Client Question:
How can we increase the interest in and build community around Scenario Planning?
Civic Sphere worked with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy’s office in Boston, Massachusetts, USA in 2017-19, producing a 5-part educational webinar series and 2 annual conferences. This project helped support the establishment of the Consortium for Scenario Planning. The answer? In order to bring more members into the Consortium for Scenario Planning, and thus assist scenario planning community growth, Civic Sphere devised a two-part strategy. The first part involved educating urban and rural planners on Scenario Planning in general – what it is, how it could benefit their work, and how to get started – through no-cost webinars. At the end of the webinars, attendees were encouraged to take part in the annual conference (submit proposals or attend) and/or join the Consortium. At the annual conferences, attendees learned a great deal about Scenario Planning and personally got to know other professionals, which also helped bring new, active members to the Consortium.
This two-part strategy helped devise a pathway for professionals from knowing very little about Scenario Planning to getting excited about its impact and even joining a like-minded group of professionals interested in scaling up its use. The webinar series had more than 500 attendees across the 5 webinars, and the conferences included 40 attendees in 2017 and 60 attendees in 2018. For the webinars, Civic Sphere created all the session content, personally delivered all the webinars, collaborated with a range of speakers, and shared the recorded webinars publically. For the conferences, Civic Sphere completed common event planning tasks (venue selection and coordination, A/V planning, hotel room block reservation, in-person oversight during event, etc.), created the conference program (including an “unconference” segment), and coordinated with speakers. For the webinars and conferences, Civic Sphere coordinated closely with the Consortium board and staff.
How can we increase the interest in and build community around Scenario Planning?
Civic Sphere worked with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy’s office in Boston, Massachusetts, USA in 2017-19, producing a 5-part educational webinar series and 2 annual conferences. This project helped support the establishment of the Consortium for Scenario Planning. The answer? In order to bring more members into the Consortium for Scenario Planning, and thus assist scenario planning community growth, Civic Sphere devised a two-part strategy. The first part involved educating urban and rural planners on Scenario Planning in general – what it is, how it could benefit their work, and how to get started – through no-cost webinars. At the end of the webinars, attendees were encouraged to take part in the annual conference (submit proposals or attend) and/or join the Consortium. At the annual conferences, attendees learned a great deal about Scenario Planning and personally got to know other professionals, which also helped bring new, active members to the Consortium.
This two-part strategy helped devise a pathway for professionals from knowing very little about Scenario Planning to getting excited about its impact and even joining a like-minded group of professionals interested in scaling up its use. The webinar series had more than 500 attendees across the 5 webinars, and the conferences included 40 attendees in 2017 and 60 attendees in 2018. For the webinars, Civic Sphere created all the session content, personally delivered all the webinars, collaborated with a range of speakers, and shared the recorded webinars publically. For the conferences, Civic Sphere completed common event planning tasks (venue selection and coordination, A/V planning, hotel room block reservation, in-person oversight during event, etc.), created the conference program (including an “unconference” segment), and coordinated with speakers. For the webinars and conferences, Civic Sphere coordinated closely with the Consortium board and staff.
