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Monday Mailing

Year 24 • Issue 10 20 November 2017 1. What Great Listeners Actually Do 2. Top Planning Websites - 2017 3. Heart & Soul Talks: How Transformational Philanthropy Leads to Big Impact, November 30th 4. 20+ Ways Leaders Can Connect With Their Community 5. USDA New Farmers Toolkit 6. 25 Great Ideas Of The New Urbanism 7. Practicing the Small-Town Art of Participation 8. Oregon Land Use Planning Online Training 9. Virtual Conference: National Farmers Union Presents Growing for the Future, December 4-7, 2017.

10. Could Autonomous Vehicles Save Lives in Disasters?

11. Oregon Agritourism Network Meeting, The Dalles, December 8th

Quote of the Week: “The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but reveal to them their own.” ~ Disraeli Oregon Fast Fact: The State of Oregon has one city named Sisters and another called Brothers. Sisters got its name from a nearby trio of peaks in the Cascade Mountains known as the Three Sisters. Brothers was named as a counterpart to Sisters.

1. What Great Listeners Actually Do Chances are you think you’re a good listener. People’s appraisal of their listening ability is much like their assessment of their driving skills, in that the great bulk of adults think they’re above average.

In our experience, most people think good listening comes down to doing three things:   

Not talking when others are speaking Letting others know you’re listening through facial expressions and verbal sounds (“Mmm-hmm”) Being able to repeat what others have said, practically word-forword

In fact, much management advice on listening suggests doing these very things – encouraging listeners to remain quiet, nod and “mm-hmm” encouragingly, and then repeat back to the talker something like, “So, let me make sure I understand. What you’re saying is…” However, recent research that we conducted suggests that these behaviors fall far short of describing good listening skills.

To access the full story, click here.

2. Top Planning Websites – 2017 Every year, Planetizen provides a list of the "Top Websites" of the year to share the accomplishments of designers and developers working tirelessly to expand the power of the Internet to inform and inspire about the state of the world's built and natural environments.

After collecting nominations from readers and staff, the Planetizen editorial staff selected the 2017 "Top Websites" list based on a common set of criteria, including content, design, and usability, choosing ten websites representing a variety of uses and focuses. We've listed the websites alphabetically, not in order of rank.

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With this list, Planetizen tends to prioritize websites that enable new utility for practicing planners and civic enthusiasts by employing cutting edge Internet and data-sharing technologies. This year's list is no exception in what has become a tradition of excellence, so we encourage you to also take a tour through past lists.

To access the full story, click here.

3. Heart & Soul Talks: How Transformational Philanthropy Leads to Big Impact, November 30th Increasingly, philanthropic organizations are thinking more broadly about how to support systemic change in local communities. On this call, you’ll hear how three foundations are investing in longterm transformation using Community Heart & Soul®, the Orton Family Foundation’s community development model.

To register for this talk, click here.

4. 20+ Ways Leaders Can Connect With Their Community Whether it's connecting during a walk through town, spending time at a local coffee shop or stepping into someone's job for the day, being a successful mayor, legislator, appointee or municipal staffer requires spending a lot of time outside of city hall, or town hall, or a capital building.

Community leaders throughout the United States are finding creative ways to connect with their constituents. Here's a sampling of what's being noticed by AARP staff and volunteers — as well as some words of wisdom for leaders who want to effectively represent the people they serve.

To access the full story, click here.

5. USDA New Farmers Toolkit Farming is a tough job, but at the heart of it all, there’s a vibrant community contributing to the future of our nation’s health and food security. USDA has a toolkit to help you find the resources you need to get started or to build up your farming operations.

The site features tips for farmers on getting started and opportunities just for you. You can browse the site or use our Discovery Tool to tailor your experience by answering a few questions in order to get back personalized resources to meet your needs.

To access the toolkit, click here.

6. 25 Great Ideas Of The New Urbanism The New Urbanism is a design movement toward complete, compact, connected communities—but it is also a generator of ideas that transform the landscape. Communities are shaped by the movement and flow of ideas, and the New Urbanism has been a particularly rich source of the currents that have directed planning and development in recent decades.

This year the 25th annual Congress for the New Urbanism was held in Seattle. The 1,400 attendees, their friends and associates and like-minded people, are like sailors on the sea of ideas that carry this movement forward.

To access the full story, click here.

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7. Practicing the Small-Town Art of Participation I remember the day when I told my parents that I had changed my mind about everything. I was 20 years old, a sophomore at Queens University of Charlotte, and I wanted to come home. Well, not at that moment. I wanted to finish school. But after that I wanted to find my way back to my hometown of Athens, Tennessee, population about 13,000, in the valley of the Southeast Tennessee area.

I was nervous to say it out loud. This was a reversal of everything I had been professing up until that moment. Since I was 6 years old, I had been conditioning myself for a life of great success in a big city somewhere. It was never a question in my family that I was going to leave my home for good.

But on this day, sitting on the floor in my sophomore dorm room, I called my parents to tell them that I had changed my mind.

This is the point where many rural parents would likely hold their ground and say, “Oh, no, honey, don’t you remember what it was like living here? We can’t give you all of the opportunities you are going to find out there. Why don’t you just think a little bit longer about this decision?” But my parents didn’t say that. Instead they said, “We’d love it if you came home to Athens.”

To access the full story, click here.

8. Oregon Land Use Planning Online Training The Oregon land use planning online training provides an overview of planning principles and practices in Oregon. The purpose of this program is to help you…citizens and decisionmakers…have a greater understanding of Oregon’s Statewide Planning and Coastal Management programs and how they relate to your local government planning efforts.

The curriculum has nine chapters. You may follow at your own pace and access the program at any point. Listen and watch. You may also read the content on your screen as we go along. Confirm your understanding by reviewing the scenarios that follow each chapter To access the online training program, click here.

9. Virtual Conference: National Farmers Union Presents Growing for the Future, December 47, 2017 Growing for the Future is a unique online, interactive virtual conference focused on beginning farmer and rancher issues, including mentorship, business planning, USDA programs, women and veterans in farming, conservation, and much more! Our annual nationally focused online conference provides an opportunity for beginning farmers to acquire the skills they need to run a successful operation.

The conference will highlight leaders in the field of agriculture and focus on building a network for beginning farmers and ranchers throughout the country. We look forward to learning with you!

To register for this virtual conference, click here.

10. Could Autonomous Vehicles Save Lives in Disasters?

One of the shocking realizations to emerge from the recent wildfires in California is the failure of existing public safety systems to warn of impending disaster and ensure that residents evacuate safely.

A story about a family trying to evacuate during this fall's "Wine County" fires in Northern California, as reported by the Los Angeles Times, illustrates the inadequacies of the emergency alert Page 3 of 4

systems. First, the family only found out about the approaching fire when a neighbor pounded on their door. Apparently, the family did not receive or hear a reverse 911 call or a wireless emergency alert. Neither had the local public safety personnel driven by to announce evacuate orders. Second, once on the road, the family chose their usual way out of the area, only to be stopped by a wall of flames. Luckily a fire crew was there to direct them to a less traveled, and less familiar route.

To access the full story, click here.

11. Oregon Agritourism Network Meeting, The Dalles, December 8th You are invited to join the Oregon Agritourism Network (OAN) on Dec. 8, 2017 from 12 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Sunshine Mills Silos in the The Dalles.

The OAN is a statewide network of farmers, ranchers, tour operators, agencies and associations working together to improve Oregon’s agritourism industry by advancing marketing, quality of product, policy and entrepreneurship. Anyone with an interest in cultivating Oregon's agritourism potential is encouraged to attend.

To register for this event, click here.

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