Building Community Through Conversation

Election campaigns can be amazing opportunities to have conversations about the issues that are important to us, and the dreams we have for our future.  These conversations help bring us together and propel us forward as a community.  I hope they continue after the campaign too!

The fact that more than one candidate running for Regional Director has ensured that lots of conversations are happening and that is great!  Each campaign is doing things a little differently and in this article I’d like to share our approach. 

Two words stand out in terms of what a campaign should be: LISTEN and ENGAGE.  Listening is very important but I think the more powerful role of a campaign is to engage.  For me, engaging is about listening, responding, and learning from a conversation or interaction.  When we are engaged in conversation, we are a part of it.  

I want to engage in conversation with as many community members as I can during this campaign.  I would like to listen, respond and learn about issues and concerns, ideas and suggestions.  I would also like to talk about how we can work together to deal with the issues and concerns, and make the ideas and suggestions a reality.

One technique that my campaign is using to engage is to ask community members the question, “What’s one thing that would make our community even better?”  We are asking this question at the Quadra Farmer’s Market, on our website, and on our Facebook page.  We also have a follow-up question for those who are interested, which is, “How could that actually happen?” We will be removing any names and sharing what we hear on our website so that everyone can benefit from these conversations.

Another thing we are doing is participating in meet and greets all across Area C.  This is a chance for me to introduce myself and for people to ask me questions and engage in conversation.  It can be casual or formal based on what suits the host and attendees.  I am also available for private one-on-one meetings if that is a better fit for you.

Do you have a question for me that you think the whole community might want to hear the answer to?  The third engagement opportunity we have is we are inviting people to send in their questions on the campaign website and on the Facebook page.  I will be writing and/or videotaping my responses and posting them on the Q&A page on my website.  

To book a meet and greet or private meeting, or to ask me a question, please Contact Me.

I’ll continue to be at the Quadra Market every Saturday until it ends on September 10th and I look forward to connecting with even more people and hearing their thoughts, and answering questions, in the coming weeks.

Want to know what other events are happening?  I will post all public events that I will be attending HERE.

Hope to engage with you soon!