Engagement Strategies for Hard-to-Reach Communities

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

• How to use the communication plan process to set measurable goals, identify audiences, and use strategic messaging
• Tools to reach diverse audiences, including traditional and new tools that make it easy for community members to participate
• Why communication planning shouldn’t be an afterthought to the planning process, but an integral part of it

MORE SESSION DETAILS

How do you engage people of color, millennials, non-English speakers, and others who don’t typically get involved in the planning process? This session will present strategies for reaching diverse and under-represented populations — and encouraging them to participate and become passionate about the visions proposed for their communities. The panelists will draw on their experiences at the Montgomery County (Maryland) Planning Department with a toolkit of innovative strategies, from interactive digital maps and pop-up events to morning coffees for local business owners and happy hour events. The department’s communications manager will present an overview of effective engagement strategies and outreach tools, including social media, videos, e-letters, online questionnaires, photo contests, bus-shelter ads, and mailings. A planner will relate her experiences in connecting with diverse populations along a busy transportation corridor through an onsite graphic artist, pop-up events at a shopping center, and engagements at a neighborhood festival and concert. A millennial Hispanic member of the Montgomery County Planning Board will explain her experiences in reaching out to people of color and members of civic institutions, senior centers, and churches, all of whom represent community interests but are often hard to reach.