May 2026 - Cvsg - list.chattanooga.digital

Regular Meeting agenda for 6/2/26
by Greg Laudeman, Ed.D. May 30, 2026

May 30, 2026

The major topic for the next regular meeting — and for the group going forward — is how to apply what we have learned about Venture. How? There is not funding or other resources for a formal organization to gather and share input let alone a long-term process. That does not mean it can’t be done. It just must be done in an informal, small-scale manner. We are going to crowdsource community engagement using Venture’s approach. Crazy? Not really. Venture provided a DIY kit for this very purpose. We can make it even easier by putting the kit online, translating “supplies" into a set of simple software tools. We will talk through this on Tuesday, starting with Venture itself as background, then focusing on the DIY kit. I’ve included major elements of both Venture and the DIY kit in the agenda for reference. Key elements from Venture (see the original Venture proposal <https://venturing.chattanooga.digital/pub/venture-proposal-1984>): Purpose: “to link the region’s distinct constituencies (neighborhood, business, Labor, government, civic, ethnic, rural, urban) in a community-wide decision-making process to test, analyze, and recommend policy which will lead to substantive public and private action” "identify specific issues and policy alternatives and recommend choices for the future which will move Chattanooga in the direction its citizens want to go; "to inform and educate citizens regarding alternatives; "to inspire confidence; "and to provide a vehicle for community leadership and direction." Providing "an agenda of general issues for consideration and analysis” Leading to a "commitment portfolio” (with Venture as “trustee”) Implementation Diplomacy Organized as a large board, small coordinating council, and committees DIY kit (see VISIONS 86 Do It Yourself Kit <https://venturing.chattanooga.digital/t/visions-86-do-it-yourself-kit/24>) Purpose: "to involve their citizens in dealing with tough issues, setting visionary goals, and then pulling together to build a better community.” The basics: SPACE SUPPLIES STRUCTURE General session Discussion groups Summary session SOJOURNERS Moderators Facilitators Participants Issues PEOPLE PLACES WORK PLAY GOVERNMENT FUTURE ALTERNATIVES Most important point: “When I said something, someone wrote it down.” Every participant gets to speak. When a participant speaks, someone writes it down. Applying the DIY kit as “community confabs” Hear from the region’s distinct constituencies Community-wide goal-setting, priorities for substantive public and private action Identify prospective task force members Probably the key topic to discuss is “space.” I think the study group basically serves as the “board.” Should we have a “coordinating council” or just consider the “usual suspects” a virtual coordinating council (organizations with which we coordinate)? Let me know of other topics you might want to cover. CVSG Regular Meeting, June 2, 2026 at 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM, EDT Location: In-person - Chattanooga Small Business Resource Center, 332 E M L King Blvd Online - https://go.eduity.net/call/zewrvv4o — Greg Laudeman, Ed.D. Executive Officer and Principal Eduity, LLC www.eduity.net greg(a)eduity.net 706-271-5521

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Evolving the dialogues
by Greg Laudeman, Ed.D. May 26, 2026

May 26, 2026

You should have just gotten an email about the next dialogue this Monday. Please, share and attend! It is about urban design and development, an important issue for our community and we have some great discussants. It may be our last large scale session for a while. Generally, I think the dialogues need to be less topical and more action/outcomes/results-oriented. Venture did this really well. So, I think we should use Venture’s approach, modified to fit current realities and make use of today’s tech, for dialogues about challenges/needs and opportunities/resources in our community. I have pulled the text out of the “VISIONS 86 Do It Yourself Kit” and published it here as a starting point: https://venturing.chattanooga.digital/pub/visions-86-do-it-yourself-kit I am personally interested in learning more about how Venture worked, particularly the visioning process and task forces. We can do separate, topical dialogues for that purpose. Information about all of this will be posted publicly to the Venturing site. I encourage everyone to join by clicking here <https://venturing.chattanooga.digital/invites/xQEhVNYuDG> so you can be in on private group conversations and information. Our next regular meeting, next Tuesday, noon, online at https://go.eduity.net/call/zewrvv4o or in person at the City’s new Small Business Resource Center, 332 E M L King Blvd Chattanooga,TN 37403, will focus on crowdsourcing community dialogues. I’ll send an agenda soon. — Greg Laudeman, Ed.D. Executive Officer and Principal Eduity, LLC www.eduity.net greg(a)eduity.net 706-271-5521

