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The Courthouse Journal is the official weekly newsletter of the Washington Association of County Officials. The Courthouse Journal Blog is a collection of publications relevant to WACO members, their staff, and others. *This blog is not updated on a schedule.

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Oct 01

Are You Ready for the WACO Annual Conference?

Posted on October 1, 2020 at 4:21 PM by Melanie Terry

Courthouse Journal Blog Post  

October 2, 2020  

Are You Ready for the WACO Annual Conference?  

 

Since June 2020 the WACO Board of Trustees and Staff have been diligently planning a virtual conference in response to the concerns of hosting an in-person conference in the wake of COVID-19.  

Although we will not be able to meet in person this year, WACO is still proud to present an accessible conference from October 5th - 8th, 2020.  With less than one week until the 62nd Annual Conference this blog serves as a guideline to the Annual Conference and how to access important information and resources.  


  1. 1.Prepare to Cast Your Vote 

Wednesday, October 7th from 12:30PM – 5:00PM to Thursday, October 8th at 2:00PM, in conjunction with the WACO Annual Conference, you will have an opportunity to cast your vote for 1) members of the WACO Board of Trustees, 2) WACO 2021 Legislative Priorities, and 3) the location of our 2023 annual conference.   Materials for all three may be found here  under “2020 Conference Documents” 

Immediately following the business meeting Wednesday morning, every member’s inbox will receive an electronic ballot (survey monkey) you will use for voting.   Ballots cannot be sent prior in case of floor nominations during the business meeting.  If you DO NOT receive the ballot from WACO via survey monkey – please contact us at info@countyofficials.org and we will send you a direct link for the ballot. If you are not clicking on links – you will have to cut and paste the url into your web browser. To help ensure that you receive the information contact your counties IT department and ask them to Follow the steps at http://help.surveymonkey.com/articles/en_US/kb/What-are-the-IP-addresses-to-your-website-for-our-firewall-configurations.  Questions?  Contact us at info@countyofficials.org. 

 

  1. 2.Brush Up on Your Zoom Skills  

The WACO Annual Conference and the affiliate meetings will all be presented via Zoom. WACO is hosting our conference via Zoom after extensive research identified it as the most user friendly of virtual meeting software. Before the conference we encourage to watch short tutorials on how to join a meeting and how to check your audio. If you experience slight issues during the meeting - don’t fret – WACO staff is always there to assist you. Please send a direct chat to Member Services Manager, Melanie Terry during the meeting or send an email to her outside of the meeting at melanie@countyofficials.org 

Pro Tip: Make sure to download the application prior to the conference: https://zoom.us/download 

 

  1. 3.Check Out the Conference Guide  

The 62nd Annual Conference Guide contains extensive information, including the agenda, speaker information, auction information and more. Check it out here! 

 

  1. 4.BID BID BID! 

Our Affiliate members have prepared a large selection of items and experiences for members to bid on in support of the Washington Counites Scholarship Fund during the conference. Bidding opens on Monday, October 5th at 6:00am and ends on Thursday, October 8th at 5:00pm. Browse items now by clicking the auction link here.  

 

  1. 5.Learn More about our Conference Partners 

The WACO Annual Conference is made possible by the numerous sponsors and vendors that attend the conference. This year, WACO is proud to offer a virtual exhibit hall that showcases the services provided by our partners. Please be sure to review this information and learn more here.  

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