We have received so many thank you’s and kind comments that we just can’t list them all here, but we appreciate them so much and return them in kind because we cannot hold these events without the participation and wisdom of our community.

There have been a few (and more to come, I’m sure) that I would like to share, including the previous post featuring Edwin Rutsch’s fantastic videos.

Vicky Schubert, of Inspired Alliance Coaching, who attended the Boston event, wrote to thank us and added about the NCDD community: “What thoughtful, capable, powerful people.”  She has a post up on her blog about last weeks event on the UMass Boston campus.

Ted Heinz, who attended the NorCal event at De Anza College, wrote:

Fridays event at De Anza College was a very meaningful experience for me. Going in I thought the conference might be limited only to citizen participation as far as making policy decisions.  But now I see that the vision is much bigger and open to many new possibilities.  I find the NCDD Resource Guide on Public Engagement an inspiration and a great way for me to tie up the loose ends of Friday’s experience.

Craig Paterson, of the California NIF Network, who also attended the NorCal event, shared the following:

…it was a good day because once again I was totally impressed with the commitment and capabilities of these NCDD professionals and government administrators. Here are a few snippets from the day:

-  If it doesn’t start with kindness, it cannot truly serve the community

-  A necessary city-wide mantra: “Build a great community…together”

-  Residents need to move from being ‘customers’ to being ‘citizens’

-  Civic engagement is not selling the public on something…or getting votes for something…or a process where government staff or non-profits control the outcome…it is a way for public officials to use their skills to encourage and incorporate citizen input in critical, local decisions

-  The public must become active participants in solving problems…not just taxpayers or advisory committee members

-  The concept of the ‘facilitator steward’ needs more consideration…recognizing the need to treat group process in public deliberation as a valuable investment for the future