MD Government Conference To Focus On Safety, Commerce… and POKÉMON?

John Matthews
WMAL.com

OCEAN CITY, MD – (WMAL) An estimated 2,000 local government officials are meeting in Ocean City this week for the annual Maryland Association of Counties Conference, where several panel discussions have been scheduled, dealing with public safety, education and the like.

And then there’s Pokemon.

“We try to keep things timely and relevant,” says Association Executive Director Michael Sanderson. “Pokemon Go is a craze right now, but it’s created some real issues for the public sector.”

Sanderson says Pokemon game players are now showing up in all kinds of public places, looking for creatures in spots that have never seen heavy foot traffic before.

“We have sensitive areas, like water treatment facilities or courthouses or sensitive places like that,” he says. “It’s a whole new dimension if you have citizens who are suddenly walking around to new places, or if they’re driving around while distracted. All of those things have a public dimension to them.”

Sanderson says he expects a lively discussion.

“What do those issues mean for your county’s liability, public safety and for your parks? There are a lot of questions there to be answered,” says Sanderson.

Pokemon Go has been received as a pest in some circles, as property owners chase away fanatics using their smart phones to chase down phantom monsters, but Sanderson says in some cases, counties are looking to capitalize on the app’s popularity.

“There’s a great deal of consumer enthusiasm for this as a trend or a fad or whatever. If your county can leverage that, and say ‘If you’re out walking the trails in search of rare Pokemon, come by our county park,’ and use that as an opportunity to get folks in and connect to them with a public service, that’s a way to make some lemonade out of this.”