HomeMy WebLinkAboutMeeting Minutes_3-7-12CAP Community Engagement & Outreach Working Group
Meeting Minutes
March 7, 2012, 9:00am
Bozeman City Hall, Madison Conference Room
Members Attending:
Jay Sinnott, Rob Pudner, Kristen
Walser, Kathy Powell, Paula Beswick, Benjamin Bennett, Myla Kelly, Cyndy Andrus (Commission Liaison),
Staff Present:
Natalie Meyer (Staff Liaison), Emily Baker (Energy Corps Member)
Call
to Order
Changes to the Agenda
Approval of Minutes
Changes recommended by Kristen Walser; will be approved at next meeting.
Public Comment
None
Announcements
Natalie Meyer: Gallatin
Earth Celebration will be this April 16th to 22nd.
Paula Beswick: Library has approved and will soon be posting its first anti-idling sign near book drop-off.
Paula Beswick: an Urban
Design class at MSU created design projects with the public library as their base, and presented to the library. The group incorporated great sustainability features into their plans,
including native plants, wetland restoration, etc., and partnering with similar classes could potentially be a good resource for this group in the future.
Presentations
Emily Baker presented
on the Portland, OR “PortlandCAN” website.
The website is a visually appealing, and constantly updated resource for the people of Portland seeking to reduce their carbon footprint. CAN
stands for Climate Action Now. The site focuses on actions Portlanders can take, not climate science. The website is updated at least once weekly by city staff in Portland from all departments
to inform them of city actions and initiatives, and additionally links to many current events, such as energy festivals, movies, and weatherization events. Local businesses are even
highlighted, such as a bike-moving company and a tiny- prefab-house company. We have the capability to
be a similar linking entity with all of the great environmental initiatives, non-profits and businesses here in Bozeman.
Following Discussion:
Paula Beswick shared an exhibit at the
Harvard Museum of Natural History on Climate Change (description here), which incorporated an interactive choices piece, letting each audience collectively choose their own future. Group
discussion supported the possibility of including an interactive yes-no choices ‘adventure’ on our future website, perhaps including changing climate zones, animals and plants. Steve
Running was suggested as a great local resource for creating such a feature with local information.
Action Items
Core Values
Some discussion of grammar and word choice.
Kathy Powell
proposed we move on to other business.
Kristen Walser voted to accept the Core Values as they stood. The motion was seconded by Natalie Meyer and Paula Beswick.
Vote to accept as is:
all were in favor, none were against. Core Values Below.
Core Values:
Create
We generate opportunities for open dialogue and participation.
Connect
We engage with local groups or individuals to empower their efforts,
no matter how big or small.
Inspire We encourage positive environmental stewardship.
Act We take action to protect environmental assets that won’t
wait for convenience.
Natalie Meyer proposed that she deliver our core Values to the City Commission in a special presentation.
Group discussion on our research of other cities: we only
saw the Core Values of cities as relating to their Climate Action Plans very infrequently.
Natalie Meyer and Cyndy Andrus discussed whether the City Commission or Mayor might be able
to adopt a Mission Statement related to the Climate Action Plan in order for the city to feel some top-level promotion and control of the Climate Action Plan. It was decided that Natalie
Meyer would find a few of the best examples of Mission Statements that other cities have adopted to present to the commission and mayor, to help guide them in creating a Bozeman specific
one.
Wrap-up: Cyndy Andrus expressed that she feels the background work we have done here has been very important. A big thanks was given to Ben Bennett and the group. Jay Sinott agreed that
we have a good bottom line for the long-term.
Logo and Branding Process
Logo vs. Campaign
Emily Baker presented briefly on the “I’m Cool” campaign, and discussed the pros and cons of
adapting it to Bozeman.
Ben Bennett commented that there is a difference between a logo and a campaign logo.
Paula Beswick suggested we use this as a campaign, but create a separate
overarching logo for the group to use in the long-term.
Ben Bennett brought up the problem of costs with different campaigns, and thought we should focus our first efforts on a logo
and website, as a cost-effective and comprehensive first outreach strategy. The website would be about the Bozeman Climate Partners.
Creating a Logo
Discussion of creating a logo as
an outreach project with elementary schools.
Paula Beswick brought up that this is time-intensive and technically difficult to do district-wide, as it would need to go through the superintendant,
principals, and then to teachers. As spring break is almost upon us, this could draw out the logo process for a long time. Teachers generally develop their curriculums for the year long
before now.
Ben Bennett asked the group why we need a logo immediately; if creating it could be outreach, then we are embarking upon our mission while creating the logo. Myla Kelly agrees.
Paula Beswick suggests a 6 month time frame might be feasible with involvement of summer parks and rec and the library.
Cyndy Andrus voiced that a school-wide campaign would put us far
ahead with outreach. We would have engaged a large number of kids in Bozeman, and would be far along our path to getting Bozeman Climate Partners well-recognized.
Concern about creating
a professional-looking, sleek logo we would want to use for a wide range of purposes with this approach was voiced by Emily Baker.
Paula Beswick suggested that having a professionally
done logo needn’t mean we don’t have an art contest as outreach; perhaps we could have a kids art contest for a poster, banner on the website, etc.
Myla Kelly voiced that after-school
care at public schools are always looking for fun projects for kids to do.
Myla Kelly suggested we should vote at the next meeting on how to do the logo.
Adjournment – 10:40am