They can’t participate if they don’t know you exist… Moving beyond a traditional public participation plan Amy Luft Communication Coordinator Community Planning Association of Southwest Idaho Do you have an identity crisis?

Think of your region… If you were to stop people randomly on the street and ask them what city they lived in, would most of them know? If YES, raise your hand. Same for county Now, if you were to ask those same people who their MPO was, would most of THEM know?

How are we implementing? Preview What was our problem? What is our solution? How are we implementing? What have we learned? What can you do?

Where is COMPASS? Talking Points:

The problem… 48% “Someone” conducts regional transportation planning Think they know who it is 14% Named COMPASS

The problem… Do the math… …Only 3.3% could name COMPASS Do the math…only 3.3% could name us If asked, 26% recognized the name We came in #3 – ACHD first and ITD second

The problem… 26% recognized our name 10% knew they had a representative on our Board 37% were aware they could be involved in transportation planning in general 18% had heard of us on the TV news… 76% want to 26% is of the 97% who didn’t name us 10% is of all

The problem Identity crisis

Ask yourself… Would you click on a link of an organization you’ve never heard of?

Ask yourself… Would you take your precious time to provide comments if you don’t know where they are going?

The solution… Typical Public Involvement Plan = How will we go about soliciting input into our LRTP, TIP, etc.

Rethinking our public involvement plan 2014: Cert Review 2015: PIP becomes ICP 2015: Baseline survey 2015 and on: Use survey data Redoing pip Took a hard look at this Decided to make pip more than a pip to help with problem Honest – redid the PIP before the survey. We knew we had a problem, but couldn't quantify Still have a pip but now more… Use circle graphic

Integrated Communication Plan Public Involvement Presentations Advertising Educational Events Routine Communication Social Media Website

COMPASS Integrated Communication Plan COMPASS Public Involvement Plan Project-Specific Public Participation Guides

Marketing – Who we are and what our role is We ARE our members – their cities, counties, etc. THEY are represented on our Board NOT a nameless, faceless entity who answers to no one

Educating – What we do and how they can be involved We are the regional experts – Demographics Data Planning They can be involved – not just more involvement but better involvment

How… Consistency Staff training Social media News media Change in COMM Consistent format and messaging (more on next slide) Staff training Increase social media – showcase what we do. e.g, photo contest got people involved that normally wouldn’t Relations with news media – become the “go to” agency - that’s where people want to learn and it helps us gain credibility

What… Our role Board representation Expertise WIIFT Changes in Message

How is this different? May sound like just good comm, but the difference is that everything we do we do with that in mind

Successes and challenges Quality and consistency Social media News media Strategic “yes” Measuring success Quality has improved Consistency generally good – still some work new roles, new look – some pushback on creativity Social – big strides, tho more due to CT than plan Photo contest nearly 300 votes; guy who came to open house cuz of FB live News media – some strides. More with some than others. Help from other agencies – e.g., ITD Print – we are source; TV doesn’t want to sit down unless directly leads to a news story Doesn’t mean we do everything to get “out there.” We are strategic and ask…how does this help? What is the bang for the buck? Know where our issues lie

Evaluation Evaluation Outputs Outcomes Feedback How do we measure success? Outputs = number of things (e.g., how many news releases, social posts, etc.) Outcomes = participation (e.g., number of attendees, number of comments, number of news articles) Feedback = general feedback during pub comm periods or not…get comments from people RE how we are doing Survey = we know baseline. Maybe again? Evaluation

Next steps Updating plan this year Use results from survey Set media-specific goals Ask “How does “X” help reach our comm goal AND program goal” for EVERY project Media specific will replace survey results. New baseline.

What can I do? Learn what you can Apply what you learn Set a goal Focus on your goal Don’t need a big formal survey – ask people at events, use TV, radio, etc. stats, etc. – use data. Use what you learn – should we do more social? Do people want more TV? More something else? Consistency – all recognizable, same general message, improve quality with training

Communication Coordinator Amy Luft Communication Coordinator Community Planning Association of Southwest Idaho (COMPASS) 208/475-2229 aluft@compassidaho.org