Hi Irv - A couple of thoughts: 1. Perhaps determine in advance what "...good representation of people from these neighborhoods..." looks like by studying the census-type data about the demographics, population, etc. Some public records probably exist via the City, and interviewing several key institutional heads about the makeup of the neighborhoods could help. (i.e. - school principals, local clergy/faith community leaders, major employers, etc.)
2. Develop a community 'profile' (the good kind, not the bad kind!) that addresses age, ethnicity, families, singles, etc. and then reach out to populate that profile - again perhaps recommendations from the same community leaders and others, staying within your parameters and logistics. By inviting people with a particular perspective and hopefully gaining their commitment to participate it may be possible to design 'broad representation'. Just a thought....such a design feels sort of counter to the 'Whoever comes..." principle, but your desire for broad input for neighborhood issues is understandable. Good Luck! - Steve PS - Providing food is always a good draw! On Tue, Jun 29, 2010 at 12:05 AM, Irv Sheffey <irv.shef...@sierraclub.org>wrote: > I’m working with a local community group to organize a one day forum on > creating local sustainable neighborhoods, here in the District of Columbia. > We want the forum to be inclusive of a wide range of perspectives from > environmental NGOs, local government, civic leaders and most important, > folks from the community at large, namely the “grassroots”. The theme is “ > *Getting from here to there, creating sustainable east of the river > communities*.” We are targeting people who reside in a part of DC that is > geographically separated from the other, two-thirds of the District, by the > Anacostia River. This part of DC is the home of over 140,000 people, many > who have been historically neglected socially and politically. We envision > the forum to be a place where their voices can be heard > > > > This brings me to my question and I hope someone out in the network has > some suggestions. How do we open space such that we get a good > representation of people from these neighborhoods, without overwhelming > ourselves? Whereas it’s relatively easy to work in a context of a given > organization, i.e., a company, a school, a profession, since affinity is > defined and numbers limited but what do you do when you’re seeking a broad > cross section of the public? We have a modest budget and a venue that could > accommodate upwards of 200 people. How can you be “open” while reasonable > as to how many people can be logistically accommodated? > > > > The forum is scheduled for late October and we will begin outreach efforts > over the summer. > > > > I hope that this doesn’t sound like a “duh” question for you more > experience facilitators. I could truly use your insights. I’ve taken the > liberty of copying my co-organizers of this event. It would be great if you > can hit “reply to all” in responding, so that they can be directly informed. > > > > Thank you, > > > > *Irv* > > _________________________________ > > > > Irv Sheffey > > Associate Field Organizer - Washington DC > > Environmental Justice & Community Partnerships Program > > Sierra Club > > 3101 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE No. 314 > > Washington, DC 20020 > > tel: 202-575-1469 > > cell: 202-299-6503 > > > > e-mail: irv.shef...@sierraclub.org > > > * * ========================================================== > osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To > subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of > osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about > OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist