Civil, open minded conversations feel like relics of days gone by. People are welded to positions, opinions and beliefs in ways that are more steadfast and strident than in the past. The work that we all do is typically about pushing beyond just those hard and fast postures to explore ...
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It’s sometimes tough to get people to take communication very seriously. I mean, everybody communicates – you’re always communicating something whether you think you are or not – and professionals assume they’re communicating well even when they aren’t. The question comes up a lot in relation to authentic public engagement, ...
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The public involvement meeting world has changed. The days of packing school cafeterias with people stuffed together into folding chairs munching cookies is gone for the immediate future. But life does go on and our engagement goes on online. Here are some helpful tips. Read more...
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Excessive police violence, particularly against Black people, is now part of the national conversation and it’s needed to be. A buddy of mine – a 25-year veteran Wisconsin cop (retired) – sent me a copy of the Training and Standards document that spells out the Use-of-Force Continuum taught to law ...
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Although this was written for a slightly different purpose, it will suffice for whatever message you’re working on right now. So, say exactly what’s necessary and no more, provide evidence, and make it relevant to the receiver. Period. Read more...
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At the risk of offending redheads (please send your comments and death threats to Doug at [email protected]), I must point out that probably the least considered and prioritized core value of authentic public participation is IAP2’s #7: Public participation communicates to participants how their input affected the decision. It’s the ...
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The death of George Floyd launched a rocket under the seven-year-old Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and nothing suggests it will fade from public consciousness anytime soon. But at some point we’ll need to decide what happens beyond just the protests. More than a year ago, Charlotte and Mecklenburg County ...
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With due respect to the previous article and its suggestions for convincing people to mask up, most people don’t understand numbers very well. People who routinely work with numbers like numbers a lot, but for most other people, numbers need to be explained in context and with relevance. Data and ...
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Our managing pardner Debra Duerr has some personal thoughts on the role of a citizen.
Those of us in the public participation business will always remember the citizen activist we met
on every project – the person with boundless energy who resisted, shouted, provoked, forced a different way of thinking, ...
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There’s an old saying that You do not need a parachute to skydive, you only need a parachute to skydive twice, which I think relates nicely to the face mask debate. Science says wearing face masks in public will prevent a lot of coronavirus illness and death and many of ...
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