Coastal Trends Survey - survey and focus groups

[Date]

2013 NOAA Office of Coastal Programs Coastal Resource Management Customer Survey    Dear Colleague, How can we best serve you? Finding out the answer to this question is the goal of an on-line survey that you may be asked to fill out in the next month. NOAA periodically reaches out to our customers to better understand how to support your coastal resource management efforts. This survey is especially important as we complete the integration of the Coastal Services Center and the Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management to align our programs into the Office of Coastal Programs. Our goal is to provide effective coastal management products and services to address twenty-first century challenges. I personally encourage you and your staff to participate in the survey as it helps us learn the issues that you are facing, your information needs, and your technological capabilities. Please be assured that no names of individuals will be used in any reports generated from this project. The Office of Coastal Programs aims to broaden the partnership umbrella in the private and public sectors to leverage support and target opportunities for maintaining healthy coastal ecosystems and supporting resilient and economically vibrant communities. Collectively, we must balance the uses and demands for resources with adequate protection and conservation measures for social, economic, and environmental prosperity. We must ensure that these areas maintain their rich biodiversity and productivity for current and future generations. Thank you in advance for your participation. If you have any questions or comments, please contact Chris Ellis at (843) 740-1195, or Chris.Ellis@noaa.gov. Your input is extremely valuable and will help us do a better job of planning for—and serving—your needs. We look forward to sharing the results in a future message. Sincerely, Margaret Davidson Director NOAA Office of Coastal Programs

Coastal Resource Management Customer Survey

Invitation and Reminder Emails

Invitation Email Text:

Subject: NOAA Coastal Resources Management Survey

Dear Colleague,

NOAA’s Office of Coastal Programs is conducting a survey to collect information to identify priority coastal issues, along with the informational and training needs of coastal resource managers. You have been selected for this survey because of your work in coastal resources.

Please participate in this 15 minute survey to improve the products and services provided by NOAA.

[Survey link]

If you have any questions or comments regarding this survey, please contact Chris Ellis at 843-740-1195 or chris.ellis@noaa.gov. For technical assistance with the survey, please email XXX@erg.com.

Thank you,

[NAME]

Reminder Email Text:

Subject: Reminder: NOAA Coastal Resources Management Survey Closing Soon

Dear Colleague,

Recently we sent you an invitation to participate in a brief survey about Coastal Resources Management. This is just a little note to remind you to respond by XXX as your input is valuable.

[Survey link]

The feedback gathered through this survey will be used to improve NOAA products and services. If you have any questions or comments regarding this evaluation, please contact Chris Ellis at 843-740-1195 or chris.ellis@noaa.gov. For technical assistance with the survey, please email XXX@erg.com.

Thank you,

[NAME]

2013 NOAA Coastal Resource Management Survey

Virtual Focus Groups

Topic Summary

The virtual focus group will explore selected findings from the 2013 survey to obtain additional clarification, context, and insights into the needs and priorities of the coastal resource management community. Likely topics include emerging priority issues, key data or information gaps, training and information access preferences.

Format

The virtual focus groups (up to two) will be implemented as webinars using a platform such as GoToWebinar. The webinar will include 6 to 10 participants plus a skilled facilitator and notetaker and will last 1 hour. Results will be incorporated into the survey report.

Recruitment

The participants will be recruited from the pool of respondents to the survey. ERG will draft an email thanking respondents for participating in the survey and offering them the opportunity to provide input into future CSC projects through a virtual focus group (see draft email below). The email will be provided to CSC for comments and revision, and will be emailed to the pool of respondents by CSC.

Draft Agenda/Questions

• Welcome, introductions, and overview (5 minutes)

  • Please introduce yourself to the other participants and tell us about your job responsibilities related to coastal management.

• Priority Topics (15 minutes). The specific set of questions that we explore with the participants will depend on the results of the customer survey being conducted. ERG will provide a brief overview of the customer survey results related to the identification of the topic coastal management priorities. If results differ from the last survey, we’ll ask questions to explore further.

If priorities remain similar, ERG may ask questions to delve deeper into more specific subcategories. For example, if zoning/growth management was identified as a top priority within coastal planning and development, we’ll ask for participants to provide examples of their work in this area and where they may need additional support. Additionally, we’ll look to design questions to connect priority issues with the responses that also indicate data or training gaps to help provide additional context or clarification to the results.

• Products and Services (20 minutes). As with the priority topics, the questions that are explored where will depend on the results of the customer survey being conducted. ERG will provide a brief overview the customer survey results related to the customer needs for data, training and other services/products. If results differ from the last survey, we’ll ask questions to explore further.

Otherwise, we’ll ask for input on the specific type of service/product they need since many of the questions are broad categories.

• Communication Preferences (10 minutes). ERG will provide a brief overview the customer survey results related to the communication questions. Potential follow-up questions to provide context and clarification include:

  • What type of coastal information are you searching for in [top preferred item]?

  • What type of information are you search for in [use often NOAA websites]? What would you like to see more of on this site?

• Open discussion and closing thoughts (10 minutes)

  • Do you have any additional feedback you’d like to provide to NOAA Office of Coastal Program’s related to their products and services?

Thank participants for their time and convey when and where the final report will be shared.

Participant Recruitment Email

Dear Colleague,

Thank you for your participation in NOAA’s Office of Coastal Program’s survey of coastal resource management specialists. We learned a lot about the top issues facing coastal managers, along with your informational and training needs. The survey revealed [Insert interesting finding/discussion topic here].

We would like to learn more about [this finding]. We are contacting you to ask you to participate in a 1 hour virtual focus group this topic. The focus group will be conducted via webinar at a time that is convenient to as many participants as possible during [timeframe].

If you are interested in participating, please reply to this email as soon as possible. Space will be limited to no more than 10 participants per webinar.

Thank you in advance for your participation. The information gathered through this process will be used to improve the services provided to the coastal management community. If you have any questions or comments regarding this webinar, please contact [NAME, PHONE, EMAIL].

Sincerely,

[NAME]