<div dir="ltr">Hi All!<div><br></div><div>Those are great questions! Thought I would plug MAPC's Hybrid Engagement Hub, which I think answers some of those questions (<a href="https://www.mapc.org/resource-library/hybrid-engagement/">https://www.mapc.org/resource-library/hybrid-engagement/</a>).</div><div><br></div><div>Based on my experience while I was at MAPC (full disclosure: I'm not working there anymore), here's what I would recommend/what I have seen be successful:</div><div><li class="m_2232306948107699021MsoListParagraph" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 5.25pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">How many staff person(s) do you have facilitating the meeting?<u></u><u></u></li></div><blockquote style="margin:0 0 0 40px;border:none;padding:0px"><div><li class="m_2232306948107699021MsoListParagraph" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 5.25pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b>at least one in person and one virtual. It is also beneficial to have one person who is responsible only for tech, I think many of us have experienced the difficulty of juggling facilitation <i>and</i> tech for hybrid meetings.</b></li><li class="m_2232306948107699021MsoListParagraph" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 5.25pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b>Some communities who have had great success with this have worked with their CATV folks, so I would recommend doing that if you can!</b></li></div></blockquote><div><li class="m_2232306948107699021MsoListParagraph" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 5.25pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Is the Chair responsible for facilitating any of the virtual portion? Otherwise, who is facilitating the virtual portion and the in-person portion of the meeting?<u></u><u></u></li></div><blockquote style="margin:0 0 0 40px;border:none;padding:0px"><li class="m_2232306948107699021MsoListParagraph" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 5.25pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b>Excluding any requirements you might have about who facilitates, I would recommend having one facilitator who does both virtual and in person facilitation, switching between in-person and virtual speakers (both for the board members and for public comment). If the chair is 1) the person who usually facilitates and 2) adept at switching between in-person and virtual, then I would recommend that person being the facilitator. So for example, at the beginning of public comment/Q&A I have let attendees know that I would be switching between in-person attendees and virtual attendees (unless for example there are no questions from virtual attendees, in which case I just continued with folks in person) </b></li></blockquote><div><li class="m_2232306948107699021MsoListParagraph" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 5.25pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Have you had technical issues during a public hearing?<u></u><u></u></li><ul type="circle" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-top:0in"><li class="m_2232306948107699021MsoListParagraph" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 5.25pt;font-size:11pt">If you weren’t able to address the issue in short order, was the hearing continued?<u></u><u></u></li><li class="m_2232306948107699021MsoListParagraph" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 5.25pt;font-size:11pt">Again if technical issues arose and no immediate solution presented itself, was everything else subsequent on the agenda continued as well?</li><li class="m_2232306948107699021MsoListParagraph" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 5.25pt;font-size:11pt"><b>Most of MAPC's meetings are not publicly noticed hearings so I don't have much to add about this, but we definitely have had technical issues that have complicated or delayed meetings. I would imagine that if there is lots of interest from the public that a continuation would be prudent but I think that is more dependent on state and municipal requirements than anything else.</b></li></ul><span style="font-size:14.6667px"><b><br></b></span></div><div><span style="font-size:14.6667px">Please always feel free to reach out to MAPC's Community Engagement Department (even if you're out of our region!) if you have any questions: <a href="mailto:communityengagement@mapc.org">communityengagement@mapc.org</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-size:14.6667px"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-size:14.6667px">Christian Brandt, AICP</span></div><div><span style="font-size:14.6667px">Formerly: Interim Community Engagement Director, MAPC</span></div><div><span style="font-size:14.6667px">Currently: Urban Planner III, City of Alexandria VA</span></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Thu, Jun 8, 2023 at 10:33 AM Eric Twarog via MassPlanners <<a href="mailto:massplanners@masscptc.org">massplanners@masscptc.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">Good Morning:<div><br></div><div>The City of Greenfield is also interested, thank you.</div><div><br></div><div>Eric</div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Thu, Jun 8, 2023 at 10:29 AM Joseph Giniewicz via MassPlanners <<a href="mailto:massplanners@masscptc.org" target="_blank">massplanners@masscptc.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Good Morning,<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We’re hoping to get feedback from other communities that have implemented a hybrid meeting format for Land Use Boards (i.e. Planning, ZBA and Conservation) and would like to hear how your experience has been (both the positive and the negative)
as well as how you have addressed some of the immediate questions that come to mind, such as:<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<ul style="margin-top:0in" type="disc">
<li style="margin-left:5.25pt">How many staff person(s) do you have facilitating the meeting?<u></u><u></u></li><li style="margin-left:5.25pt">Is the Chair responsible for facilitating any of the virtual portion? Otherwise, who is facilitating the virtual portion and the in-person portion of the meeting?<u></u><u></u></li><li style="margin-left:5.25pt">Have you had technical issues during a public hearing?
<u></u><u></u>
<ul style="margin-top:0in" type="circle">
<li style="margin-left:5.25pt">If you weren’t able to address the issue in short order, was the hearing continued?<u></u><u></u></li><li style="margin-left:5.25pt">Again if technical issues arose and no immediate solution presented itself, was everything else subsequent on the agenda continued as well?<u></u><u></u></li></ul>
</li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Any feedback and best practices that you could share would be appreciated.<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thanks,<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Joe <u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>Joseph Giniewicz, AICP<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>Town Planner<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>Town of Westford<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>55 Main Street<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>Westford, MA 01886<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>978-692-5524<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
</div>
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<div id="m_7862037089025630383m_-2431031307832224482example1">
<p>All email messages and attached content sent from and to this email account are public records unless qualified as an exemption under the Massachusetts Public Records Law <br>See <a href="http://www.sec.state.ma.us/pre/preidx.htm" target="_blank">http://www.sec.state.ma.us/pre/preidx.htm</a>.
</p>
</div>
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<br></div>
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</div></blockquote></div><br clear="all"><div><br></div><span class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-size:12.8px"><b><font color="#274e13">Eric Twarog, AICP, Director</font></b></span><br></div><div dir="ltr"><div>City of Greenfield</div><div>Department of Planning & Development</div><div>20 Sanderson Street, Room 203</div><div>14 Court Square (Mailing Address)</div><div>Greenfield, MA 01301</div><div>(413) 772-1549</div><div><a href="mailto:eric.twarog@greenfield-ma.gov" target="_blank">eric.twarog@greenfield-ma.gov</a></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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</blockquote></div><br clear="all"><div><br></div><span class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><em>Christian Brandt</em></div><div><i>67 Willow Street, Somerville, MA 02144</i></div><div><em><a href="mailto:christian.w.brandt.12@gmail.com" target="_blank">christian.w.brandt.12@gmail.com</a> </em></div><div><em>208.596.2895</em></div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div>