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Secret Professional Development for Community Engagement

When COVID-19 first shut down the world, it brought uncertainty and budget constraints. In local governments, professional development was one of the first budget items suspended. It’s understandable – travel was discouraged, and we didn’t know how severe or long the shutdowns would last.

But professional development is how we stay aware of changes in the field of community engagement. When we weren’t able to attend trainings and conferences, we lost our chance to learn how other governments are interacting with their communities. Comparing notes with peers is absolutely vital for us to stay relevant and effective in our community engagement efforts.

If your goal is to stay up to speed on trends in public participation and community engagement, vendor calls can be your connection to the larger community engagement practice.

So how can public employees stay aware of industry changes when professional development is not an option?

What if I told you that there were experts out there, waiting to educate you in engaging your community? And they’ll do it for free!

The heart of a teacher

When “Community Engagement” is in your job description, chances are you get a few phone calls every week from potential vendors. They have a killer bit of software, an all-in-one platform, or a new app that will revolutionize your outreach efforts. These vendors can be your pipeline to free education about other communities’ efforts.

If your goal is to stay up to speed on trends in public participation and community engagement, vendor calls can be your connection to the larger community engagement practice.

Dave Ramsey, host of a nationally syndicated financial advice talk show, offers a recommendation when hiring a professional:

When getting help with money, whether it is insurance, real estate or investments, you should always look for a person with the heart of a teacher, not the heart of a salesman.

This advice applies to our situation as well. As we’re exploring options for spending our community’s money on engagement tools, we can benefit from reframing our discussions with vendors. We can talk about how other communities are seeing successes or challenges with their product. We should expect salespeople (at least, those with the heart of a teacher) to help us understand what’s going on in other communities.

Integrity

Now, I wouldn’t recommend that community engagement staff should lead on a salesperson falsely, or waste a vendor’s time when you’re not interested in a product. How can you ethically use the sales call to improve your awareness trends in community engagement? I have a few tips:

We’re fortunate to be in an industry that is largely about collaboration. It’s been a rough few years without conferences and training events to keep us up to speed. But there are ways for us to keep learning and growing in our community engagement practice.

So long as you’re clear and honest about your intentions for staying on the call, salespeople can help you re-establish that connection to the larger community engagement community.

Jay Anderson is responsible for digital engagement and public processes at the city of Colorado Springs. Jay holds an MPA from the School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado – Colorado Springs, where he also serves as the Chair of the Dean’s Community Advisory Board. Jay focuses on the point of engagement between the community and its institutions, creating programs that give a voice to people who want to have an impact on their government.

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