Collaborate 2013

My workmates and I attended the latest Bowman conference in Scottsdale Arizona. The first two days consisted of Advanced ART training, and the rest of the week was dedicated to conference sessions. Since there were HUD reps presenting, it was difficult to really choose other sessions because it's always good to hear the latest from those who are on the inside. Some takeaways from the conference included learning that recording services in HMIS is actually not mandatory (at least for HUD programs) and the only indication we have of entering them in the future is based on a DRAFT version of the new data standards. Apparently this round of Data Standards went out for comment and unlike the other releases (in 2004 and 2010), the final 2013 Data Standards will be somewhat different from the Draft ones. The comments received back on the Draft 2013 Data Standards were in the thousands.

The ART-related takeaways were mostly about associated dimensions, future-proofing your reporting, and recidivism ideas. I will write more about these things in other blog posts!

Most of all, the funnest part of the conference was spending time with the people there. My workmates are always good to be around, and the Bowman crowd happens to be a really lively and fun group of people. It's really good to meet the people you go to for help on a regular basis. Also we met many others who are managing HMIS implementations around the nation and got to hear the various ways they are dealing with the same (and different) issues that we are in the Ohio Balance of State.

We mostly came away from the conference feeling like we were mostly going in the right direction, but that a few priorities could be rearranged to account for final regulations being in draft status.