Water In Real Life – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Thank you to each and every one of you for joining us on this incredible podcast journey. This is not the end, just a branch in a new direction. Please stay tuned. There's more to come!

When was the last time you left a water conference session feeling moved by the dialogue and perspectives presented? Stephanie was fortunate to experience that rare conference high during both iterations of the Young Professional (YP) panel at UMC2021 in Atlanta and UMC2022 in Orlando.

You can catch the summary in the April 2022 AWWA Journal article here. Stephanie was most impressed by the panel's ability to create a safe space where people felt comfortable enough to engage and have a genuine dialogue, even when there was disagreement.

Join us in this discussion about rethinking the way we conference and the ways we have conversations around difficult issues. We also dive into the very real discomfort of stepping outside of your comfort zone. We talk about why its' important to do so and ways to lean into the discomfort.

Meet Chelsea:

Chelsea Boozer is the Government Affairs Manager at Central Arkansas Water and serves on AWWA’s Young Professionals Committee. She was named to Arkansas Business’s 2020 list of 20 in Their 20s and Arkansas Money and Politics included her on its 2021 Power Women list. She holds an Executive Master of Public Administration degree from Syracuse University, an undergraduate journalism degree from the University of Memphis, and a reporting certificate from the Johannes Gutenberg Universitat in Germany. Chelsea has been published in Opflow and Journal AWWA, and regularly speaks at national and regional water conferences about public engagement and workforce development as it relates to young professionals. As government affairs manager, Chelsea works with government, community, and wholesale partners and stakeholders on policy, economic development, and regionalism efforts.

Robb Barnitt is the Founder and Chief Executive at Dropcountr, a water SaaS (software-as-a-service) company that transforms data into actionable information for utility staff and their customers.

Robb has spent his career working at the intersection of technology and sustainability in roles with Arthur D. Little, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and several Silicon Valley startups.  He holds a Masters degree in Engineering from Stanford and an MBA from UC-Berkeley.

Top Takeaways:

1. The water sector has amazing committed people. They want to do something meaningful. This extends to the technology-oriented folks–developers and engineers. For those young professionals that want to make a difference, there’s a lot to like about the water industry. 
2. Customers view water utilities on the same level as the other utilities they communicate with regularly. They expect a higher level of service and access such as real-time alerts regarding usage thresholds, leaks, and bill notification.
3. Access to information isn’t just about bill pay and water usage. It also provides utilities the ability to communicate about other areas of concern for customers such as hydrant flushing. Robb gives a case study on Dedham Westwood Water District outside of Boston. 
4. At the 2018 WaterSmart Innovations Conference: Dropcountr, Rogue Water and Alliance for Water Efficiency are teaming up to discuss the importance of communicating with your Spanish speaking population in your community. A more complete inclusivity requires delivery of information in a language that’s preferred by the customer. If you want to educate and develop that relationship then you need to be speaking the same language. Whether Spanish is a requirement or just a preference, it’s a pretty nice gesture. It’s more than a translated website, you can actively engage in the culture. 

“Strive to be more than a vendor, be an industry participant.” Robb Barnitt, Founder and Chief Executive at Dropcountr

Resources:

Water In Real Life co-hosts, The H2duO, aka Stephanie Zavala and Arianne Shipley, have received many questions from listeners about who they are, their relationship and their business, Rogue Water. During a recording of the Water Nerd’s Guide to Happy Hour episode, their pod was pirated by none other than the scallywag, Travis Loop. Blimey!! As a podcast host himself, the privateer (pirates who are sponsored by the government #fitting) took over as captain and made the duo walk the plank aka answer his questions. Note: this was recorded during a live happy hour–we suggest you listen with your favorite happy hour beverage as well. ARRR!!

Top Takeaways:

1. We break down ‘who is who’… Rogue Water, a consulting company, and the H2duO is our nicknames “water girls” and “dynamic duo” combined. Plus it’s easier to say (and less Twitter characters) than Stephanie Zavala and Arianne Shipley.  
2. The H2duO is to Rogue Water as Steve Jobs is to Apple. The best of friends lift each other up. Our relationship works because we’re very yin-yang, we learn from each other personally and professionally.
3. Stephanie reached out to Erin Brockovich about changing the utility communication game. Ms. Brockovich responded…
4. Embrace the haters. Let the haters fuel you. The greatest revenge is to continue the hustle and be the best we can be.

