Inspirations from Patronicity’s 2019 Team Retreat
During the week of June 17th, the Patronicity team flew to Vancouver, BC, Canada to spend a week in the mountain air strategizing about the future growth, opportunities and direction for our company. Our remote team is spread out across the country, from Boston to Grand Rapids, Detroit to Indianapolis and Los Angeles, so it’s important to host annual retreats to collaborate, build team spirit and synergize in a unique location away from home.
Beyond morning hikes, delicious seafood & gelato, vibrant public spaces & public art, and incredible urban bike trails that painted our path to explore the city, Vancouver was the perfect location to inspire thought-provoking discussions about Patronicity’s role in the world of place-making, civic engagement, community empowerment, and the pieces of our impactful crowdgranting model.
This was our teams first retreat within a big city; typically we find a cabin in the woods far away from the liveliness and distractions of an urban center. Here are some of our teams most memorable moments from their trip:
Bridget Anderson — As a Hoosier, the plains and rolling hills are my typical topography, needless to say, Vancouver really WOW’d me. Not only was the proximity of the mountain and the sea great for my Instagram but having these natural elements in every view allowed me to see why Vancouverites have been so thoughtful about their environment. You can’t miss the beauty of nature and even as a visitor I felt an urge to protect it. Since I arrived first, I got to use all of the public transportation options and found them not only clean but the friendliest rides I’ve ever taken. Despite having some reservations, I gladly put some miles on my sneakers as every single hike we took ended with a view that delivered. This was my first Patronicity retreat and I came away even more inspired by this bright team and our shared passion for improving communities. After spending six days with my colleagues I didn’t want to leave but eventually left inspired by Vancouver and our terrific group of placemaking leaders.
Barbara Lash — The term “placemaking” was coined in the 70s and Vancouver is a veritable timeline of placemaking evolution. A relatively new city by global standards, Vancouver was incorporated less than 150 years ago. Today it’s a sprawling, global city and consistently named as one of the top five worldwide cities for livability and quality of life. On our city bike tour, the friendly guide told us how poor planning and budgeting in the 70’s actually helped to shape what we see now as progressive city planning. Back then, the plan was for a bustling highway to intersect the city and allow for easy vehicular access. Because the funds never materialized, the project lagged. By the time funding was accessible, cities had already started to see how mid-city highways negatively impact neighborhoods and livability.
The 80’s brought Olympic-sized building projects and catapulted Vancouver into the global scene. In 1990, the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association was formed to promote livability, bicycle and pedestrian-friendly commuting and has focused on creating vibrant public places and events. Placemaking was now flourishing in the city.
In 2015 the DVBIA engaged 11,000 Vancouverites in its Re-Imagine Downtown Vancouver 2040 project to dream about what downtown could look, feel and taste like over the next 25 years. The results of this initiative and vision is a city that has safe and dedicated bike lanes, encouraging almost a third of the population to bike to work. Murals, sculptures, public plazas and parklets dot the city, adding to the natural beauty of the landscape, and paying homage to the native cultures that were here long before it was a global city.
All that beauty, infrastructure and history make it highly desirable,with housing prices some of the highest in Canada. It will be interesting to see how Vancouver evolves and creates spaces for people of all economic strata to live in and enjoy the city.
Jonathan Berk — As someone who has spent most of their life on the East Coast, I was absolutely blown away by the close proximity to nature that was an engrained part of every Vancouverites life. Stanley Park and the nearby mountain ranges provide wilderness hiking, biking and nature walk experiences all just a short drive OR bike ride from Downtown. There’s a reason Vancouver leads the Globe as one of the more attractive cities to move to with one of the best qualities of life year over year.
The city’s public spaces, new architecture and large scale public art reflect it’s people, a diverse array of residents from around the Globe with a zest for being an open and inviting culture while also being sure to experience the cultures of those new immigrants to the city.
Mahala Clayton — Vancouver is as close to a modern urban planner’s dream as you could get. Sustainable, transit oriented, and dense development reigns supreme here and combined with the surrounding mountains and ocean you end up with a drool worthy civic center.
Although our time to explore was limited, we explored some of the young city’s most iconic sights and hiked to the most stunning vistas it had to offer.
Most of our time was dedicated to figuring out Patronicity’s pathways to growth and dissecting our strengths and opportunities amongst our small but mighty team. Six of us in total from all parts of the US are leading the charge in Crowdgranting through our unique state based programs but the potential for these programs to expand and diversify is endless. Crowdfunding is a powerful fundraising tool but is also a great marketing campaign for an organization and their targeted efforts. When you combine that power with the matching grant funds of a sponsor that has aligned priorities you end up with an ominpotent structure we call Crowdgranting. This means the Sponsor’s dollars go further and touch more projects, the fundraising entity only has to raise a portion of the funds they need, and on top of that the public has a chance to hear about this work, have input, and be a part of the movement.
The Crowdgranting model makes great sense for Placemaking; there is an easy understanding of why donors or sponsors would want to invest in developing public space as everyone understands the use you can get out of that space and the effect your environment has on your well being .
When people invest in their places it makes for better used and cared for spaces in perpetuity, places you can take your loved ones to use and enjoy for years and explain how and why you were a part of that.
Vancouver invests in their spaces and the results are tangibly evident at every corner. It was inspiring to see what is possible when leaders step up and set goals for their place and then invest and implement to meet those goals. Vancouver’s goal of being one of the greenest cities is championed by the plan to have 50% of it’s population commuting by walking, cycling, and public transit by 2020. After exceeding their goal in 2019, they raised the bar to reach 66% by 2020. Feeling inspired by this city and our retreat, Patronicity recognized the importance in building a groundswell of connected networks around Placemaking by 2020, and we have already begun the work and can’t wait to share that with you all.
Tim Heaphy — After an afternoon in the Deep Cove area of Vancouver, hiking to quarry rock, taking in the views, and wading in the early summer water, I realized I was going to have to become a millionaire. That’s the only way to afford one of the multi-million dollar homes that ring the cove’s shore. Though owning a home there seems like a steep goal, it’s OK, because I’m aiming for retirement. So I’ve got a few years.
The initial sticker shock of the homes in Vancouver made more and more sense as we explored more of the city. A city that is simultaneously reminiscent of Hong Kong, Cologne, and Seattle is a pretty incredible thing. That it manages to combine all these flavors while still maintaining the typical Canadian charm in a breathtakingly picturesque setting only adds to the appeal. People have flocked there, and the city has responded.
Public transit is robust and runs on time, different cultures assert themselves and commingle in interesting and enjoyable ways, and the sushi game is insane. After the picture-perfect afternoon at Deep Cove, our five-hour bike tour through the city was a major highlight. Seeing the city at ground level, with its sounds and smells so immediate was really energizing and engaging. Plus we had our fill of Vancouver lore and history from our fearless dreamboat cyclist tour guide, Nick.
All together, the experience of our distributed team coming together with such a vibrant city as the backdrop generated some undeniable momentum as Patronicity continues its journey as a people-empowering, place-making company.
As a team who primarily communicates through slack and weekly conferences calls, we had the opportunity to create stronger bonds that gives us a deeper connection to our work and the collaborative impact we are leaving within our communities. We left this retreat with a greater understanding of the value we are providing our partners and projects, better clarity in our roadmap forward, ideas for growing the community of placemakers, and new strategies for our continued pursuit of new partnership to run crowdgranting programs globally.
