It is with the utmost sadness that we must tell you Debra Duerr, our managing partner, our colleague, and our close friend, passed away in April after a sudden and brief illness. Debra was an urban planner by education and an environmental planner throughout most of her 40-plus year career. Debra was passionate about providing… read more →
We know a lot of introverts. You might be one. Many of the gifted people that we work with tend to be … a bit on the less-than-social side. Interestingly, many of the people who work with the public, like my partners and I, are often actually pretty introverted. I learned only recently that there… read more →
One of the behavioral strategies that we talk about to help angry people become less angry and to rebuild trust is hard and counterintuitive for most experts but truly effective. It’s called dilemma sharing. Bring people in to see the challenges that you’re facing before you try to solve them. Read More
I think we’ve reached the point where it’s pointless to waste time debating whether or not most people have lost faith in institutions and experts. They have. We have. Public engagement will be key for those institutions and experts to re-earn some semblance of credibility, which we all need if we hope to hand off… read more →
I talked to a colleague recently who told me that the public agency she’s working with has now decided that from now on, all public meetings and interactions shall indeed only be done virtually, by Zoom. It’s worked well enough for them over the past several months, it’s easier and cheap for them to do,… read more →
The world is finally talking about unconscious bias. About time. It’s an idea that’s hard for a lot of folks to get their heads around, but why is it and what is it that predisposes seemingly intelligent people to fear or hate others that simply don’t … look … like … them. How do we… read more →
Although I consider myself quite expert when it comes to bars, sidebars are different. This article is related to the previous piece about why relying solely on Zoom meetings and online encounters don’t make for the most useful relationships. Read More
This has nothing to do with anything we usually write and talk about, but you could use a break and distraction. So, from the neuroscience college of rock and roll knowledge, consider the following and send me your fave playlist. Read More
Zoom and any of the several other video conferencing platforms that we’re all are using these days has saved our bacon in the past year. I can’t imagine what life might have been like without these platforms. But, as we (in The Participation Company) can attest, Zoom fatigue is really real. We keep learning and… read more →
Giving the governed access to their government is a critical part of authentic, effective public involvement. But engagement can’t be just a zero-sum numbers game. It’s about bringing people in to learn, weigh, consider, discuss and really contribute to the best decisions for everyone’s collective interests. Online and video engagement is the game changer that… read more →