CIC Impact Summit

2021 Call for Sessions

The Community Indicators Consortium (CIC) is currently soliciting proposals for the 2021 annual Impact Summit, which will be held virtually November 1 – 4, 2021. The theme this year is Community Indicators for Change: Responding, Rebuilding, and Advancing Equity. Below is information on this year’s conference and details on how to submit your proposal.

Breakout sessions are a key component to the success of the summit. They enable attendees to share, learn, converse, and interact with one another on topics of mutual interest and compare research methods, data collection practices, community engagement approaches, visualization tools, and lessons learned in the field. We invite members and non-members to submit session proposals by Friday, June 18, 2021.

Theme

The theme for the 2021 Impact Summit is Community Indicators for Change: Responding, Rebuilding, and Advancing Equity. We are interested in learning about how your research creates change for the future. Whether it’s responding to the impacts and implications of the COVID-19 pandemic or advancing access and equity for all people, how does your work and data ensure we are creating a world for the better?

About the Summit

The CIC Impact Summit gathers 200-300 attendees and speakers from nonprofit organizations and foundations, government, academia, and the private sector, who are largely based in the U.S. but also from Canada, Australia, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Types of groups participating in past summits include community foundations; United Way chapters; universities; city and county government; federal agencies; community-based organizations; local and regional councils; health departments; libraries; consulting firms; research institutions; and others working on or supporting community indicators projects. Given how more people are becoming accustomed to this new virtual environment, we are expecting to see more attendees at this year’s event. This provides a great opportunity to expand your network and present your research to a large audience of your peers. The conference includes a variety of keynote and plenary speakers, and roundtables to offer world–class networking and the opportunity to see community indicators projects in action.

Structure & Format

Sessions will be a combination of pre-recorded and live-streaming content. We are seeking to create unique learning opportunities for our attendees and encourage you to submit new and innovative ways to use this time to share new knowledge and approaches, facilitate panel discussions, and/or engage attendees in active conversation. A virtual environment allows us to offer a variety of session formats, including traditional sessions (individual presentations; traditional panels of three 15-20 minute presentations; facilitated roundtable discussions), but we also welcome proposals that utilize the unique advantages of virtual meetings (such as on-site visits to activities or developments of interest in your community that you bring to us virtually).

We are interested in a variety of viewpoints and encourage researchers, evaluators, practitioners, and advocates from all diverse backgrounds to share their experiences, especially those who have been traditionally and historically underrepresented in the study and practice of community indicators. If you are recruiting participants for a panel or developing a topic to share, please keep our mutual commitment in mind. We also want to hear from our younger researchers, including emerging professionals and students. This could be your chance to make a mark on the community indicators research profession for years to come! We’re always looking for new leaders and a fresh set of contributors.

If any of the themes presented below resonate with the research you and your colleagues are doing, please submit a proposal!

Session Ideas

Proposals may address one or more of the following ideas as they relate to the theme of Community Indicators for Change: Responding, Rebuilding, and Advancing Equity. See the proposed tracks below. Please do not feel limited to the session focus areas listed below.

• Challenges Faced by Community Indicators Projects
• Signs of Progress in Community Indicators Practice
• The Future of Community Indicators Practice
• Community Indicators and Equity (note equity will cross all tracks/ topics)

Topics covered in the four identified tracks may include: Arts, Economy, Education, Environment, Health, Workforce, Civic Engagement, International Indicators, Children and Youth, Funding, and Sustainability.

Instructions

• Please submit proposals via our survey tool. This helps keep the committee organized and ensures no one is inadvertently overlooked. Only proposals submitted via the survey tool will be considered. If you’re having trouble with the survey tool or cannot enter the data, please contact Jennie Allison (jallison@crec.net).
• Sessions must be centered on community indicator research or the use of data to make community/quality-of-life policy decisions. Projects and efforts to ensure equity in participation and/or outcomes are particularly welcome.
• Vendors are eligible to propose “Vendor–Sponsored Sessions.” They will not be considered for other sessions. To be accepted, Vendor-Sponsored Sessions should be topical and informative. Sales or marketing sessions will not be considered. We would happily work with vendors seeking to make a proposal to ensure their idea meets our programming goals.
• Proposals should reference how the proposal relates to the theme: Community Indicators for Change: Responding, Rebuilding, and Advancing Equity.
• Full panel sessions (usually with three presenters) are approximately 60 minutes. Individual presentations are 15-20 minutes long.

Guidelines

• Proposal descriptions are limited to 200 words. Any beyond that will not be considered.
• The topic of equity is a priority for the CIC board – proposals tackling and addressing equity-related issues will be prioritized.
• Proposals may not be submitted on behalf of another organization.
• There will be no compensation for speaking at the event.
• Proposals are being solicited from CIC members and non–members alike. CIC members receive a discounted conference registration rate.
• If you are proposing a panel, you will be responsible for confirming that panel’s speakers, managing topics of focus, and organizing bios to submit to CIC prior to the event.
• CIC reserves the right to edit or make changes to proposed session titles, descriptions, modes of presentation, panels, and moderators. This includes combining proposal ideas that complement each other into one session.
• We encourage speakers to attend the full conference and offer a discounted registration fee for accepted speakers. If speakers are unable to attend the full conference, they are welcome to present during their session at no charge.
• CIC will provide a response to all submitted proposals no later than June 1, 2021.
• Please contact Jennie Allison (jallison@crec.net) with content questions.

Download a PDF Version of the CIC 2021 Impact Summit Call for Proposals below.

Ready to submit your proposal? Please submit proposals via our survey tool. This helps keep the committee organized and ensures no one is inadvertently overlooked. Only proposals submitted via the survey tool will be considered. If you’re having trouble with the survey tool or cannot enter the data, please contact Jennie Allison (jallison@crec.net).

About CIC

Community indicators help communities around the world answer the question: Are we there yet? Communities are trying to improve the quality of life of their residents. Indicators measure what the community cares about and track whether the community is moving in the right direction. Without indicators, it is difficult to know whether progress is being made on important issues. Those metrics provide essential guidance for action and key tools for appropriate engagement of the public.

The Community Indicator Consortium supports communities’ efforts to use community data to improve quality of life. Since 2005, CIC has provided resources and tools to help communities and practitioners advance the practice and effective use of community indicators.