Situation
When the College of Western Idaho (CWI) set their sights on a stretch of property for a potential campus near the greenbelt in downtown Boise, the college commissioned CTA Architects Engineers to perform a due-diligence study and preliminary planning. As news of this effort reached the community, the potential location (being near the Boise River and Quinn’s Pond) sparked concern and prompted local news stories questioning the land value and water-table laws. CWI and CTA quickly recognized the potential for further backlash on the project and sought a partner who could lead a media and community relations initiative. The team turned to Red Sky to lead efforts on better understanding public sentiment of the project.
Approach
With the preliminary research and due diligence study process, CWI, CTA and Red Sky agreed that gathering as much initial input on the potential campus from community members was key. Red Sky recommended creating an open dialogue with the community by hosting public sessions where CWI and CTA could share their plan for the campus and receive input directly from citizens. Looking to maximize participation, Red Sky recommended and developed an online survey for community members who couldn’t attend the public forums. Event details and survey information were posted to CWI’s website, social media sites and internal communication channels as well as shared through news releases, community calendars, bulletin boards and neighborhood newsletters.
Results
Public Forums
- Community Insights
- 100 community attendees
- 200+ CWI attendees (staff and students)
- 71 online surveys completed
- 10 media stories
- Community Visioning Workshop
- 26 community attendees
- 64 online surveys completed
- 5% vertical
- 25% compass
- 5% connections
- 4 media stories
Outreach
- Eight neighborhood associations
- Nextdoor social network:
- 13 surrounding neighborhoods
- 750 neighbors
- LinkedIn:
- 5 groups
- Facebook:
- CWI page
- Boise Bench Dwellers Group
- Posted fliers:
- Downtown Boise
- Main Street
- Whitewater Park Boulevard
- Surrounding apartment buildings near potential site
- North End neighborhood
- News releases
- Media advisories
- Compass Connect
- CWI Campus Dev page
- Campus Flyers

Media Coverage
- 8/19/15:
- 8/28/15:
- 8/31/15:
- 9/1/15:
- 9/2/15:
- 9/3/15:
- KTVB noon show: preview of community session
- 9/20/15:
- 9/25/15
- 9/29/15
- KBOI clip: 4:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
- 10/20/15

