festivals, dedicated focus groups and/or interviews, one-off events, and “intercept”
outreach at busy sites like the farmers market, transfer station or grocery stores.
Activities could include straightforward tabling with Q&As, mapping outreach
exercises, and storytelling techniques used to gather information and attitudes about
specific places. While the exact number of events depends on Nashua and New
Hampshire’s evolving guidance on social distancing, between seven and ten of these
events, focused around concentrated bursts of outreach activity, will be enough to allow
the consultant team to reach a wide number of audiences across the city, and these
events will be staffed in collaboration between the consultant team and City staff. Utile
will also assist the City in preparing for additional smaller-scale outreach to local
communities or organizations, so that City staff can perform additional coordinated
events on its own. This type of outreach can also be extended beyond the initial listening
phase of engagement, in order to solicit more targeted feedback on other project
milestones, such as the plan’s draft vision statement or draft recommendations.
Deliverables: Photographs, minutes, tallies, and other documentation of iistening
tour events, to be determined in the Engagement Plan in a way that accords
with the activities.
4.3 Surveys & Comment Cards
Surveys (distributed on paper and online) are one of the clearest ways to get a sense of
public sentiment on planning issues. Comment cards, in turn, increase awareness of the
process while also serving as miniature survey-like tools. Utile will produce and work
with the City to distribute and collect surveys and comment cards on key topics. Utile
will develop two surveys and two to three comment cards. Utile will systematize the
analysis of these materials in a way that produces a rich, qualitative, understanding of
the survey’s meaning.
Deliverables: 2 surveys (physical and online), 2-3 comment cards. For each
survey, a brief memo analyzing the survey results and describing the survey's
key takeaways.
4.4 Digital Outreach
Utile will use Social Pinpoint (or another digital tool mutually agreed upon by Utile and
the City) to share documents, announce meetings, and conduct interactive digital
outreach. Utile will employ online surveys, social media outreach, interactive mapping
services, and online storytelling tools to gather feedback from those who aren’t typically
engaged in the planning process. All engagement will be translated into Spanish and
other languages as needed to reach an even wider constituency. Uttle will summarize
and contextualize the findings of this digital outreach in ways that are appropriate to
each technique and the plan overall.
Deliverables: Online tools and materials, as well as relevant documentation, to
be determined in the Engagement Plan.
4.5 Public workshops
Our team, along with the City of Nashua, will host three citywide public workshops: one
to kick off the plan, one to produce a vision for the City’s future, and one to respond to
the draft plan. Each workshop will be optimally timed in the planning process to
advance a real task. Workshop activities will also be matched with digital outreach
techniques (such as online surveys or social media feedback) to widen the number of
voices heard.
Kick-off Workshop
Exhibit B
