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On October 22, 2011, the second annual Neighborhood Best Practices Conference was held at Columbus Downtown High School, hosted by the City of Columbus Community Relations Commission and United Way of Central Ohio. The event was a tremendous success, with 230 people attending, which far exceeded last year's attendance of 125. More than 40 neighborhood groups were represented. The goal of the conference was to promote productive communication and collaboration between neighborhood groups, community partners and local government. Community leaders gathered and discussed ideas that have been proven to make a difference. The guest speaker this year was SCLC Rosa Parks award winner, Reverend Damon Lynch. He has conducted workshops and seminars nationally and internationally on the Asset-Based Community Development approach to problem solving and development. The 16 workshops offered covered a wide range of topics including: community safety, educational gardening programs for children, youth leadership programs against bullying, and faith-based leadership. There was also great participation from local elected leaders including Mayor Michael Coleman, County Treasurer Edward Leonard, Columbus City Council Members Herschel Craig, Eileen Paley, who was a workshop presenter, Zac Klein, A. Troy Miller, and Michelle Mills.