This time last week I launched The Hello Pledge. It’s shaping up to be the little initiative that could. Over the past week I’ve experienced the following: Several people have come up to me to say a very intentional “Hello [...]
Drum roll please…. (just play one in your head)… Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Hello Pledge. Ta Da! This week’s blog will be short and sweet as all I want to share is the Hello Pledge. After a few [...]
I live in a small town, the kind of place where people usually say hello — to friends, strangers, dogs, bears (cautiously) — to whomever or whatever passes you on the street. I also spend a lot of time in [...]
Community discussion, connection and engagement are essential to building a healthy community. And sharing your voice helps local government and other community service agencies understand your concerns, giving them an opportunity to consider your ideas and respond accordingly. However, there [...]
Last week the Vancouver Foundation released a report called “Connections and Engagement” (find it here), the results of a survey of almost 4,000 people in the Metro Vancouver region. The survey asked people questions about their sense of connection — [...]
“From Good to Great” has been a common business term ever since Jim Collins wrote his business development book back in 2001. But the idea of going from good to great isn’t just for building companies and expanding markets. Going [...]
Good planning can set the tone and the stage for respectful and productive consultation. Here are 10 simple tips that help establish a positive connection with community members and stakeholders, from planning through to follow-up. 1. Understand Why. Clearly understand [...]
In the days before mass media, social technologies, the Internet and Twitter, everyone in town would turn out for the town hall meeting. It wasn’t called “community engagement” or “public consultation”. It was called a town meeting. And folks showed [...]
When the potential for trouble arises do you take a “wait and see” approach or do you get ahead of it in an attempt to cut problems off at the pass? Trouble could be anything that puts you or your [...]
The truth hasn’t gone anywhere, it’s just very hard to see, hidden behind the “truthiness”, “spin” and lies that make up so much of the information we consume daily. According to The New York Times, we humans now process close [...]