“Over time, I’ve matured or grown but am I gonna say that they never bother me, and they never upset me? But that’s what Jay-Z and whiskey are for.” –Stephanie Zavala

Resources:

Rogue Water, the H2duO’s public communication consulting company that helps

Open Letter to Erin Brockovich by Rogue Water

Dirt Off Your Shoulder by Jay-Z

Sponsor:

Master Meter Inc delivers game-changing results for you across Finance, Customer Service, and Utility Operations. They offer an array of products to meet your utility’s needs. Check out their free ebook on financing smart water solutions here.

Show notes:

[6:40] Who are the H2duO?

[] The story of how Rogue Water was born on a napkin.

[14:10] Our role. How do we control this two-headed monster?

[23:20] That time we talked for Erin Brockovich for 90 minutes

[25:00] The infamous Rogue Water Open Letter to Erin Brockovich blog

[32:25] Arianne talks raising livestock in Texas and that water connection

[38:15] Travis asks “What the deal with Texas?” and we talk water issues in Texas

[43:40] Haters gonna...

Todd Danielson’s social media information states his blood type is H2O positive because water is core to him, which is definitely important in his role as the Chief Utilities Executive for Avon Lake Regional Water. A 20-plus-year veteran of the industry and a professional engineer by training, Todd most enjoys asking, “what if,” and helping to implement better ways to serve the public, improve the environment, and spur the economy.

Top Takeaways:

1. Avon Lake Regional Water rolled out a residential combined sewer separation program, received feedback, and took action to work together with residents for implementation. In 26 months they’ve signed over 300 loan agreements with customers and committed well over 1 million dollars.
2. Sometimes it’s one person, such as Samantha Villegas (Episode 14), who help form a deeper understanding for the value of communication. Other times it’s first hand experiences such as a frazil ice event. Either way, the value of proactive and consistent communication is evident.
3. No matter what, you’re going to spend time and money communicating. An ounce of prevention, is worth a pound of cure. Put in the work up front and build that “relationship bank account” with your customers. 
4. “If you only have a hammer, everything’s a nail.” A utility is like a toolbox and each of the departments are different tools. Some jobs you’ll need a hammer, while other jobs you need many tools. By working together, tools can be complementary. It’s important to knowing what each “tool” of the utility does and how best to use them.
5. Recognize the importance of what a utility can do for the economy of a community. As George Hawkins, famously states, “water utilities support all jobs”. Many areas are actively promoting development through water availability and the resiliency of their system. 
6. Think business plan versus master plan. Incorporate other challenges utilities face such as fats, oils and grease, biogas, and energy. How does creating solutions for these challenges benefit customers, both residential and commercial?
7. Whether you’re in the industry or still in school, one thing is certain, we want to make a difference. Providing water and wastewater services has made a HUGE difference, but its the status quo. In order to make a difference, we must do more, such as partnering with schools, or becoming energy neutral, or reducing our carbon footprint. We must communicate what we’re doing to attract the younger workforce.
8. Utility affordability is a very real issue. What are the intended outcomes for an affordability program? Do customers need a hand out or a hand up? Water use audits, leak repairs, and bill payment counseling are options being implemented in many cities. Never discount the partnerships that can form from these types of programs.
9. Keep your customers in your community and keep the community thriving.

Bio: Tom Hickmann is a civil engineer with over 25 years’ experience in wastewater, stormwater, water supply, water rights, system design, hydraulic modeling, utility management, and utility master planning. Mr. Hickmann is the City of Bend Engineering & Infrastructure Planning Department Director focusing on oversight and implementation of all master plans and capital improvement projects.

He has been credited with bringing innovative ideas to the City, solving challenging issues and overseeing record infrastructure growth in one of the country’s fastest growing cities. He is noted for championing a unique approach to big-ticket infrastructure decision making and bringing these concepts to engineering audiences nationwide. He introduced hydraulic modeling techniques and implemented an enhanced modeling analysis which has been used as an example for assessing future infrastructure needs of growing communities.

