by Stephanie Snyder and Nancy Watzman
We know there are gaps in how arts and culture is covered throughout Colorado, which is why we’re working to build better solutions for how relevant information is shared with local residents.
But before we can figure out the best way to overcome this challenge, we need to first listen to the community members we’re seeking to serve and understand their needs. We not only want to foster collaboration among news and arts organizations, but members of the public, as well.
That’s why we need your help.
With support from the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation, we’ve joined with Colorado Public Radio/Denverite and Rocky Mountain PBS to explore arts and culture coverage in the state. We’re inviting you to be our partner as well.
We’re launching a statewide collaborative community listening project with the goal of talking to at least 100 Colorado residents over the next month about how they engage with arts and culture in our state. Will you join us?
Why we need your help: The more individuals that we have conducting community listening sessions, the greater the diversity of lived experiences and information gaps we can collectively understand.
How this project can help you: Taking 30 minutes to learn about a community member’s experience with arts and culture in Colorado:
Helps you and your organization learn more about your audience.
Builds a new relationship with an individual who could participate in another area of your work — like joining a community advisory board or becoming a member or volunteer.
Allows you to identify challenges your audience is facing and work on solutions to better serve their needs.
What you’ll get as a partner organization:
Be listed as a partner organization in all promotional materials leading up to and during our community workshops later this summer.
Receive high-level takeaways from the statewide community listening project and concurrent quantitative survey.
Participate in designing collaborative solutions to help address your organization’s most pressing challenges.
Interested? All your organization needs to do is have a 30-minute conversation with five individuals by July 31. (If you have a staff of five, that’s only one community listening session per person over the course of five weeks!)
Here is our step-by-step guide for conducting these community listening sessions. We look forward to working with you and learning more about our communities through this collaboration!
If you have any questions or concerns, please email project manager Stephanie Snyder at stephanie.snyder@wearehearken.com.