In the Okanagan, the fields are alive with fresh blossoms and the hills are awash in green. Spring has arrived and summer is knocking on the door with the daily temperature getting hotter and hotter. Summer is coming and while we have travel plans back East, and lots of bike rides, hikes and beach days planned, we also have a fair amount of engagement booked too! Engaging in the summer, at least for us, looks and feels different. As we plan the coming months, we wanted to share some insights that might be helpful as you plan your summer engagement calendar.
- Pop-ups and community events are your friend, but require a lot of work. It’s great to go where people are, but it’s important to recognize that you need time for travel, set up, activation and tear down. A full day event can easily be a 12-hour day for multiple staff so plan accordingly, make sure you schedule in breaks, and be prepared to engage with whoever is at the farmers market, craft fair or music in the park.
- Be mindful of pre-existing community events, activities or conditions that will make people unavailable to you. Is August traditionally the fishing season? Does everyone leave town in August because of the heat? Really think through if this is the best time to engage and should things change, don’t be afraid to cancel participation if it’s not appropriate or safe. Setting up at the farmers market with a tornado warning makes no sense… don’t do it just because you’ve planned it.
- Historically, we’ve had better luck engaging in July over August. I can’t say there’s any science to it, but I think when the August long weekend hits, people are ready for lazy days by the lake or being out of town and may be less available to you. Also, most municipal Councils don’t meet in August, so the ship has sailed on any reporting back you might do anyway.
- While Canadian winters are known to make the news, our summers can be no joke. Have an emergency preparedness kit, make a safety plan, and maintain good operational awareness. With regular tornados, extreme heat, and wildfires across the country, it’s important to have a plan and always prioritize the safety of staff. If you can’t engage safely, you can’t engage. We had a session last summer in 40-degree heat with no AC. We pivoted but let’s be clear, it wasn’t comfortable and it didn’t smell awesome.
- Staff sustainability is huge. Staff need holidays and breaks and summer is usually a great time to take them. Consider your staff capacity, share the load, and recognize that it is exhausting to be engaging people in person at a booth or pop-up.
- Limit destination public events. Open houses in the summer can be a hard sell and not always a good use of time or budget. Go where people are, promote your survey, but consider if a pull (i.e., destination) event is necessarily going to be effective.
So now that you have some summer engagement considerations, I hope you can start to plan your summer recharge time. Days with no meetings, where plans can change or evolve, where going for ice cream becomes standard and where you have sand between your toes.