by Stefani Clark, Communications Specialist, Orange County Employees Retirement System (OCERS)

By only my sixth month in the public sector, I attended the 2024 CAPIO Annual Conference in Indian Wells. This was obviously my first time at CAPIO but also the first conference I’d been to in my professional career. Nervous was an understatement but reflecting on that experience now almost one year later, I can confidently say that the CAPIO Annual Conference is my favorite time of year.

Attending the conference last year as a fresh communications professional meant:

1. I was so far outside of my comfort zone.

2. I had no idea what I was “supposed” to get out of it.

 3. I was going to face some major imposter syndrome.

Instead, what happened was far better than I could have imagined. I made so many valuable friendships and professional connections, came out of my shell, and learned that public communications is one big support system.

I entered the various sessions each day with curiosity and a bit of timidity, but I came out of them with a renewed spirit. Everyone in those rooms wanted to learn how to better their agency’s communication efforts and was met with openness and understanding. It seemed like we had all confronted similar things at different points of our careers, and we were in this space to share and grow.

It was refreshing to know that I was not the only one facing certain unknowns. Keynote speaker and author Matt Abrahams said, “the best way to get better at communication is to do communication.” It sounds obvious, but I really needed to hear that. To become better at what I want to do, I simply need to do it more. That’s how even the most successful communicators, those I look up to, started off.

Coming from a small communications team, I greatly value the huge sense of community that CAPIO has created. Here, we don’t have to fight for seats at the table or prove anything to anyone — it’s truly just a safe space for us to learn from each other and become stronger communicators.

There was the same, if not more, focus on our successes, too. If anything, it felt like the main event was the celebration of all that we as communicators accomplish. There wasn’t a single person there that didn’t have something amazing they’ve done in their career and was willing to help others achieve the same.

Toward the end of the conference, I felt so full of knowledge and encouragement, ready to apply all of these insights back at work. But I had also made friends and did something that was so new to me. I left Indian Wells feeling more connected to my communications peers, motivated to make things happen in my agency, and excited for the next one.

Almost a year later and the 2025 CAPIO Annual Conference is quickly approaching. Instead of going in feeling nervous and unsure like last time, I’m counting down the days until I head to Napa.

With all of the buzz around artificial intelligence, I look forward to getting the communications perspective — multiple sessions this year will go over different ways communications teams can use this tool. I also always appreciate the emphasis on navigating agency cultures and reaching marginalized audiences at CAPIO.

Now, having been at my agency for over one year, I’ll be attending this CAPIO conference with more experiences under my belt. It feels like so much has happened since last year that I can’t wait to share with my fellow communicators, and I will be listening to my peers share all of their fascinating initiatives. Not to mention, we get to do all of this in beautiful Napa Valley.

This April, I am eager to catch up with the friends I made the year before and see how far we’ve all come since the last conference. I can’t wait to meet even more comms teams across the state I didn’t have the chance to before. I’m so ready to continue learning and gaining new skills that I can say I got from CAPIO. But above all, I know that all of us attending this year will leave Napa ready to soar higher than ever before.

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