[applause] now, you'll notice in your program that we were supposed to be joined today by james mitchell, the president of the flacial league of cities, but for reasons of business, he was not able to get out to california from charlotte where he serves as a council member. james is a great guy, a strong proponent of california cities, and i know he passes on his best wishes for us all. now, turning our attention to the annual conference, the reason why we're all here in this great city. let's focus on what's ahead for the conference this week. the program is designed to provide you with information and resources that you can take back to your cities and put directly into action. we are here in san francisco to learn from the experts and each other over the course of the conference. both the on-site program and the conference-at-a-glance page you received at registration will help you navigate the sessions, meetings and events. look for an expo map to identify the 240 companies exhibiting in this year's expo. i know you won't want to miss the expo tomorrow and friday where you'll find ma