.png?width=400&height=79&name=TechTables%20Communities%20Local%20Govt-Landing%20Page%20(logo).png "TechTables CIO Communities for Local Government")
Join us at our next retreat April 1st-3rd in San Antonio, TX
The Exclusive Peer Group for
Local Government CIOs
A peer group for 15 city and county CIOs navigating council politics, budget battles, security theater, legacy disasters.
Retreat Chair: Craig Hopkins, CIO, City of San Antonio
Facilitated by: Executive Partners at Info-Tech & Gartner
Two Goals:
Education and Connection
Meet your cohort face-to-face in member cities—not conference centers. We kick-off with our retreat Chair, Craig Hopkins in San Antonio in April 2026.
Facilitated by former CIOs and now Executive Partners at Info-Tech Research Group (Spring 2026) and Gartner (Fall 2026).
Deep dialogue, real relationships, vendor-free conversations. Vendors sponsor meals only—never in the room.
This has become one of the most requested parts of our retreats: connect with peers who actually understand the pressure you're under.
How often are you in a room where you can talk openly about what you're really dealing with? When your deputy gets fired, your city manager gets fired, and you're trying to avoid collateral damage. The cybersecurity theater. The council politics. The legacy ERP disaster that's years behind and millions over budget.
What happens in TechTables stays in TechTables. No public record. No vendors listening. No career consequences.
Small-group sessions designed to help you trade war stories, get unstuck on political landmines, and remember you're not the only one holding impossible situations together on a government budget.
Plus it just feels good to talk to people who get what you do for a living.
Expert-facilitated roundtables—not webinars where you're talked at. Ask the questions you actually have about cybersecurity, AI strategy, budget battles, and governance.
This entire experience is designed to connect you with peers you'll keep in your circle long after it's over. The kind of CIOs you can text mid-crisis for a sanity check, call to talk strategy, or grab dinner with next time you're in their city.
The CIOs you meet here are the ones who'll help you solve your next big problem, land your next role, or just remind you you're not doing this alone.
Retreat Chair: Craig Hopkins, CIO, City of San Antonio
Facilitated by: Executive Partners at Info-Tech & Gartner
APRIL 1st-3rd, 2026 - San antonio, tx
Agenda
Join us in San Antonio for our Spring 2026 TechTables Community Retreat — a two-night, in-person gathering designed for high-caliber local government CIOs.
The retreat is focused on real accountability, genuine camaraderie, and growth that benefits your organization — all off-the-record and vendor-free.
Get the Full Agenda (PDF) below
View the Online Agenda
Hotel check-in
Advisory Board Dinner
Community Building
From Firefighter to Innovator: The IT Maturity Ladder in Local Government
Break
Grant Money Gone, Org Chart Wrong: Making Shared Services Actually Work
Catered Roundtable Lunch
AI Slop, When Will It Stop: How to Ignore The Garbage And Find The Value
Walk to Happy hour
Happy Hour
Security Theater: Hackers Don't Care About Your Compliance Checkboxes
Fall Retreat Planning
Investment for Membership
As a member of the TechTables Communities for Local Government, you'll get access to...
Annual Membership
Designed for CIOs who value trust, candor, and real peer accountability — not vendor-funded programming.
Applications are reviewed to ensure you're a good fit.
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Two Annual In-Person Retreats (2-night hotel stay included)
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Four Quarterly Virtual Roundtables (Strategy sessions with your 'board of advisors')
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CIO Therapy Breakout Sessions (Off-the-record dialogue about council politics, budget battles, and legacy disasters)
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Peer-Led Workshops (Expert roundtables on cybersecurity, AI strategy, and governance—no vendor partners)
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Vetted CIO Community (15 city and county technology leaders)
Questions & Answers
About Me
What started as The Public Sector Show by TechTables (the podcast) evolved into something CIOs kept asking for: a place to talk honestly without vendors listening.
Joe now builds exclusive communities where local government, higher education, and state agency CIOs can have off-the-record conversations about council politics, security theater, AI slop, and what actually keeps them up at night.
TechTables Communities brings together cohorts of 15-20 CIOs for in-person retreats and curated peer dialogue.
The podcast continues as the front door—introducing CIOs to the authentic conversation that happens inside.
Joe coaches boys' basketball at Dos Pueblos High School and lives in Santa Barbara, California with his wife Jamie, their daughter Anabelle, and their son Jack.
