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. See here for more details and registration. Early registration discount available before 4/16/10!

NCI has been planning and coordinating a new series of webinars for easy access to up-to-date charrette applications and tools. We are pleased to announce our schedule for 2010 in which we connect you directly with experts to learn about their latest charrette work. Sign up today for our first webinar on public agencies running their own charrettes. More details on each webinar can be found on our website.

• 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 15, 2010, 10 am PDT
• Charrettes and Sustainable Urbanism – November 3, 2010, 10 am PDT
• High-tech, High-touch Charrettes with a Focus on Social Media – Date TBA

Excerpted from the NCI 2005 Best Practices Report
By Jennifer K. Lindbom, AICP

“If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.” - Henry Ford

The places and spaces we seek to create as architects, planners, and design professionals exist for the people that inhabit, work in, transit through, or enjoy them. It is therefore imperative that plans reflect people’s aspirations for their community, incorporate local ideas and solutions, and build the support needed to turn plans into reality. Public involvement is critical to achieving these objectives and is viewed as a key component of a successful charrette. The next time you plan your charrette, keep these five points in mind.

1. Only do it if there is commitment to implement results.
This relates to both results of individual charrette activities and to results of the entire process being undertaken. Involving the public builds the expectation that input received will be incorporated into plans and that there is, indeed, the intention of implementing a plan or project. If the organization you are working with is not committed from the outset to implementing the plan, you risk comprising your credibility and the public’s trust in your effort or future planning initiatives.

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…

One thing is for sure- the term is broadly used to describe everything from a small afternoon design session to a week-long community-wide event. How does NCI define a charrette? It is more than just a collaborative design event- it is the transformative phase of NCI Charrette System™. Now here’s a chance to hear it described by NCI’s Executive Director, Bill Lennertz. Look for Bill’s full interview on the NCI Charrette System™ in the near future. Video Credit: HDR, Inc.

February 19, 2010
9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. PST

White Stag Block
70 NW Couch St.
Portland, OR

Remote live webcast also available

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.

Moderators

Tina Osterink, Natural Resources Planner, City of Gresham
Bill Lennertz, Executive Director, National Charrette Institute

Speakers

Jamie Beckland, Emerging Media Manager, Whitehorse
Jane Heisler, Communications Director, City of Lake Oswego
Bill Lennertz, Executive Director, National Charrette Institute
Laura Bridges-Sheppard, Communications Manager, City of Gresham
Julia Thompson, City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability

Cost

OAPA: $75,  Non-members: $100, Students and Planning Commissioners: $45
Register by February 12, no refunds after February 8. Remote webcast password available at registration. Register and pay online at http://www.oregonapa.org/EventInfo2/
Mailing a check? OAPA at PO Box 3674, Wilsonville, OR 97070

AICP continuing education credits available

A joint presentation of the Oregon APA and the National Charrette Institute

Additional Information

Tina Osterink at 503-740-7285,  tina.osterink@greshamoregon.gov
Bill Lennertz at 503-233-8486, bill@charretteinstitute.org

Register for the NCI Charrette System™ Certificate and/or the NCI Charrette Management and Facilitation™ Certificate training before 2/12/10 and save. Additional discounts are available for non-profits, CNU members, OR/WA APA members and others.

Adding a NCI certificate to your credentials can improve your competitive advantage. Become a member of the select group of only 300 people who will earn a NCI certificate this year. As a participant in a NCI course you will join 31 other experienced professionals working intensively on hands-on case study exercises.

This March in Portland is one of only three opportunities this year to attend both of these valuable trainings. Sign up for these intensive, hands-on workshops and learn how to plan and manage projects using the proven NCI Charrette System™. With an uncertain economy and abounding political conflicts, the NCI Charrette System™ is more relevant and needed than ever. Learn more and register now to save.

Steve Coyle, NCI’s board member, will be apart of the interactive workshop, Shifting Attitudes on Sustainability and Climate Change: Civic Engagement Strategies for Individual and Community Action, February 5, 3:30-5:30pm. See the conference program for more details.

Register for the NCI Charrette System™ Certificate and/or the NCI Charrette Management and Facilitation™ Certificate training before 2/12/10 and save. Additional discounts are available for non-profits, CNU members, OR/WA APA members and others.

With an uncertain economy and abounding political conflicts, the NCI Charrette System™ is more relevant and needed than ever. This March in Portland is one of only three opportunities this year to attend both of these valuable trainings. Sign up for these intensive, hands-on workshops and learn how to plan and manage projects using the proven NCI Charrette System™. You will walk away with the tools needed to plan and manage a collaborative multiple-day charrette in addition to increasing your competitive advantage by adding NCI certificates to your credentials. Learn more now.

• NCI Charrette System™ Certificate - March 8-10
• NCI Charrette Management and Facilitation™ Certificate - March 11-12

Earn 27 AICP, AIA or ASLA credits for the full week of training.

NCI recently had a chat with PR expert Ben Brown about working with social media in public projects and found his following advice and insights valuable.

Ben recommends that if there is a hot political climate surrounding your plan, perhaps you should avoid starting your own project blog. Rather, do some homework to seek out the most influential bloggers in the community and try plugging into their activity. Treat them as you would the press; build a relationship based on respect and transparency. Provide them with information that relates to their interests, helping them as they report on the project. For instance, provide a bike advocacy blog with research and facts about the street and pathway design elements of the project.

The lesson is that even though social media sounds like a game-changing opponent to traditional media, the same rules apply. Focus on building relationships. If bloggers don’t have accurate, up- to- date information on a project there is no way they can accurately represent it. If you treat people with honesty and with respect they are more likely to provide a fair view of your project. As what can happen with the press and stakeholders in general, if you ignore people and don’t invite them to the party, they are likely to become cynical.

Other thoughts and experiences on working with established bloggers in the context of your projects? Give us your feedback in the comments…

NCI completed a Charrette System training for the City of Memphis Planning Department this month. Memphis staff are planning to conduct their own charrettes. NCI has also trained Baltimore County, Fayetteville and Birmingham for the same purpose. NCI faculty David Brain, and participants reported that the course went great and that Memphis does indeed have a great music scene.