Sitka Collaborative Tourism Project

Documents

Last Update: February 16, 2007

Documents are available for download in Adobe Acrobat (acrobat pdf) format. Acrobat Reader is a free program that you can download if you do not already have it. Click the button on the right to download the program. Get Acrobat

Notes to Meetings

Meeting notes are available on the Home Page of this website. They are listed with the most recent documents at the top of the list, and go all the way back to the Assembly meeting notes that initiated this process.

Main Content

A lot of things are happening at the Stakeholder meetings. Here are the main points - items, lists, topics, definitions, data that have generally been agreed upon by the group.

Definition Visitor: a non-local who comes to our community for a short term with a specific reason for being here.
List Question: When you think about visitors to Sitka and what they do, what concerns you the most? All of the concerns are listed in the attachment. adobe document
List

Question: What information do we need in order to make good decisions on these topics?

Community Issues adobe document
Resources and Environment adobe document
Quality of Visitor Experience adobe document
Economy adobe document
Local Business vs. Outside Business adobe document
Cruise Industry adobe document
Planning adobe document
Culture and History adobe document
Data Needed Information: Data is collected and presented to the Stakeholders on each of the identified items from the list above. When the group has agreed that the issue has been addressed enough to make good decisions, itis posted on the Needed Information page.
Definitiion

Quality of Life: The common elements of a good quality of life in Sitka are a sense of place, sustainable equitable diverse economy; participatory responsive leadership; healthy natural environment; safe and tolerant community; community support services and infrastructure; subsistence lifestyle; diverse lifestyle choices; community wellness; and cultural and civic institutions.

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Definition Visitor Industry Contribution: The Visitor Industry contributes to our community by being a major economic contributor, increasing social capital, adding community enrichment, providing an opportunity to showcase community and natural assets, creating an incentive for stewardship of community and natural assets, and fostering herd immunity. adobe document
Definition Visitor Industry Impacts: The Visitor Industry impacts our community by creating a critical need for community planning, increasing competition for short-term and long-term accommodations, dividing the community about some visitor industry issues, influencing community character by outside interests, causing seasonal changes in traffic flow, affecting local businesses by information given or not given to visitors, increasing the demand on and for infrastructure, increasing competition for local resources, Causing seasonal changes to local businesses and economy, changing our community experience, and changing our wild lands experience. adobe document
Definition Revised Mission Statement and Focus Question: To create a collaborative plan that maximizes the contributions of the visitor industry and minimizes the impacts of the visitor industry so that a good quality of life for Sitkans is realized.
Definition

The common vision for Sitka’s visitor industry includes these elements:
Beautiful, efficient public spaces and amenities
Unique year-round attractions, festivals, and celebrations
Maintain distinct city identity focused on meeting residents’ needs
Visitor industry contributes to a healthy, local economy
Active stewardship of historical and cultural resources and the wild and clean environment
Broad array of transportation choices to/from and within Sitka
Broad community consensus on implementation of visitor industry plan
Something about a general  target for visitor numbers (title still in progress)
Unique educational opportunities

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Definition

The following are root causes that block Sitka’s ability to realize its common vision (working draft):
No unified vision and implementation process
Plans require compromise
Assumption of no win/win solutions
Change has costs; not changing has costs
Lack of community understanding about V.I.
Cmty assumptions about process and people (inv. w/ process)
Perception of greed

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Important Documents

This list includes key reference documents and other material that we have used during the process.

March 20, 2006 A list of information that may be needed for this group, compiled from Steering Committee, Convener Group, and contract sources. adobe document
March 3, 2006 Stakeholders Grid. There are many names, some of folks who volunteered, and some of folks who need recruited. This is the large, working list from which most of the Stakeholders were invited. The latest, up-to-date list of participating stakeholders can be found on the Stakeholder Grid page. adobe document

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Rules and Guidelines

This list includes key reference documents and other material that we have used during the process.

Rules

Ground Rules:

  • Respect
    • For people and the process
    • Suspend judgment of people and ideas
  • Fairness
    • Encourage all participants to have a voice
    • Equal time for speakers
  • Listening
    • Listen to understand; suspend your replies until other finish speaking
  • Openness
    • To other points of view and to the outcome
    • Come with a sense of inquiry; ask questions
  • Committed
    • Be present – for three hours, try to hold the focus here. Be here now
  • Assume the best intentions, from the facilitator, from one another
  • Timeliness – start on time, arrive on time, finish on time If you miss a meeting, do your homework (use the web, the library, one another to catch up on what you missed)
  • Raise your hand to speak
  • Don’t interrupt
  • Avoid being argumentative; don’t take others’ values personally
  • Communication to the public – if individuals or groups express their opinions (especially negative opinions) to the public outside of the group, it could harm the group and the process – Stakeholders should promise to commit to the process; use these meetings for addressing issues about the process; speak outside the room as you would speak here.
  • support and protect the process both in and outside the meetings
  • Expect candor of everyone – to not withhold information that might effect decisions we might make in this room, even if it is difficult or controversial, or be untruthful.
  • Don’t share things that you don’t know to be the truth – rumors, unverified stats, exaggerations – or try to pass off opinions as truth.
  • Do not politicize the process
Guidlelines

Debate

Dialogue

Assuming that there is a right answer and that you have it.

Assuming many people have part of the answer

Combative: participants attempt to prove the other side wrong

Collaborative: participants work together toward common understanding

About winning

About exploring common ground

Listening to find flaws and make counterarguments

Listening to understand, create shared meaning, and find agreement

Defending our own assumptions as truth

Revealing assumptions for evaluation

Seeing two sides of an issue

Seeing all sides of an issue

Defending one’s own views against those of others

Admitting that others’ thinking can improve one’s own

Searching for flaws and weaknesses in others’ positions

Searching for strengths and value in others’ positions

Discouraging further conversation by creating winners and losers

Keeping the topic open even after discussion ends

Seeking a conclusion or vote that ratifies your position

Discovering new options, not seeking closure
Guidelines

Important Concerns for Presenting Data

Have the Needed Information list available.

Have printed information available before presentation.

Use collaborative information gathering for complex issues.

Filter out unnecessary information (not identified in Needed Information).

Either have the expert available or have a process for gathering questions and getting answers.

Deal with Bias/Credibility issues before delivery, address them in debrief.

Divide information into “bite-size” pieces, debrief those pieces.

When the information is more controversial there needs to be more sources for that information.

Separate objective facts from subjective conclusions.

Present background information – resources and methodology

Present all the Needed Information that is available in the report.

Remove recommendations/Strategies from presentation. Only show the requested data.

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