Reimagine CBC in Your Community

Why Reimagine CBC in your community?

We want to combine the best of on-line collaboration and in-person conversation to Reimagine the CBC with great ideas that have deep support across the country.

You can host a local gathering and have a great conversation about making our media environment better. It's easy. All you really need is at least one other person and a bit of time, and you can be a lot more ambitious than that if you like.

We've broken it all down into the key steps in the host guide below. But first, how does this all fit together?

February/March - The online ideas forum and local gatherings will generate and rate ideas.

Spring/Summer - At events across the country, including large events in Toronto and Vancouver, we will build on the best ideas and prioritize. We will then organize a short survey to engage more and more Canadians in our process before we take the community's recommendations in the late summer and fall.

The following guide is designed for hosting a local gathering during February and March, while we're still focused on brainstorming and rating ideas.

Tips to prepare for your Reimagine CBC Gathering

Before the Event

Important:

Invite your friends & family to the event (phone, Facebook event, and email are best)
Read through this host guide so that you’re familiar with the agenda & actions
Gather materials (pens, large paper, paper for letters and envelopes are all recommended)

Good, but optional:

Call your guests the day before the gathering to confirm their attendance
Invite guests to bring food or drinks to share (if applicable)

On the day of your Reimagine CBC Gathering:

Bring some large sheets of paper to gather ideas, and paper and envelopes to write letters to our MPs
Bring pens (and markers if possible) so that participants can write ideas, create nametags
Ensure that you have a well-prepared note taker. Having a paper and a pen for this person will work but you may want consider having the minute taker write notes on a laptop so they can easily submit ideas to the online Ideas Forum
Make sure there are enough seats for everyone who’s coming
Have the sign-up sheet and name tags ready with a pen for guests to sign as they arrive
Please ensure that all participants sign-up so that they can remain informed of the campaign as it evolves - use the form at http://tfaforms.com/232001

After your Reimagine CBC Gathering:

Have note taker submit ideas generated to the online Ideas Forum at http://www.reimaginecbc.ca
Once your ideas are posted, send participants a follow-up email to inform them that they can rank ideas on the Ideas Forum
Submit your participants’ contact information through this online form within a day or two of your gathering so that we can follow up with them as the campaign progresses: http://tfaforms.com/232001
If you have any questions, please email reimagine@leadnow.ca

Agenda

In hosting your Reimagine CBC gathering, you, or someone you choose, will serve as a discussion facilitator for the group. Your job is to help the group stay on task and make sure that everyone is heard. To make it easier to facilitate, we have designed the following agenda, which is designed to take about 1.5 to 2 hours.

Part 1: Introduction (15 minutes)

Welcome everyone.
Invite everyone to introduce themselves with their name and, briefly, one reason why they have come to the event
Introduce the community norms (or “ground rules”) for the gathering. These will help to foster respectful, positive interactions in the group. Consider writing them somewhere visible for all participants to see:

Community Norms:

Respect others opinions and view points
Be conscious about creating space for others to speak
Let only one person speak at a time
Stay on task until the gathering is over
Do not tolerate hateful or discriminatory language

Part 2: Why are we here? (20 mins)

Growing up or living in Canada, many of us have stories about the CBC. Whether it’s listening to Stuart McLean share “Dave Cooks the Turkey” or watching Peter Mansbridge on The National, the CBC has been a part of many of our lives. The CBC has a rich history, but its future is uncertain. This part of the gathering will allow us to share our stories about why the future of the CBC is important to us.

Introduce the purpose and goals of the event (you can use the text on the home page of this website)
Give participants a few moments to think of a story that outlines the key reasons that they care about the future of the CBC
Depending on the number of participants, ask participants to create groups of three and share their stories (10 minutes)
If there are 5 or less people in the group, consider having participants share as a large group, but be conscious of time.
Ask the groups to report back some of the shared themes from their stories. After each group reports in, ask the note taker to tell the group some of the key things they heard (10 minutes)

Part 3: Ideas and discussion (45 mins+)

Invite the participants to answer the following question: what can the CBC do to take advantage of the opportunities of our time and serve Canadians better?
Give them three minutes to think about it individually, and then invite them to form groups of three to share their ideas within the small group
Invite the the small groups to report their ideas back to the full group
Invite everyone to think about the ideas that they like the best, and consider if there any ways that those ideas could be improved. Continue this discussion until everyone is satisfied, or the time is up
Have note taker keep track of the final list of ideas so that they can be uploaded onto the Ideas Forum

Part 4: Letter writing and next steps (20 mins)

1) Ideas Forum

Explain the the immediate next step is that one member of the gathering will add the ideas generated in the gathering to the online Ideas Forum. Once this is done, the host will send an email to all participants encouraging them to go online to the Ideas Forum and rate the ideas.

2) Write a letter

As we generate ideas to reimagine the CBC, we need to show support for the CBC and its mandate to serve Canada’s public interest. Ask everyone to write a letter to their MP outlining why they value the CBC and how they would reimagine it. Politicians respond best to personal emails, so encourage participants to use their personal stories regarding the CBC in their letters. All the participants need at this stage is a letter and envelope because there is no postage required on letters to Parliament.

You can find your local MP’s name here:

http://www.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Compilations/HouseOfCommons/MemberByPostalCode.aspx

And write to them at this address:

Name of Member of Parliament
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada
K1A 0A6

3) March events

Finally, remind the participants that the Ideas Forum will continue through March, after which there will be events across the country to build on the best ideas and plan the next steps of the campaign.

Part 5: Wrap-Up (5 mins)

Ensure that everyone has added their contact details to the sign-up sheet
Thank everyone for attending and contributing!