em><\/p>\n

Today, at 10 a.m., I was supposed to greet 500+ of my closest friends and colleagues and say (with gusto), \u201cWelcome to the 2020 Iowa Water Conference!\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve been our conference (or any conference, really), you know how that speech goes.<\/p>\n

I would have thanked the planning committee for their tireless efforts in shaping the very best conference agenda for this year, a program that resonated with the theme \u201cBringing our water vision into focus.\u201d<\/p>\n

I would have thanked the sponsors and exhibitors for their generous support year after year.<\/p>\n

I would have thanked you for coming and urged you to attend sessions outside of your comfort zone.<\/p>\n

I would have introduced you to our amazing new conference logo and told you everything it stands for.<\/p>\n

But, instead, at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, April 8, 2020, I\u2019m making a mid-morning snack for my elementary-aged daughters before we go on a walk to the \u201ccreek\u201d (okay, it\u2019s a drainage ditch). I haven\u2019t been to Ames in almost a month, and I don\u2019t know when I\u2019ll go again.<\/p>\n

———————————–<\/p>\n

When we announced the cancellation, we had many people reach out to us and express their condolences for the months of lost work and preparation. This missed opportunity to connect and grow side by side is suddenly a common tragedy of this strange new era. We lament with those who planned to present, with the students who planned to compete in the poster contest, for the morning sticky buns we won\u2019t get to eat (I know at least a couple of you were already lamenting the loss of \u201cScheman Lasagna\u201d from years past, for some reason).<\/p>\n

But remember: the Iowa Water Conference is just two days. The work that went into it is not lost. We still had a diverse mix of organizations collaborating to conduct peer reviews of the latest water work in Iowa. We still had hours of introspection and discussion to identify the most pressing topics in water resource management in Iowa. We still built new relationships and cultivated old ones with Iowa\u2019s hardworking water professionals and scientists. Building the Iowa Water Conference takes the entire year – for all of us. The two days is just the celebration.<\/p>\n

—————————<\/p>\n

In my welcome speech, there is one more thing I would have done this year. I would have challenged every single one of you to consider two questions as you listened to each presentation:<\/p>\n

Who cares?<\/strong><\/p>\n

So what?<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Shout out to Molly Hanson, co-founder of Women for Water<\/a> and conservation and community outreach specialist for RDG Planning & Design<\/a>. Molly came up with this idea after we discussed my theory on cultivating and stewarding a community of \u201cWater People.\u201d<\/a>)<\/p>\n

This challenge still applies to the work you do, day in and day out. Ask yourself, who cares, and so what? Answering those questions both affirms the importance of the role you play and brings you closer to understanding how to reach the communities in which you\u2019re working.<\/p>\n

My final comment of the Welcome Speech That Will Never Be Given: we can and should still work to build a shared vision for Iowa\u2019s water future. What do YOU want for Iowa\u2019s future? Compare your answers with others\u2019 answers. Where are we the same? Where and why are we different? What are our overarching goals that benefit the most people in an equitable and just way? What can you do in your work to move us toward those goals? And, perhaps most importantly, what will it look like when we get there?<\/p>\n

Have an answer to any of these questions? Join in the conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #IowaWater2020. Jump in with real-time dialogue in our Water Scholars Book Club on Facebook. Send us an email.<\/p>\n

Talk to you soon.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Melissa<\/p>\n

