by Tanya Zwahlen This weekend, on behalf of the City of Rochester, we conducted outreach at the Bull's Head Community Fair. This engagement was part of the Bull's Head Brownfield Opportunity Area project,…

by Susan Hopkins Surveys are a classic tool in the planning profession. Every project needs a survey. They’re a cheap and easy way to gather public feedback. Right? Not exactly.…

by Christopher Dunne Sometimes our staff meetings get a little off topic. Last week, a conversation about our core principles and our recently damaged tent led to us enumerating a fifth core…

by Tanya Zwahlen ​I was on vacation last week in a planner's paradise. Rosemary Beach is located along the Gulf Coast of Florida and, in spite of the 22 hour…

Opt-In is an online panel we created to gather feedback and public opinions on a variety of topics impacting the future of communities in Western New York. Topics include transportation, parks, economic development and quality-of-life. In our first Opt-in survey, we asked the panel about how they engage, what they find most frustrating about participating in public decisions, what what makes…

By Christopher Dunne “Gamification” is an ugly word but it's also one of our favorite techniques for making complex information and tough choices more fun and engaging for members of…

by Tanya Zwahlen

by Tanya Zwahlen Sue went up to Toronto this week to take the International Association of Public Participation (IAP2) Foundations in Public Participation course. It's a three day course, and…

by Tanya Zwahlen ​This weekend, my daughter, Claire, and I traveled to Kripalu, a yoga and retreat center in western Massachusetts, for a workshop on Mothering and Daughtering. The purpose of the three-day…

by Susan Hopkins It’s been a month since we officially launched MetroQuest and we’re pleased to say it has earned an important spot in our engagement toolbox. What is MetroQuest?…