Greensboro Plan2Play Parks and Recreation Master Plan 2019

96 - FEBRUARY 2019

Action 2c. Create a comprehensive community engagement strategy to guide the Department’s planning, design, and implementation activities and ensure consistent messaging. The Plan2Play process was built on a dynamic engagement strategy that sought to bring ideas and opportunities for input out to the public in places where they were already recreating. It also distributed engagement across a multitude of platforms from mailed surveys, to participation poll boards in recreation centers, to community conversations, to pop-up events at festivals. This multifaceted strategy offers lessons and a foundation for future projects to build on. Future engagement should continue to: • Make it fun - Include interactive games, drawing exercises, wish boards, candy, swag, and more. Provide multiple stations and individuals for people to interact with. • Don’t rely on long presentations - Research shows that individuals max out their attention span after 10 to 15 minutes of lecture. A brief presentation

allows for visitors to all hear the same message, absorb the information, and spend the majority of their time interacting. Pairing presentations with activity stations and informative boards lets people absorb information in their own learning style, while also sharing in a common experience. In addition, it prevents grand-standing and provides those less likely to speak out in a broad forum a place to express their ideas. In this format participants can voice their concerns in one-on-one conversations with the consultant team and City staff allowing for a more meaningful discourse to occur. • Build on synergies of existing events - Hosting engagement activities at existing community events allows for a range of responses and participants. It can also build off the energy of culture, dance, and music setting a positive tone for interactions. • Bring engagement to the community, don’t ask the community to come to you - Hosting a multitude of community engagement opportunities at locations and events across a community allows