Melissa Miller is the associate director of the Iowa Water Center. She holds a BS in Kinesiology with an emphasis in Community and Public Health and MS degree in Community Development with an emphasis in Natural Resource Management, both from Iowa State University.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Post written by Melissa Miller, Associate Director for the Iowa Water Center Today, at 10 a.m., I was supposed to greet 500+ of my closest friends and colleagues and say […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":2505,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[65,86,124,59],"tags":[143,82,249],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe #IowaWater2020 Welcome Speech That Will Never Be Given - Iowa Water Center<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/the-iowawater2020-welcome-speech-that-will-never-be-given\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The #IowaWater2020 Welcome Speech That Will Never Be Given - Iowa Water Center\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Post written by Melissa Miller, Associate Director for the Iowa Water Center Today, at 10 a.m., I was supposed to greet 500+ of my closest friends and colleagues and say […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/the-iowawater2020-welcome-speech-that-will-never-be-given\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Iowa Water Center\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/water-scholars-sign-up-form\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-04-08T15:00:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/vertical.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2008\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ibassis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@iowawatercenter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@iowawatercenter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ibassis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/the-iowawater2020-welcome-speech-that-will-never-be-given\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/the-iowawater2020-welcome-speech-that-will-never-be-given\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ibassis\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/#\/schema\/person\/2544c68e2ebad9e096d04e3be653541f\"},\"headline\":\"The #IowaWater2020 Welcome Speech That Will Never Be Given\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-08T15:00:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-04-08T15:00:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/the-iowawater2020-welcome-speech-that-will-never-be-given\/\"},\"wordCount\":701,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/the-iowawater2020-welcome-speech-that-will-never-be-given\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/vertical.png\",\"keywords\":[\"community\",\"Iowa Water Conference\",\"IowaWater2020\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Collaboration\",\"Editorial\",\"outreach\",\"The Center\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/the-iowawater2020-welcome-speech-that-will-never-be-given\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/the-iowawater2020-welcome-speech-that-will-never-be-given\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/the-iowawater2020-welcome-speech-that-will-never-be-given\/\",\"name\":\"The #IowaWater2020 Welcome Speech That Will Never Be Given - Iowa Water Center\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/the-iowawater2020-welcome-speech-that-will-never-be-given\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/the-iowawater2020-welcome-speech-that-will-never-be-given\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/vertical.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-08T15:00:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-04-08T15:00:12+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/the-iowawater2020-welcome-speech-that-will-never-be-given\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/the-iowawater2020-welcome-speech-that-will-never-be-given\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/the-iowawater2020-welcome-speech-that-will-never-be-given\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/vertical.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/vertical.png\",\"width\":1600,\"height\":2008},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/the-iowawater2020-welcome-speech-that-will-never-be-given\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The #IowaWater2020 Welcome Speech That Will Never Be Given\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/\",\"name\":\"Iowa Water Center\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Iowa Water Center\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IowaWaterCenterLogo-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IowaWaterCenterLogo-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":44,\"caption\":\"Iowa Water Center\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/water-scholars-sign-up-form\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/iowawatercenter\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCGNCbnIgs_oa3ZpW0mrJwfw\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/#\/schema\/person\/2544c68e2ebad9e096d04e3be653541f\",\"name\":\"ibassis\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The #IowaWater2020 Welcome Speech That Will Never Be Given - Iowa Water Center","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/the-iowawater2020-welcome-speech-that-will-never-be-given\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The #IowaWater2020 Welcome Speech That Will Never Be Given - Iowa Water Center","og_description":"Post written by Melissa Miller, Associate Director for the Iowa Water Center Today, at 10 a.m., I was supposed to greet 500+ of my closest friends and colleagues and say […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/the-iowawater2020-welcome-speech-that-will-never-be-given\/","og_site_name":"Iowa Water Center","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/water-scholars-sign-up-form\/","article_published_time":"2020-04-08T15:00:12+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1600,"height":2008,"url":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/vertical.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"ibassis","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@iowawatercenter","twitter_site":"@iowawatercenter","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"ibassis","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/the-iowawater2020-welcome-speech-that-will-never-be-given\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/the-iowawater2020-welcome-speech-that-will-never-be-given\/"},"author":{"name":"ibassis","@id":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/#\/schema\/person\/2544c68e2ebad9e096d04e3be653541f"},"headline":"The #IowaWater2020 Welcome Speech That Will Never Be Given","datePublished":"2020-04-08T15:00:12+00:00","dateModified":"2020-04-08T15:00:12+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/the-iowawater2020-welcome-speech-that-will-never-be-given\/"},"wordCount":701,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/the-iowawater2020-welcome-speech-that-will-never-be-given\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/vertical.png","keywords":["community","Iowa Water Conference","IowaWater2020"],"articleSection":["Collaboration","Editorial","outreach","The Center"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/the-iowawater2020-welcome-speech-that-will-never-be-given\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/the-iowawater2020-welcome-speech-that-will-never-be-given\/","url":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/the-iowawater2020-welcome-speech-that-will-never-be-given\/","name":"The #IowaWater2020 Welcome Speech That Will Never Be Given - Iowa Water Center","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/the-iowawater2020-welcome-speech-that-will-never-be-given\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/the-iowawater2020-welcome-speech-that-will-never-be-given\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/vertical.png","datePublished":"2020-04-08T15:00:12+00:00","dateModified":"2020-04-08T15:00:12+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/the-iowawater2020-welcome-speech-that-will-never-be-given\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/the-iowawater2020-welcome-speech-that-will-never-be-given\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/the-iowawater2020-welcome-speech-that-will-never-be-given\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/vertical.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/vertical.png","width":1600,"height":2008},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/the-iowawater2020-welcome-speech-that-will-never-be-given\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The #IowaWater2020 Welcome Speech That Will Never Be Given"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/","name":"Iowa Water Center","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/#organization","name":"Iowa Water Center","url":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IowaWaterCenterLogo-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IowaWaterCenterLogo-1.png","width":300,"height":44,"caption":"Iowa Water Center"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/water-scholars-sign-up-form\/","https:\/\/x.com\/iowawatercenter","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCGNCbnIgs_oa3ZpW0mrJwfw"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/#\/schema\/person\/2544c68e2ebad9e096d04e3be653541f","name":"ibassis"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2468"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2468\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}