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Creating Great Central Places Dialogue, June 1, 5:00 PM
by Greg Laudeman, Ed.D. May 26, 2026

May 26, 2026

Greetings! Please consider sending this to your associates who might be interested in participating in the dialogue. We would love to have representatives from other parts of the area. Please attend! Chattanooga Venturing Dialogue Creating Great Central Places Monday, June 1, 5:00 PM, Waterhouse Pavilion at Miller Plaza Central places are critical for community. They are how we connect, do business, and find community. Urban design and development has implications for suburbs and an exurbs. What role do community members play in shaping our central places and their connections to other parts of our community? Is that only a role for professional planners and real estate developers? What do YOU want from our central places? Join us for this dialogue, co-produced by River City Company, that will celebrate the work of Stroud Watson and others who transformed Downtown Chattanooga and ask, "What next?" How do we make our central places more vibrant and valuable for all? Doors open at 5:00 PM. Dialogue starts at 5:30. Register to Attend! <https://luma.com/event/evt-2uBCljFQNVgHw6m> About the sponsors: Eduity, LLC, Smart Planning <https://www.eduity.net/> Chattanooga.Digital - The World’s First Digital Utility! <https://chattanooga.digital/> — Greg Laudeman, Ed.D. Executive Officer and Principal Eduity, LLC www.eduity.net greg(a)eduity.net 706-271-5521

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Where should we start engaging the community?
by Greg Laudeman, Ed.D. May 20, 2026

May 20, 2026

The general input from the group is that our focus going forward should be on applied learning about community engagement. Where should we start? A key element of genuine community engagement is allowing community members to set the agenda. The way to do this is to listen to them about what is important to and missing/needed in the community. Are you personally interested doing this? Of course, the challenge is to do this in a fair, open manner so that voices from all parts of the community are heard and can be heard by others. What suggestions do you have about who to engage, where, and when? Might you be interested in working on community engagement tools? If none of the above, what is your interest in Chattanooga Venture and/or community engagement? Please let me know what you think! I need your input. Email me directly (greg(a)eduity.net <mailto:greg@eduity.net>) with answers if you do not feel comfortable emailing the entire group. Our next regular meeting on June 2nd (in-person and online) will focus on this issue/question. Thanks! — Greg Laudeman, Ed.D. Executive Officer and Principal Eduity, LLC www.eduity.net greg(a)eduity.net 706-271-5521

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Agenda for Tuesday, May 5th, CVSG Regular Meeting
by Greg Laudeman, Ed.D. May 4, 2026

May 4, 2026

The Chattanooga Venturing Study Group’s regular meeting is noon tomorrow at Adele’s. Please a bit early to purchase lunch. We’ll wrap up around 1:00. Here’s our agenda for tomorrow: Review our purpose Discuss change of focus to applied learning How might we genuinely engage community members and connect existing efforts to increase incomes and prosperity throughout the area? Walk through online platforms venturing.chattanooga.digital for Study Group purposes. Bring your laptop or use your smart phone Create an account via https://venturing.chattanooga.digital/invites/yHMGvGCeCb in.chattanooga.digital Open to the local public for community purposes and to be used by the Facilitator Bank Present initial plans for the Facilitator Bank Discuss Chattanooga Venturing Dialogues Next dialogue on “Central Places and Urban Design and Development," June 1, Waterhouse Pavilion Move to a webinar/podcast format with small in-person groups, possibly with satellite sessions The value of learning activities Discuss regular Study Group meetings Move discussions and meetings online via Discourse and Nextcloud Talk Continue in-person meetings? Maybe quarterly? Let me know of any other topics to cover. — Greg Laudeman, Ed.D. Executive Officer and Principal Eduity, LLC www.eduity.net greg(a)eduity.net 706-271-5521

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