We met Tom at the Utilities Management Conference in February 2018 and his presentation rocked us to our core. We had an incredible chat with him that we decided to break into two episodes. This is the second half of our conversation where we talk building a team that can implement community engagement, affordability, justifying technology, and the power of coffee (or beer) diplomacy. If you didn’t catch EP018 you’ll want to check that one out first.

Top Takeaways:

1. [6:00] How they use Strength Finders and the DISC assessment to ensure they have the right people on their team and on each project.
2. [7:50] “You have the best engineers in the world. Great—I’m glad you do. But I also need the best communicators in the world to get a project done and if I don’t have them I’m going to fail.”
3. [8:34] Transparency begins by admitting the bias you’re bringing to the table.
4. [13:40] New technology tools that can help with transparency.
5. [18:33] Overcoming the fear related to dealing with the negative criticism. It’s ok. Just be like an elephant. Don’t take these things personally. Don’t let them get to your core. Learn to realize that maybe they’re saying that, not to get to you personally. Learn to step back and understand the issue you’re bringing forward is contentious. Not you, personally.
6. [22:40] So you’ve embraced the need to communicate and engage—now what? How do you move you, your team, and your department forward? Tom explains “creative firing.” “Sometimes you have to help people move along. Sometimes that’s hard to do. Sometimes that takes a while but if you’re going to bring about change, you have to do it.”
7. [25:22] “Look, you’re driving to a cliff and you don’t even know it. I’m trying to tell you to push on the brakes. You’re not going to do that. I know that. So I’m going to step off the bus.”
8. [29:21] “Your job as directors is to raise leaders and you can’t raise a leader who isn’t operating in their strength.”
9. [31:38] The issue of affordability and how they realigned their utility master plan to align with their financial master plan to lessen the impact on rates.
10. [43:21] Justifying innovation in the water sector.
11. [50:55] Combining technology, with face to face, and a little coffee (or beer) diplomacy. The incredible story of how Tom turned his biggest opponent into his biggest advocate by investing in some old-fashioned face time.

Resources:

Bio: Tom Hickmann is a civil engineer with over 25 years’ experience in wastewater, stormwater, water supply, water rights, system design, hydraulic modeling, utility management, and utility master planning. Mr. Hickmann is the City of Bend Engineering & Infrastructure Planning Department Director focusing on oversight and implementation of all master plans and capital improvement projects.

He has been credited with bringing innovative ideas to the City, solving challenging issues and overseeing record infrastructure growth in one of the country’s fastest growing cities. He is noted for championing a unique approach to big-ticket infrastructure decision making and bringing these concepts to engineering audiences nationwide. He introduced hydraulic modeling techniques and implemented an enhanced modeling analysis which has been used as an example for assessing future infrastructure needs of growing communities.

We met Tom at the Utilities Management Conference in February 2018 and his presentation rocked us to our core. We had an incredible chat with him that we decided to break into two episodes. This is the first half of the conversation when we discuss how Tom set out on a mission to disprove the value of communication and public outreach through his thesis and ended up proving himself wrong. He then became not only a vocal proponent and advocate of public involvement in master planning, but also practiced what he preached and revolutionized the way his department conducts business.

Top Takeaways:

1. [12:14] Hear Tom tell us about how he set out to debunk the need for communication and public involvement, proved himself wrong, and transformed his career.

2. [14:40] “I realized at that point in my career that my skill set had run out….The engineering part is fun and easy. The hard part is finding the support, the financial backing that you’re asking these people to make investments in.”

3. [17:15] “I had an obligation to citizens to engage them and to give them, quite frankly, a voice in democracy and that was a game changer for me. To realize all of these investments are an extension of our democracy. Yes, it’s technical but, fundamentally, citizens have a right to have a say so.”

4. [22:16] Population growth impacts how cities communicate with the public.

5. [27:26] Tom explains the value in regularly surveying your constituency. The survey questions can’t be generic, you have to dig deep to get a real sense of public trust and buy-in. Surveys aren’t enough either. It’s best to pair them with focus groups and interviews.

