It is 2011 and the roadshow is back and we want YOU!

Hello All,

2011 is set to be exciting as we continue to develop tools and processes to help our members engage their communities.

Community Engagement Roadshow 2011- the roadshow is back and we want YOU!

We are planning the Community Engagement Roadshows that will be happening around the state this coming March. This year the theme is 'Roadshow and Tell', with the focus being about sharing lessons learned, knowledge and tools with each other.

This years Roadshow will again involve you sharing with us what is happening in your area.  We will share with you what we're working on and you will have the opportunity to share your knowledge and ideas. We are going to open the floor to local presenters, giving them the opportunity to share the great initiatives, resources, tools or programs that are being developed and used at a local level.

Some information you may want to share may include:

• how you deliver your school presentations
• what presentations you give to local community groups
• how you run your street meetings
• what tools, props and communication materials you have developed locally
• ideas on what works in your community
• how do you get your brigade involved in community engagement
• local workshops you may run

The aim of the Roadshow and Tell is to:

• encourage two way communication - It's all about talking and listening!
• share ideas for Community Engagement activities with other areas around the state. This is about the RFS not 'reinventing the wheel'. It makes more sense for us to use what has already been developed than have each area create their own version of the same activity. It may also be beneficial to blend a couple of ideas from different areas - combine some great ideas - to improve the over all end product
• provide more effective support and assistance. The more we learn about your needs at the local  level the easier for us to understand how we can best provide you with support
• continually improving what we do and challenging ourselves to do better!

This theme came from suggestions at the Region North and Region East Community Engagement Forums in 2010. Both forums suggested that the more opportunities we provided for people to share information across the state the stronger Community Engagement would be through out our organisation - it really does make sense! 

So to make this years Roadshows just as good as last years WE NEED YOU! We are looking for presenters from around the state to present at their local Roadshow. We'd love to see demonstrations, unique displays, documents, tools and resources you've developed. We’d like to see anything that is working well for you in engaging with your communities! It may be serious, it may be humorous, it may a simple sharing of lessons learnt, it may be delivered as an informal chat or part of a lesson plan - the choices are almost endless!

If you have something you'd like to present at your local Roadshow, or if you know of a story from your area that you think would be great to share we'd like to hear about it! Please contact the Community Engagement Team on 8741 5417 or send an email to Community Engagement Team

In our next blog we will give you an update on our Conference preparations. Our May Conference will be held at the Novatel Wollongong this year instead of Newcastle. We are excited about the new venue and the conference opportunities it provides such as accommodation will only be spread across 2 motels with the majority being able to stay at the Novatel, improved parking and access and really good conference facilities - watch this space!

We thought we would share the teams favourite quote at the moment. It is

'Think like a wise man but communicate in the language of the people.'

~  William Butler Yeats

 Have you any quotes that you like that are relevant to community engagement? If so we would love to hear them.


Cheers
Tanyia and the HQ Community Engagement Team