====== Topic Name ====== Engaging the Chronic Non-Participators (How to increase participation in community processes?) ====== Participants ====== * Deb Perry * Jon Eddy * Chad Giesinger * Camille Pattison * Ann Golob * Jude Hersey * David Brooks * Neil Curtis * Sandra Gillis * Charlotte Weber * Kerry Diers * Kindon Miek * Brett Morrison * Noelle McKay * Faith Ingulsrud * Rebecca Sanborn Stone ====== Big Idea ====== ====== Notes ====== **General Ideas:** * Turnout only big with huge subdivision proposals, controversial events, etc. * Youth, newcomers, etc. common groups that don't participate. * Typical methods like newsletters, postcard mailings may not solicit much response. * Planners should do some work on educating the public on community planning, since many people don't understand the need to come out (invitations are self-selective). * Look at tactics of opposition groups, business people. * People don't always know why we are trying to get them, in particular, or what they have to contribute. * People often participate because they are honored to be invited by a certain person. * Tap into the people who have potential for leadership, but who don't participate on their own. * Reverse relationship - go out into community and go to people instead of asking them to come to us. * Use experts from fields of marketing response, survey analysis that have huge consequences for the type of response. * Using kids makes kids more involved and makes parents more likely to participate. * Guilt works on a personal level (i.e. kids quilting parents into participating), but not on a societal level. * Do the research to find out who is not participating, why not, and where they are - then go to them. * Work with structure of schools and other systems - give kids credit for participating, joining programs. * Find the go-to people in every social institution and work with them. * Schools are one of the only places where there are representative samples. * Have important organizations ensure participation from their members. * The more exciting the meetings are, the more people will turn out for future meetings - need to build momentum. **Specific Strategies:** * Come out with a proposal that people will hate, which forces them to come out and speak up against it. * Ask people to come with solutions rather than problems, and come with prioritized list. * PR and marketing programs for planning and community initiatives will make people more interested and aware. * Use gimmicks - tricks like car salesmen use to get people to sales, etc. - celebrities, door prizes, good coffee and food. * Have a way to participate that doesn't require people to get a babysitter and make a huge commitment. * Create notices in a language that people understand (people may not understand what zoning even is). * Make sure people can get a basic education on the topic in question. * Document effects of processes and outreach steps so that people know what they are getting into. * Utilize boards to help with outreach (write it into their job descriptions). * Offer people babysitting, free rides to the meetings, or anything to help make it easier to participate. * Bring in key community leaders and have them nominate other people to participate - act of nomination is an honor. * Do individual stakeholder meetings with people - call the ones too busy to participate. * Identify every stakeholder interest you can and then be sure to go to all of those groups. * Go through respected leaders in sub-communities - use them to actually get the feedback from their constituents. * Personally invite people who should be participating. * More aggressive civic education for young people to convince them to participate in meetings. * Shouldn't be a meeting that we are trying to get people to come to, but get people involved digitally or in other ways. * Run a photography contest, or something fun to get people to start thinking about community. * Use Survey Monkey, or other cheap, online survey tools to help get feedback; put survey links onto utility bills, through chamber of commerce, youth organizations, school newsletters, etc. * Translate into other languages, etc. to reach all groups. * Get kids to lead the parents - if they ask parents to participate, parents more likely to get involved. * Triangulate methods - post in as many places as possible and use as many communications methods as possible. * Go to the town dump on Saturday, or wherever people most likely congregate. * Make meetings kid-friendly and then use the work of the kids at the meeting. * Use art as a way to engage people. * SCA is offering competition for next great conservation project - running competitions brings in a lot of ideas. * Be sure to have responsible and prompt follow-up, don't leave big gaps or leave things hanging. * Use humor to attract people. * Good facilitator is critical to making a meeting fun and enjoyable to sit through - or team of facilitators to help cover all bases. * Have continuity in staff, facilitators throughout to make sure there is institutional memory. * Use technology like keypad polling to capture everyone's vote and make sure the loudmouths don't take over (Turning Point Technology or Option Power). * Keep track of time, show an agenda on screen, and stick to time limits. * Provide babysitting or rides. * Intercept surveys - ask anybody who walks by a coffee ship. * Focus on the affirmative, pick low hanging fruit, and celebrate progress; focus on tangible, manageable steps. * Respect people's time and use it well. **Challenges:** * Hard that planning requires so much face time, and so much time in general. * Find out why people stop coming to meetings when they do. * Lag on follow-up and process communication. * Problem people (the ones who like to rant and contribute to conflict) can turn other people off. * How to get people who won't answer phones, won't talk to you if you approach their house, etc.? * People are jaded - they've experienced not being listened to and don't want to participate again. **Examples:** * Hillsboro 2020 Plan (Oregon) - good broad participation. * Manteo, North Carolina - involved whole community in rebuilding boardwalks. * Raleigh, NC - redoing transit system; met with community groups and had them draw vision for community with markers and crayons; group was so excited that more and more people kept coming each time. * Swamp Gravy Institute - used community theater and storytelling to revitalize whole community and get participation. * Portsmouth Listens of Portsmouth, New Hampshire -- Used a dialogue-based community change process (a.k.a. study circles) to involve more than 200 people in its 10-year master plan. The community now refers to the master plan on all development plans and sustainability efforts. Learn more at www.portsmouthlistens.org. ====== Next Actions ======