6. [34:51] Bold leadership and what it takes. “Leadership is situational, it’s not individual. There’s times when our skill sets and our natural abilities align with the moment, align with the point to lead. A good leader realizes they aren’t always the best person to lead on every issue.”

7. [40:08] A case study on the project that transformed him and everything he understands and believes. Hear how lack of public involvement landed them in district court, and how creating true public involvement, in the beginning, could have saved the city the incredible amount of time and money spent in delays and legal fees.

Resources:

Dean Christopher P. Long is a Professor of Philosophy and Dean of the College of Arts & Letters at Michigan State University who is committed to expanding the transformative power of liberal arts research and teaching and creating new opportunities for collaboration among community partners.

He began his tenure as Dean on July 1, 2015. Under his leadership, several advances have been made including the creation of the Center for Interdisciplinarity. He has successfully established the College of Arts & Letters as a catalyst of innovation and collaboration at MSU through signature partnerships, such as the partnership with the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the College of Communication Arts and Sciences to advance a holistic approach to food research (Food@MSU).

He is the co-founder of the Public Philosophy Journal, an open forum for the curation and creation of accessible scholarship that deepens our understanding of issues related to public relevance, and editor of The Journal for General Education. He is an expert on both ancient Greek and contemporary continental philosophy and received his MA and Ph.D. from the New School for Social Research in New York and BA from Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio. Dea

Top Takeaways:

1. [21:27] The value of reverse engineering the metrics you measure by going back to your core values. “How are we living out the core values in a way that’s identifiable as showing that we’re actually making progress towards the vision that we share.”
2. [36:30] Millennials do not want to learn passively and we need to be raising the bar of our educational programs and institutions to meet their expectation and thirst for knowledge and impact.
3. [44:02] How using technology and a variety of mediums is the expectation of student learners today. 

Resources:

Kindred— By: Octavia Butler

Sponsor:

Master Meter Inc delivers game-changing results for you across Finance, Customer Service, and Utility Operations. They offer an array of products to meet your utility’s needs. Check out their free ebook on financing smart water solutions here.

Show Notes:

[6:30] The value in including the community at the beginning of the research stage, when the questions that are trying to be answered are formulated and

Mike McGill has spent his entire career as a communicator, having served as a leader in journalism and public relations.  Before founding WaterPIO, a communications firm specifically aimed at helping water and sewer operations, he served as a Director of Communications and Customer Service for water utilities for a dozen years including  Chief Communications Officer for Cape Fear Public Utility Authority in Wilmington, North Carolina; Director of Customer Relations and Communications for Loudoun Water in Loudoun County, Virginia; and Public Affairs Coordinator for the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC), a utility that serves nearly two million people in the Washington, DC Area. Mike is a graduate of Syracuse University and began his career as a news producer in CNN’s Washington bureau, and as the News Planning Editor for WUSA-TV in Washington, DC.

Top Takeaways:

1. [57:48] Capture your “gee-whiz” moments. Mike talks about how he turned a main break into a positive front page highlight of employees.
2. [19:24] The 2018 JD Power Water Utility Residential Customer Survey showed that even a modest commitment of time and resources will get you an exponential benefit.
3. [52:52] The importance of building relationships doesn’t only reside with the water provider/customer relationship. The most important relationship is between the communicator and the water provider staff so they understand what your ultimate end goal is–to protect the integrity of the invaluable service they provide to the community every day.

Resources:

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die – By Chip and Dan Heath

Power of Moments  – By Chip and Dan Heath

Rogue Water’s open letter to Erin Brockovich

Sponsor:

Master Meter Inc delivers game-changing results for you across Finance, Customer Service, and Utility Operations. They offer an array of products to meet your utility’s needs. Check out their free ebook on financing smart water solutions here. 

Show Notes:

[5:30] The story how Erin Brockovich brought Water PIO and Rogue Water together

[11:00] “We’re the defenders of public water.”The good people who work in water, they’re public servants and they don’t do it for the glory. They deserve to have their stories told and their actions defended.”

[18:00] How communication is the key building block to establishing trust.

[19:24] JD Power 2018 Water Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Survey