The International Economic Development Council’s ED Now ran anarticle last week that I wrote to explain why economic development people should be thinking about how to do public engagement more effectively — and why the ways we’ve been taught (or not taught) to “engage” the public so often end in anger and misery — for the public, and for …
Two weeks ago I had the great opportunity to do an expanded version of my Small Business/Entrepreneurship ecosystem talk for the Montana Economic Development Association and for a selection of business owners and community leaders from Great Falls, Montana and surrounding communities. With both groups, I had a chance to not only do the talk, …
Continue reading Building a Small Business Ecosystem in Montana
I've written here before about People's Liberty, an experiment in philanthropy though individuals that launched in Cincinnati earlier this year. I've found lots interesting about People's Liberty to date, from their Fellowship program to the building that they have just finished rehabilitating, but one of the things that continues to strike me is how good they …
Continue reading From the Good Ideas File: Good Idea Resource Checklist
This book is the culmination of over 20 years of my work with cities, regions, governments, nonprofits and developers all over the country. It gives you a clear, no-nonsense run down on why it is exactly that our public meetings so often end up feeling so miserable -- for everyone involved. It then gives you a step-by-step process for designing and conducting public meetings that actually generate wisdom, and it concludes with tactics for managing confrontational public meeting situations in a way that's fair to everyone involved.
I posted this at EngagingCities yesterday. Right now I have slots available in Austin, so if you're going, come visit me! ___ Are you or someone you know trying to start a civic technology business? A social enterprise? Interested in exploring how you might be able to leverage tech to move the needle on big …
Continue reading Meet and Mentor with EngagingCities Managing Editor (um, that’s me) at SXSWi
Transparency has become a huge issue in parts of my circles lately, especially among people who are working with open data and civic technology, as well as my colleagues who are trying to build better public engagement. It seems like everyone who has any awareness of how the world is changing understands on at least …
Continue reading From the Good Ideas File: Joining the Journey to True Transparency
We all like free. But free isn't always good. That was one of the two thoughts that I had when I read this article from Bizdistricts.com. On the surface, it certainly sounds like a good idea: The CreateHereNow program aims to offer free rent to new businesses. It allows empty storefronts to be occupied for …
Continue reading Stores for Free? From the Not Sure if It’s a Good Idea file
My friend Sara Dunnigan just announced that she is leaving the world of consulting to become the Executive Director of the Virginia Board of Workforce Development, a job that perfectly fits the most enthusiastic Make Our Existing Businesses More Successful professional in the economic development profession. Thankfully, before she moved on, she wrote up her research …
Continue reading Do Business Recruitment and Retention Right: a guide from Sara Dunnigan
OK. I wouldn't know the person who wrote this if they bit me, but I think I am in love... both because of the valuable insight this person brings to a crucial issue, and because... well, anyone who names their blog "Nonprofit With Balls" is my kinda people. Anyone who touches communities that aren't completely …
What-you-do-will-have-impacts-you-didn't-expect is probably one of the strongest themes in the Local Economy Revolution Book. As I describe in there, one of my earliest encounters with the profession of planning resulted from being hip-deep in the aftereffects of a massive urban renewal project in Green Bay, Wisconsin. No matter what I did, where I was, which building I …
