Greenleaf

Main Street Resource Team Catalyst
Resource Team and Technical Team visits are a tried and true approach for Main Street communities. Traditionally, team members hold open public meetings at the opening and closing of the visit; most meetings in between are open, by invitation, to relatively few people.

Beginning in 2005, Jane Seaton of Iowa Main Street asked John Monroe to expand the traditional approach to include facilitated public dialogue every day. In Mason City, a series of focus groups produced hand-written ideas covering more than 800 square feet of Magic Wall!

In a Streetscape Design Workshop in West Union and a Resource Team in West Branch, residents described everything from long-term visions to immediate actions on Magic Walls. Final team reports included a transcript of every comment made, with many ideas finding their way into the chapter recommendations.

People love being asked to get involved and having their voices heard!

"We call John when we need a Resource Team consultant who can facilitate complex points of view. He gets people up and involved – not only talking, but listening, too!"

Jane Seaton,
State Coordinator
Main Street Iowa

We’ll help you to run a high-energy design workshop that will have your residents buzzing and brainstorming.

If you would like to combine the expertise of professional designers with the dreams of local residents to produce great Main Street solutions, please email us for more information.

What is the Magic Wall?
It is a piece of rip-stop nylon, four by eight to 10 (or more) feet, treated with spray adhesive, and taped to the wall. The tacky surface lightly holds plain paper like a giant bulletin board.

During the meeting, rather than have a facilitator paraphrase ideas on flip charts, each meeting participant records his or her ideas on individual half-sheets of copy paper. The Wall (or you may want to use several) allows you to post everyone’s ideas for all to consider, then re-arrange them as patterns emerge and rankings or timelines develop.

Download a recipe to make your own Magic Wall.

john@johnmonroe.net