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Tools to help you prepare for and conduct a Community Visioning Meeting
Preparation Tips for Visioning Meeting TIP Create a flier that contains the answer to the five “Ws.” What: Name of the meeting, type of meeting, what the meeting is about. Who: Who is invited, and who is sponsoring and facilitating the meeting. When: The date and time (beginning and ending) of the meeting. Where: Precise location (town, building, address and room number) of the meeting. Why: Your reasons for having the meeting. TIP After training the Community Partner Team on how to conduct a Community Visioning Meeting, have each member personally invite 10 to 15 people, including family, friends, colleagues and other members from their sector. Give each person invited a flier about the meeting. Each invitee should be encouraged to bring at least one friend to the meeting. TIP Each Community Partner Team member should give the team leader a list with the names and addresses of his or her invitees. Over the signature of each Community Partner Team member, a letter should be sent, roughly 10 to 14 days prior to the meeting, reminding them of the meeting. The process is dependent on having a lot of citizens available to participate. People will participate in public processes when they are personally invited by someone that they know is involved. Therefore, each of the Community Partner Team members should invite people to participate in the visioning meeting. A sample invitation letter is enclosed at the end of this chapter. Who should be invited? The invitees should be people involved in the activities of the particular sector for which the Community Partner Team member represents. They should reflect the age, gender, income and racial diversity of the community as a whole. As an example, a general list of “typically invited” positions for each of the sectors represented has been included at the end of this chapter. This list is by no means exhaustive. Community Partner Team members know their sector better than anyone else; they should invite those they think will contribute through participation. TIP Approximately two weeks before the meeting date, provide the newspapers, radio stations and local organization newsletters with press releases regarding the meeting. Be mindful of and account for deadlines. For newspapers, make certain you have a press release in the last edition before the date of the meeting. See the sample press release that follows. TIP Community Partner Team members should post flyers in public places at least two weeks prior to the meeting. TIP Seven to 10 days prior to the meeting, the team leader should mail a flier and invitational letter to all the stakeholders. TIP The Community Partner Team members should promote the meeting at as many civic, professional, service and social group functions as possible. Hand out flyers if possible. TIP Encourage local radio stations to run advertisements for the meeting as public service announcements. A sample radio spot is included for your use. Sample Ideas of Who to Invite to the Visioning Meeting
Sample Invitation Letter from Community Partner Sector Leaders Date Name Address City Dear _______________________________________ : (Community Name) has decided to implement a program called Partners for Rural Traffic Safety. Motor vehicle crashes take an enormous toll on our community. Last year alone, ___ people died and _____ were injured in (City/Town/County) in traffic crashes. The idea is to use community involvement approaches to increase the use of vehicle safety restraints in our community. I have agreed to serve on the core organizing body for (community name) as a representative of the (your sector name) sector. I need your input and ideas to effectively represent the community on the core organizing group. I am inviting you to attend a Community Visioning Meeting on (date) from (time) at (place). The 90 minutes you spend with us and your involvement in the meeting will help us make decisions about how to implement a vehicle occupant safety campaign this (fall or spring) which reflects area residents’ needs and interests. How often have you attended public meetings where the only public speaking out are those sponsoring the event or a vocal few in the audience? Too often, right? Unlike typical public meetings, the way we’ll conduct this meeting guarantees you and others from all over the (community name) area the chance to speak your minds without having to actually speak in front of an audience. You’ll see what I mean at the meeting. There is no need to formally prepare for the meeting, but you may want to think about methods and activities we could employ to encourage seat belt use and vehicle child restraint devices. The enclosed information sheet should answer questions about the project. Thanks in advance for attending the Community Visioning Meeting. I’ll look forward to seeing you (date, time) at the meeting, but will call and remind you a few days prior to the date. Sincerely,Name of Sector Leader Sample Press Release Release: Week of (time of meeting) Subject: Community Traffic Safety Visioning Meeting for (your service area) residents Audience: General Contact: (Team leader and phone number) (Service area name) Community Partner Team invites area residents to a public meeting of a different kind when it hosts a special area-wide occupant safety visioning meeting next week. The meeting, titled “(name of meeting),” is being sponsored by the (service area name) Community Partner Team and will be facilitated by its members. The meeting will help all of those organizations and people involved with traffic safety and occupant safety to understand what area residents think about local traffic and occupant safety issues. The event is a part of a larger community effort being conducted by the Community Partner Team. The Community Partner Team will be using your input to help design its 30-day campaign which will be conducted in the next few months. The meeting will be held (day of week), (date) from (time) in the (place). All area residents are invited to attend. Snacks and refreshments will be provided. The purpose of the meeting is to get area residents to work together in one session to generate a list of changes or activities which would decrease motor vehicle deaths and injuries in our (area name) community. “It will be a different kind of public meeting than you have ever attended before. It’s actually fun,” said (name), team leader for the Community Partner Team. “We’ll use a unique, enjoyable process. Everyone who attends gets to share their opinions about traffic safety without having to actually stand up and speak to the entire audience.” This type of meeting has been held in many other communities and has proven to really make a difference according to (name of team leader). “How involved residents become in occupant safety issues and how supportive they are of local efforts will ultimately shape the future of traffic safety in terms of what type of services, programs, and events, if any, should be provided here,” (she or he said), “Residents need to come forward now to express what they think about local traffic safety, and this meeting provides an excellent opportunity to voice your concerns. Not to mention, these meetings are generally a lot of fun for the participants.” For more information about the (service area name) visioning meeting or to share your opinion about occupant protection and other traffic safety issues, contact (name), team leader, at (phone number). Sample Radio Spot
Source: Community Partner Team Subject: Community Traffic Safety Visioning Meeting Audience: General, (service area) residents Run Dates: (dates) Duration: 60 seconds How often have you attended public meetings where the only public speaking out are those sponsoring the event or a vocal few in the audience? Too often, right? Well, an upcoming meeting sponsored by the (service are name) Community Partner Team promises to be something different in the way of public meetings. In a (service area name) meeting called “(name of meeting),” (day of week), (date), (time) at (place) you’ll see how everyone attending will speak out about local traffic safety issues without having to stand in front of microphone and testify to the whole audience. What’s more, the information you generate will be used by the (service area name) Community Partner Team to design a community traffic safety campaign which will occur in the next few months. Have your say in our community’s Traffic Safety efforts. Come to “(name of meeting)”, a (service area name) community wide visioning meeting (day of week), (date), (time) at (place).
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