Define comms process / approvals / best practices at each relevant level

[annepetersen]

Background Goal: The Forest Management provides timely, targeted communication about the new firewood permitting program that keeps stakeholders informed, engaged, and aligned with the program’s direction. Complicating factor: Internal change management, historical, and organizational considerations are at play here.

Acceptance criteria

• [ ] We have team consensus and support of a comms plan and messaging framework
• [x] The USFS product folks can produce a communications plan that not only follows the established USFS communications process, but the Open Forest content heuristics
• [x] Tasks needed to facilitate rollout are documented as issues on the board and labeled "Firewood program"

Tasks

• [ ] Find out who is leading comms on Forest Products modernization and learn about any possible approval blockers
• [x] Review prior Open Forest comms and identify advocates
• [x] Schedule sessions with Firewood permitting product folks: e.g., communication and engagement planning, co-designing a messaging framework
• [x] Plan sessions with Firewood permitting product folks: e.g., communication and engagement planning, co-designing a messaging framework
• [x] Determine best path forward for establishment of the comms plan and messaging framework
• [x] Document the comms plan and messaging framework
• [x] Socialize the comms plan and messaging framework

Definition of done

• [ ] Meets acceptance criteria

[annepetersen]

Note: this is probably too large an issue, but it'll help me as a placeholder for now.

[annepetersen]

Looked at the examples of tone from Open Forest: a range from formal to approachable.

Idea: prototype out the comms for one item.

For example: what to expect with the pilot. Audiences: public who have access, public who are interested but don't have access, staff at forests that will be participating (managing expectations with TIM coordinators especially; regional foresters/TIM coordinators and points of contact), staff at forests who aren't What: When and how they get access. For example: no later than Nov 1 for initial pilot forests. Re-emphasize: Initial pilot forests: simplest permit process. Second wave: more complex

[MelissaBraxton]

FYI, @annepetersen

• Deck from regional TIM coordinator intro to E&I
• Firewood permitting, phase 2 KO w/ exec sponsors
• Remote vendor KO deck
• Pilot forest onboarding deck

[MelissaBraxton]

Folks to include in trainings are Beth Boddiger and Chris Starling; @bboddiger and @csstarling

[annepetersen]

(note for self) Schedule the Stakeholder Engagement training with Beth.

[MelissaBraxton]

Training is scheduled for Wed. 8/12.

[MelissaBraxton]

@annepetersen - Can you provide an update on this?

[MelissaBraxton]

@annepetersen - It looks like there are a few tasks remaining--should be a light lift. Can you close this out this week?

[MelissaBraxton]

@annepetersen - any update here?

[annepetersen]

I think we're blocked on "Find out who is leading comms on Forest Products modernization and learn about any possible approval blockers." We don't have a way to anticipate the right framing around pandemic impacts given that we don't know OC's current opinion on the topic.

As an update on the then-last remaining item, both comms plan and engagement plan have some changes that I need to get back to (or we should decide if it's time to change ownership on).

[annepetersen]

Delivered our final versions of both comms plan and stakeholder engagement plan today. (Not final final, but the last we'll be involved with in the current effort.)