ABOUT

The ‘Chalk and Talk’ program seeks to engage people in a creative and accessible way about their feelings, thoughts and views on their city’s downtown. In essence it is a way to informally gather and summarize the varying views and experiences of attendees of local festivals and events about the city while they are immersed in it. The intent is for this information to inspire dialogue and help inform the preliminary steps taken towards longer term design, planning and revitalization initiatives. 

PROCESS: A QUICK OVERVIEW

1. Get permission from your partners to set up at a local fair, festival or other regional event.
2. Have 1 or 2 facilitators there to engage participants and embrace the ‘talk’ portion as necessary.
3. Depending on the design of your board it is also recommended to have facilitators there to make sure you are getting the information that you are seeking and that the chalk panels are safe and secure.
4. Transcribe each of the comments and organize them by similarities to identify emerging themes. Guides on how to do this are in following sections.
5. Prepare a straightforward 1- 2 page summary document to highlight your findings and process.
6. Present your findings to your key partners and provide a copy of the summary document. Work with them to identify next steps based on the findings.

THE DAY OF: A DEEPER DIVE

1. Find a prime, flat location to set up at the event.
2. Determine which prompt to use based on what results you are trying to achieve. Our prompt, Next Time I Come to ... was a result of our work in rural downtown revitalization where we are seeking to bring people back downtown 3. Once you have determined your prompt, write it on top of each panel, spread across them all 4. People are often reluctant to be the first to write on a panel, so it can be helpful to have partners or the event organizers write a couple of comments first to show people what to do 5. As the boards fill up make sure to document each comment with photos before erasing it. Remove the least helpful and leave the strongest responses there ..CITY NAME... was a result of our work in rural downtown revitalization where we are seeking to bring people back downtown.
3. Once you have determined your prompt, write it on top of each panel, spread across them all.
4. People are often reluctant to be the first to write on a panel, so it can be helpful to have partners or the event organizers write a couple of comments first to show people what to do.
5. As the boards fill up make sure to document each comment with photos before erasing it. Remove the least helpful and leave the strongest responses there.
6. Keep in mind the ‘talk’ is as valuable as the ‘chalk’ of what people write, which is often shorthand versions of what was discussed. This is helpful when evaluating the responses.

EVALUATION PROCESS

1. Create a table with 3 columns, or as many columns as your Chalk and Talk has panels, with each labeled with the title of that panel. Our columns are labeled Next Time, I Come To, ...CITY NAME... See Tables 1 and 2 below.
2. This is important as some people respond to what is written on that specific panel rather than the prompt as a whole. For example, participants have written under...CITY NAME... "is the best place to live" or I Come To "dance in the street!"
3. Place each transcribed comment into the column from the board it was written on.
4. Once each comment is placed, look at relationships between them and color code entries based on easily identified similarities. There are typically 4-5 themes.
5. After each comment is given a color, arrange them in a new table according to their similarities and colors.
6. This highlights your emerging themes. Each color coded table has an emerging theme that you will then label based on what their common similarity is, such as Downtown Amenities or Community Pride.
7. Summarize these themes into a paragraph which will give you a snapshot of what they mean.

Table 1. The following table includes each of the 3 boards and everything that was written on them

"NEXT TIME" Panel: Jesus in Awesome, I'd love an ATM and Porta potties, Photos with Santa(pictures available on Main Street, Icie Babe, Kendra was here, Ray Ray, Seating, A Heart, Needs a KFC, Where are You?, Real Ice Rink, Art Gallery, Homeless Shelter, More Parks, More Mary, Bigger Gym

"I COME TO" Panel: People Watch, Sing, Good Food and Music, Coffee Shop, I love Studio C, It's my Birthday, SC#30, Ice Cream Shop, Have Fun (x2) with smiley, Color Run, Heart, Music Shop, Hot cocoa, The Bank, Listen, Talk with Friends, Homeless Shelter, We heart Santa, Walkable Downtown, Foodie Destination, Play, More Care for Others

"MANCHESTER" Panel: Hi What's your name?, Fun Atmosphere, Rudolph, 2+2=Fish, 2+2=4, Smiley Face, Jesus Love You, Sephora's, Art Gallery, Needs more food, Needs a better park, Hello, purple Horse, Friendliest God Loving Town, History, Enjoy good food at Pat's, Family and History, Needs a movie Theater, Great Idea, Fun, Small - Everyone Knows Everyone, Thankful, Needs and movie Theater (x3), Music Festival, 20-under club, Ice Skating Rink, Murals, Ice Cream Shop, Listen to a long song, Homeless Shelter

Table 2. The following table represents all of the comments written on the board categorized into the emerging themes from the day.

