| Theme Development |

It's About the Community |

Remember: the project will best fit the community if it is the community that is most involved in its planning. I keep this as a reminder for myself in planning what the space will be used for.
I found it useful to know what events go on in the community. Advertise and survey at community gatherings; it is a perfect opportunity to get people talking!
I also suggest that you be prepared. Community members taking the time to attend your forum or fill out your survey will not return again if it is disorderly and lacking structure and content.
I learned that patience is important along with having an open-mind when hosting public forums/meetings; you may not receive constructive input or input at all. Do not let setbacks like this get you down.
Keep at it! It took me four rounds of surveying to finally become satisfied with my results.
Take your results seriously. Remember recommendation number one? - go by it. If you choose to design foremost what you want, it will not have a truly constructive outcome. Although I had several great ideas that would make the space look wonderful, it did not go along with the results from my survey at the Liberty House.