Beyond one-off consultations: building lasting community involvement

A fireside chat with the City of Guelph on building trust, connecting engagement across projects, and helping residents become more invested in their community.

The City of Guelph is taking a long view to community engagement – using each consultation to build trust, carry community insights forward, and make the next conversation stronger.

Join Tracy Suerich from the City of Guelph and Sarah Horton from Go Vocal for an honest, practical conversation about what this shift looks like in practice.

Speakers

Tracy Suerich — Downtown Renewal Revitalization Advisor (formerly Community Engagement), City of Guelph

Sarah Horton — North America Director, Go Vocal (host)

What you'll take away

1. Turn one-off input into a lasting relationship: how Guelph connects data across projects so residents never start from zero
2. Handle the issue that hijacks every consultation: Guelph's "yes, and" approach when one topic dominates responses
3. Plan engagement around an election year: when to go quiet, when to push, and how to protect your data quality
4. Move residents up the ladder: from a first survey response to lasting community involvement

Who this is for

For engagement, communications, and strategy teams at North American cities — whether you run one platform or one spreadsheet.