DOWNTOWN RETAIL - GREEN

• Needs a KFC
• Real ice rink
• Bigger Gym
• Good Food and Music
• Coffee Shop
• Ice Cream Shop
• Color Run
• Music Shop
• Hot cocoa
• The bank
• Sephora’s
• Needs more food
• Needs a movie theater
• Great idea
• Fun

DOWNTOWN AMENITIES - BLUE

• Id Love and ATM and Porta Potties
• Photos with Santa (Pictures available on Main St.)
• Seating
• Homeless Shelter
• More parks
• More mary
• Homeless Shelter
• Walkable Downtown
• Foodie Destination
• Play
• Needs a better park
• Homeless Shelter

COMMUNITY PRIDE - ORANGE

• Jesus is Awesome
• A Heart
• People Watch
• Sing
• I love Studio C
• Have Fun (x2) with smiley
• Heart
• Listen
• Talk with friends
• More care for others
• Fun Atmosphere
• Smiley face
• Jesus Love you
• Friendliest God Loving Town
• History
• Enjoy good food at Pat’s

YOUTH ENGAGEMENT AND NAMES (SIDEWALK ART) - YELLOW

• icie Babe
• Kendra was here
• Ray Ray
• Where are you?
• It’s my Birthday
• SC#30
• We heart Santa
• Hi Whats your name?
• Rudolph
• 2+2=Fish, 2+2=4
• Hello
• Purple Horse
• Carriage

IN SUMMARY

The ‘Chalk and Talk’ was developed as a fun and interactive engagement tool to initiate conversations focused on what residents and visitors would like to see or experience in their community. Our goal at Blueprint Kentucky (formerly CEDIK) is for the ‘Chalk and Talk’ to act as a preliminary program, an evolving early first step toward incremental change and progress working toward long term goals.... was a result of our work in rural downtown revitalization where we are seeking to bring people back downtown 3. Once you have determined your prompt, write it on top of each panel, spread across them all 4. People are often reluctant to be the first to write on a panel, so it can be helpful to have partners or the event organizers write a couple of comments first to show people what to do 5. As the boards fill up make sure to document each comment with photos before erasing it. Remove the least helpful and leave the strongest responses there

CHALK AND TALK PANELS - HOW TO BUILD

The ‘Chalk and Talk’ was developed at the University of Kentucky’s College of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, the Department of Landscape Architecture and the Community and Economic Development Initiative of Kentucky (CEDIK) as a civic engagement tool. 

Here is how we do it. The ‘Chalk and Talk’ is more about the process than the product itself, allowing it to be customized as needed. The following design was built in a day for under $175.

1. You'll need...
   • (3) 2’ w x 6’ x 3/4”d sturdy, smooth wood boards. We used precut edge glued panels designed to fit into the trunk of a mid-size car
   • (4) hinges with screws. We used a medium, black hinge to match the black chalkboards
   • (1 quart) gray primer
   • (2 quarts) chalkboard paint
   • Painting supplies (rollers, trays, etc.)
   • (1) 1” diameter wood dowel
   • (4) screws
   • The dowel fills the gap between the panels and stabilizes the boards
2. Preparation = priming and painting
   • Prime the wood panels according to the primer instructions
   • Paint the chalkboards according to the paint instructions (at least 2 coats - one horizontally and a second vertically)
   • Gently shade the entire face of the boards with the side of a chalk stick to prevent the first thing written on them from becoming permanently etched into it
3. Putting it together
   • Attach hinges 6’’ in from edge of Panel 1
   • Make sure the edge of the boards are aligned before attaching hinge to Panel 2, otherwise it will not be stable when stood upright
   • Repeat with Panel 3 making sure all boards align on the bottom to ensure stability
   • Note: the hinges on Panel 2 must be offset from each other, otherwise panels wont open properly.
   • Size wood dowel to fit between the innermost hinges, and secure onto edge of Panel 2
4. Almost There
   • Stand it up, fold the panels out to 120 degrees to make sure it is level and secure. Once it is all ready get an invitation to set it up at a local festival or fair. The prompt we have found most successful is “Next Time I Come to "CITY NAME".. "

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