Back in May 2013, my Community Planning Workshop (CPW) team, aka the Diversity and Equity Strategic Plan Evaluation team (DESP), had to make a difficult decision. Earlier that month, we had been presenting the findings from our survey of Eugene city staff on equity and human rights issues to groups within the organization. We did our best to present the data, but our survey results were dense and difficult to take in all at once. On May 23rd we were scheduled to present the findings one last time to the committee of department heads and division managers in the City Council chambers (City of Eugene). We knew the agenda item before ours was a tough budget session and we didn’t know how well the committee members would be able to concentrate on our dense data.
To engage this high profile, potentially distracted audience, we decided to take a bit of a calculated risk. Instead of the same slides we’d been using, we decided to change our presentation to include quiz questions on the survey data. Committee members would be given colored cards to hold up indicating their guess from three options. Then the results would be shown and members could see if they guessed the results correctly. Prizes would be given to the best guessers. The risk with this strategy was clear – the committee members may not be in any mood for games and this might fall flat.
On the morning of the meeting, our team arrived as the committee discussed the budget. Our client, Jason Dedrick of the City Manager’s Office, told us that the committee seemed more subdued than normal. This did not bode well for our game show. When it was our turn to present, we tried to inspire the committee with our positive energy. And when the first quiz question was asked, committee members all participate just as we hoped. After that first question, it was like the room woke up. Everyone seemed to be having a good time guessing the answers. After our presentation, members of the committee thanked us for such an engaging slideshow.
This, to me, was my CPWs team’s finest hour. We presented all of our hard work to the top management of the organization, and did so by stepping out of our comfort zone and trying something new.
About the Author: Dave Amos was a concurrent M.Arch/MCRP student who graduated in the spring of 2013. His interests include transportation, land use, and urban design.