Paul Born, Louise Merlihan and Rachel Gainer will lead this three day workshop that explores the latest thinking and practice of Community Engagement.
You will learn the latest engagement techniques and interact with the technology that will transform how you engage your clients, customers, funders and partners. Through dialogue with leaders in the field of engagement and social change, you will enhance your capacity to effectively hear the voices of those you serve and learn key strategies to mobilize them toward a collective impact.
Together we will explore and learn to apply:
- A toolkit for Community Engagement practices
- Proven techniques that companies have been using for years to increase customer loyalty
- Systems change theory and the role engagement plays in building movements for change
- Engagement technologies and the amazing power these have given us to listen to and communicate effectively with large groups of people
For a closer look at the workshop agenda, please visit our Agenda Page.
Register for Community Engagement: The Next Generation
The Next Generation of Community Engagement
Engagement expectations have changed and yet many of the same community engagement techniques we have used for years are being deployed, often with minimal results. We need a new generation of tools and practices to inform, consult and involve people in building better communities.
New Expectations
In our cities and communities, a new generation of community engagement is emerging. People demand to be engaged in decisions, they expect to work together and they want better outcomes for themselves and their neighbours. They believe by working together they can achieve a collective impact.
And yet people are less involved than ever. Fewer people are volunteering, fewer people are voting, fewer people belong to service clubs, churches and voluntary networks.
How do we resolve this profound paradox? People demand to be more engaged and yet they are less interested in being involved and contributing to outcomes. What are we missing?
Technology Has Changed Everything
Every minute of every day our email inbox is filled with people and companies trying to engage us. We are riveted to Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and the multitude of apps available to help us “stay in touch” and to get the latest news.
Technology engages us. We are entertained, moved, connected and involved daily. Technology also distracts us. It is easy to become overwhelmed, unfocused, overcommitted and exhausted by the constant stream of stimulation and requests. It is getting harder to break through and to engage people so that they will read our social media posts and online newsletters, fill in the surveys we send out or to buy our products and ideas online.
How Do We Respond?
There are, of course, no simple answers. First, we want to explore and learn to apply the proven techniques that companies have been using for years to increase customer loyalty. We also want to better understand how systems change and what role engagement plays in building and sustaining movements for change. Most importantly we want to increase our knowledge of technology and the amazing power it has given us to communicate regularly and effectively with large groups of people.
