The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) GA2009 is over. And while the deconstruct has yet to begin in earnest, one thing appears abundantly clear – the past several days has been a win-win for their new leadership team. The word comes not only from the media, but from the many attendees – engaging in the ever-present hallway and bar conversations, the hallmark at almost every significant Jewish conference. New this year, we also heard from Twitter – which brought us a running dialogue of the latest news and commentary on what was happening in the nation’s capital.

Here’s a sampling from today’s Web.

from The Jerusalem Post:

New sense of urgency emerges at GA

Taking cues from his retail past, Jerry Silverman, the new head of the Jewish Federations of North America, brought a secret weapon to this year’s General Assembly gathering in Washington: mystery shoppers.

With an eye to reimagining – and improving – the annual gathering of Jewish leaders, Silverman dispatched half a dozen individuals who quietly mingled among conference attendees to gauge their satisfaction and glean fresh ideas.

… Silverman told The Jerusalem Post. “Information creates knowledge. We believe that we have an opportunity to really evolve and grow the GA significantly over the next couple of years and so we want to do it based on real data points, real feedback and information.”

from The Jewish Week:

Federation Head Cautions Against ‘Either-Or’ Approach

an excellent synopsis of the recent GA by Jewish Week editor and publisher Gary Rosenblatt

from UJ Thee and Me:

GA 2009

I dropped in on the General Assembly on Monday – and I was impressed.

image: Robert A. Cumins/Jewish Federations of North America