Category: Feature

Feature, Uncategorized

Popcorn Festival Booth Update

Our first time having a booth at the Popcorn Festival went great! We had a prize roundabout that was a huge hit for kids and adults where we had people spin the wheel and answer corresponding questions about Valparaiso or ValpoNEXT, and they got a piece of candy for answering! We also had a photobooth backdrop with many Valpo related props that was surprisingly most exciting for the kids that came by for the candy.

We got to speak to so many wonderful people about ValpoNEXT’s vision and what we all love and would want to change about Valpo. It was very exciting to get such great feedback from Valpo’s residents and business owners, and to really get our name out there in the community. We thank everyone that took time out of their day to stop by our booth and unknowingly become civically engaged for a few minutes!

Feature

ValpoNEXT Civic Reflection Training Update

Civic reflection is a discussion model that uses readings, images and video to engage people in productive conversation about issues that impact their communities and work, as well as build bridges of understanding in the midst of differences. This training gave citizens of Valpo the tools to facilitate difficult dialogue in a variety of contexts.

This took place on April 1st at 6:30PM. This was a FREE program, though donations are welcome to fund future programs like it.

This program is made possible by a partnership with Valparaiso Unversity’s Institute for Leadership & Service Civic Reflection Initiative.

Feature

ValpoNEXT’s Civic Incubator Pitch Night Update

The Next Great Idea for Valpo… was Matthew Swinehart’s!

ValpoNEXT hosted a Pitch Night on February 28, 2019. Participants offered their BIG ideas to improve our city and compete to win a $250 prize for the best idea.

Matthew Swinehart came up with a detailed idea to make navigating the city’s government page much simpler, and to easily store any an all public documents that people would want to access online. There were many pitches that we were impressed by, but Matthew’s took the cake and we are excited to see where it takes us! Thanks Matthew!

Help us fund future events like this one.