I really do try to steer clear of the pure politics of public policy issues but it’s impossible to ignore the Valentine’s Day massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the gutsy response of the #NeverAgain surviving students and now the blowback of people demonizing those courageous,articulate kids online and in traditional media. And I’ll admit… read more →
Digital communication has truly transformed public participation but it’s not an automatic or comprehensive solution to working with the public. It does not solve everything. Thus, it is important to choose your digital tools wisely in order to promote the collaborative process. What’s In Your Toolbox? When I look at my digital toolbox I think… read more →
Dear Valued Associate, Being glued to your television (or other device) watching the hot curling finals can be exhausting and I thought you might need a break – so here it is. Here’s hoping that you stick all of your Salchows and Lutzs this month. Stay curious, Godec Expert Facilitation OK, let’s just say really… read more →
OK, so this may not be the most politically correct headline for a blog today, but I will stand by it. For over 20 years, before cell phones made the effort moot, Ma Bell and later AT&T used this slogan to get people to call long distance. It turns out to be more than just… read more →
Dear Valued Associate, Well…2018 is off to a rousing start. I considered beginning this newsletter with a thought about the #METOO movement, or the release and repercussions of Fire and Fury, or maybe a climate change comparison of Sydney’s recent 47.3°C (117°F, the hottest in 79 years) to the northeastern U.S. and Canadian deep freeze “bomb… read more →
Meeting facilitation can be a complex art and science when the issues themselves are comparably complex. As we teach in our meeting facilitation training, learning to do meeting facilitation well requires paying attention to nuances, one of which is getting the right people in the room. The room, of course, can be either physical or… read more →
Dear Valued Associate, At a time and in a world that seems filled with vultures and thieves, it shouldn’t be surprising that Complicit is Dictionary.com’s word of the year. People should be concerned – and people need to stay involved, especially when just ‘checking out’ feels like the better thing to do. Our democratic survival and sanity requires… read more →
Dear Valued Associate, Imagine how it would feel if people actually appreciated the work that you do. Can you picture what it would be like to get up every morning and head off to work knowing that citizens respected your organization and its mission, your profession and expertise, and the effort that you put into public… read more →
Dictionary definitions of conflict vary with the dictionary, some including references to war to others that reference the more mundane incompatibility. Conflict resolution and dispute resolution are often used interchangeably, but disputes are more typically defined as something a little less serious than conflicts, or at least something that’s more short term and more easily… read more →
It was that first night, after a few hundred public meeting attendees started hollering at me about the things they were scared of or mad about, that I became very seriously interested in risk communication. I was barely aware of the term prior to then and only a select few academics were researching, writing about,… read more →