June 2, 2010, 10 am PDT (1 pm EDT)
This webinar is the quickest, most economical way to understand the NCI Charrette System™ as taught in our certificate programs. NCI faculty Bill Lennertz and David Brain will describe the three phases and over 45 tools that comprise the NCI Charrette System™. This webinar first covers the extensive Research, Education and Charrette Preparation phase focusing on stakeholder analysis and outreach, base data preparation and charrette logistics. Next, the day-by-day flow of a charrette is explained by use of a recent case study. Wrapping up is a discussion on how to avoid post-charrette meltdown through the tools of the Project Implementation phase. Learn the time-tested NCI framework for planning for a successful charrette. Learn more and register today.

HUD will soon issue a NOFA under the Sustainable Communities Partnership. The Partnership has identified capacity building for federal agencies and grant recipients in its list of priorities. NCI’s new project consulting program builds local capacity in collaborative planning through on-the-job training. Please e-mail us for more information.

Avoiding Project Failure Due to Inaccurate Stakeholder Information

When an opposition group moves in after a charrette and undermines project implementation it is usually because the project team either was unaware of their existence or did not fully understand their true position. One powerful method for verifying information is to conduct confidential stakeholder interviews.

Confidential interviews conducted by a neutral/third party charrette team uncover information that people might not share in a public forum and that local staff cannot possibly know because of their closeness to the project and their history with the area and the people. Through these interviews, the charrette team can find out what people are really thinking and doing. They almost always prove to be an invaluable source of information and give the team a clear understanding of the political and social context for the charrette.

Confidential interviews should not be confused with “exclusive closed door” meetings. No decisions are being made in these meetings, they are solely information-gathering exercises. Although they are initiated by invitation, anyone, upon request, can and should be included. Remember that the charrette is a collaborative process wherein all participants’ needs are addressed. All participants should feel satisfied with their level of involvement. The confidential interview is just one outreach method of many employed by the charrette team.

To be effective, the interviews should be held by non-client members of the project team only. Interviews are held in a neutral location such as a hotel. During a single day, three interview teams can talk to up to 90 people in well-orchestrated 50-minute group sessions. Each team should include an interviewer and a recorder who captures all comments. Information gained from these interviews is then made available to the client and to the public without attributing the source. Participants often leave the interviews happy that they were able to speak their mind and deliver crucial information to the team. They also come away impressed with the professional manner in which the interviews were conducted. Most importantly, they may now consider participating in the charrette.

This article was excerpted from the NCI 2005 Best Practices Report. Best Practices Reports are available only to NCI members. To get your copy of the NCI 2009 Best Practices Report that focuses on sustainable community charrettes, become a NCI member today.

Facebook, Twitter, Blogs! What to do?
Social Media for Public Involvement Workshop
Online video of the full 3.5-hour workshop and speaker presentations in PDF format.

This workshop, originally presented 2/19/10, is a joint presentation of the Oregon APA and the National Charrette Institute.

Social media is a powerful tool for planners to stay connected with the community at large. However, municipal and professional planners are just starting to embrace how sites such as Facebook and Twitter can advance civic engagement and affect public policy. How do you maximize social media and avoid unforeseen meltdowns?

The workshop will explore the following questions:

• How do you create and manage an outreach strategy using social media?
• How do you write for social media?
• What is appropriate content for social media messaging?
• Who monitors, maintains and manages social media online?

Session Activities

• Presentations from local Portland-Metro area cities describing the challenges and opportunities of applying social media tools at the municipal level.
• Survey of the national scene by the National Charrette Institute.
• Hands-on demonstration of the latest planning software allowing remote polling and data gathering using mobile phones and computers.

NCI is pleased to offer the following webinars for 2010. We are partnering with a range of experts on each topic to bring you fresh perspectives on these current issues. Learn more and sign up for our first webinar here.

• Public Agencies Running their own Charrettes: How to gain community trust while saving time and money — May 5, 2010, 10 am PDT
• Charrettes for Form Based Codes — September
• Charrettes and Sustainable Urbanism — November
• High-tech, High-touch Charrettes with a Focus on Social Media — February

For the first time ever, NCI is offering our full week of certificate trainings on the East Coast. You can take the NCI Charrette System™ Certificate and NCI Charrette Management and Facilitation™ Certificate trainings this June 7-11 in downtown Washington, DC. More details and registration. Early registration discount ends 4/16/10!

Bruce VanHoy, from Town Point Development took the NCI Charrette System Certificate training in January 2008.  He was apart of this award winning project.

Excerpted from the NCI 2005 Best Practices Report
By Keith Covington, Principal
Third Coast Design Studio

Some of the toughest people to deal with during a planning process are those who did not attend the charrette. In the public sector, we have tried just about every method to notify and encourage people to attend. After all, participation is critical to the success of the plan…

This article was excerpted from the NCI 2005 Best Practices Report. Best Practices Reports are available only to NCI members. To get your copy of the NCI 2009 Best Practices Report that focuses on sustainable community charrettes, become a NCI member today.

Continue reading this article…

Join NCI and PlaceMatters at the annual APA conference in New Orleans is this weekend, April 10-13th.  Bill Lennertz, NCI Executive Director, and Ken Snyder and team from PlaceMatters will present a session on Charrettes and Social Media from 1-5pm on Saturday 4/10 in MCC R05.

See the iPad in action! Learn to use the iPad, cell phones, social networking, online tools, and location technology to increase the effectiveness of public involvement and charrettes for transforming communities. Explore how high-tech tools improve decision making and participation. Gain hands-on experience using a touch table, electronic white board, and the anyWare Planning™ toolkit for brainstorming and prioritizing ideas with a simulated public workshop exercise. This workshop is suitable for new and mid-level planners.

For more information on this session and the APA conference click here.