image of Brennan MatherneWelcome to the National Information Officers Association!

The NIOA is an organization of spokespersons and communicators dedicated to getting the right information to the right people at the right time. We are passionate about the communities in which we serve, and we strive to better ourselves to in order to better serve our communities and agencies alike. It’s this passion that exemplifies our organization as a premiere venue for training and networking in the field of information gathering and dissemination.

Our annual training conference is held annually during the final week of August. It features presentations from some of the most high-profile incidents of the past year, as well as the hottest topics in the world of government communicators. While the annual conference provides incredible insight and knowledge from lessons learned, it is YOU – our members – that make this a dynamic training experience. The conference provides plenty of opportunities to meet and greet other members throughout the country whom you may one day rely on when you find yourself in the midst of a major incident.

Outside of the conference, throughout the year, the NIOA newsletter is another opportunity for you to keep up with the latest in our field. The newsletter allows you to keep up on the latest trends and topics outside our annual training conference. It also provides a venue for you to share your experience and knowledge with the entire organization! We all have some experience that can help our colleagues. To that end, I challenge each of you to write an article for the newsletter at some point over the next year.

In the past year, we launched the NIOA Facebook Group to provide our members unfiltered access to the entire NIOA community. By posting to the group, you can now rely on feedback from hundreds of PIOs throughout the country! So, even if you can’t get enough feedback from conference presenters, attendees, or newsletter articles, this opens up access to all members to provide you with the information you need to help you in any situation.

The 2017 training conference in Clearwater, Florida, was another great success and one of our biggest ever! Your NIOA Executive Board is preparing for the 2018 conference, and we are dedicated to bringing you an unparalleled experience each and every year. On that note, we ask you to send us suggestions on the presentations you would like to see in 2018.

Until we meet again in Clearwater in 2018, my message to you is to never stop training and never stop networking. It is an incredible honor to serve as your NIOA President while representing the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office, and I cherish the opportunity to serve and represent you and our incredible organization.

Sincerely,
Matherne signature
Brennan Matherne
President