A History of Excellence

Over the past 13 years, Excellence in Government has earned a reputation as the key learning opportunity for government innovators.  The conference has offered a broad range of topics focused on improving personal and professional skills, and on broadening horizons for our attendees.  This year we continue this tradition—but with a twist.

As a federal manager, you face a wide array of conferences and events on leadership and management.  Maybe you have attended these in the past.  You may have even attended an Excellence in Government conference.  But you are ready for something different.  You want an event that gives you real tools to become a leader—an event that offers new approaches and case studies for best practices in the federal government.  You want a conference that leaves you with an enthusiasm for excellence—all with less burden on your busy schedule and budget.  Excellence in Government 2008 is the conference for you.

In 2008, the Excellence in Government experience will be different from ever before.  Instead of one two-day conference, Excellence in Government 2008 will consist of two one-day events focusing on Key Issues in Federal Management.  The first, devoted to human capital topics, will take place on May 12.  The second event will be devoted to program management topics and will be on July 15.  Each of the EIG 2008 events will be held at the Ronald Reagan Building in the heart of the nation’s capital.

"Excellence in Government provides an engaging environment for federal managers to come together to discuss best practices and learn how to achieve success through innovative solutions,” said Timothy B. Clark, editor and president for Government Executive magazine, co-producer of EIG.  “We are especially excited for the 2008 program as we will go further than ever before in delivering highly focused, actionable content to federal managers.”

The Excellence in Government conference got its start in 1995 when reformers in the Clinton Administration decided that a forum was needed for exchange of ideas about improving the operations of federal agencies. At the time, Vice President Al Gore was leading the National Performance Review, a management reform initiative that sought to emphasize customer service and to empower employees in the field to bring about improvements in program delivery.

Gore wanted to bring together his band of re-inventors from all around the nation. His small "Rego" staff needed help mounting such a gathering. So a small group from Syracuse University, the Council for Excellence in Government and Government Executive magazine in the fall of 1995 offered to help design the conference. The first event held March 25 - 27, 1996, was titled "The Reinvention Revolution: Reports from the Federal Front Lines." With the Vice President headlining a great list of speakers, it drew some 600 attendees from every corner of government.

The conference operated under the "Reinvention Revolution" rubric for three years. Then, conference leaders decided that to broaden the event's appeal, and to separate it from the gathering Gore presidential bid, the name should be changed to "Excellence in Government." At this point too, the long-running Federal Quality Conference sponsored by the Office of Personnel Management decided to fold its tent. Elements of that conference, including presentation of the President's Quality Awards, were taken into the EIG fold. By this time, EIG had attracted support from nonprofit and government organizations, whose leaders served as co-hosts or the event.

With the election of George W. Bush in 2000, the conference reached out to the new administration asking its leaders to explain the first MBA President's management philosophy to its audience of leaders in the career civil service. White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, Secretaries Norman Mineta, Rod Paige, Tommy Thompson and Anthony Principi, and a host of subcabinet officials have participated during the past three years. Conference speakers have also included prominent authors and other thought leaders from academia, the non-profit sector and corporate America.

Excellence in Government remains the premier conference for federal managers.