Hosting a Table made easy.

Step 1: Register as a Host 

Register here or by calling 859-536-1334. The process should only take 2-3 minutes. Registering ensures that you will be kept in the loop, sent materials and information, and allows us to send you follow-up resources. 

There are two hosting options — public and private. If you want your conversation to be open to anyone, register as a public table. We'll list it on our website for anyone to find and we'll work to match 4-10 participants with your table. Because these tables are public, more or less people may show up. You can also host a private table for conversations between groups like your family, friends, book club, or others.

Step 2: Plan a time and place

Table conversations can happen anywhere - homes, restaurants, places of worship, coffee shops, schools, libraries, offices, parks, and other locations. They can be in-person or virtual. If you are planning to host your conversation in a public place, make sure the space is available and accommodates your expected attendees before the day of. OTT conversations typically take just over an hour. If you are planning to host your conversation virtually, we have some tips to make that the best experience possible, which you can find here.

Step 3: Invite your guests

Generally, it’s hard to keep conversations with more than 8 people on track. If you want to host more people, consider hosting more than one table.  While it can be easy to stay inside your friend or family group, consider inviting people you don’t know as well, or ask someone in your group to bring someone new!

Registration for guests/participants isn't required, but we encourage everyone to register here. This will enable them to stay up to date with results when they are released and it gives us a more accurate understanding of how many people are participating. The survey process is a big part of this year's On the Table. If your guests won't have smartphone or internet access, make sure to either contact us for printed materials or print them out yourself from our materials page. You should also provide pens/pencils if you are using the paper surveys.

This year's On the Table conversation is about a specific topic and follows a specific format. Following the steps below will help you keep the conversation on track and will help us get more survey participation! 

Step 1: Start by welcoming everyone to the conversation and doing a round of introductions. To make it easy, we recommend using the script on the next page, which explains how On the Table works, what the purpose is, and what will be done with the information afterwards.

Step 2: Invite everyone to fill out the survey. We have both digital and physical versions available, but we prefer that people fill out the digital version (available through the QR code on this document's cover) in the interest of data privacy.

Step 3: After the survey, start the conversation! While your conversation can take whatever direction seems most natural, we suggest following the script and prompts included.

Step 4: Close out the conversation by asking people to fill out the final survey question and thanking people for attending you conversation!

Being a facilitator in these conversations can sometimes be tricky. In a normal facilitator role, you would not provide your opinion, but for On the Table, we encourage you to participate fully in the conversation. If disagreements come up, try to keep the conversation comfortable for everyone and the discussion on track and moving forward. Remember, this is a dialogue, not a debate!

Try to pay attention to the group dynamic — some people may feel more or less comfortable talking due to a variety of factors, including their personality, expertise level, race, class, age, political affiliation, gender, nationality, or religion. Invite others to be respectful of everyone in the group when sharing their opinion and be aware if anyone is taking over the conversation. Make sure that everyone at the table has a chance to speak. For more tips on facilitation, go here.

Start by welcoming everyone to the table. Let your guests introduce themselves. If you want to add an icebreaker question, consider using some of the options at the bottom of the page.

"Welcome, everyone! By participating in this year’s On the Table, you are part of a city-wide discussion about how Lexington should grow and change over the next 20 years. Before we get too far into it, let's go around the table and introduce ourselves. Let's start with first names, and where you live."

"Great! We're all here today to talk about Lexington. Here's how this will work: First, we're going to take a quick survey about your vision for the future of Lexington. Next, we'll have a conversation about our responses. After our conversation, we'll wrap up with one last survey question that will ask if the conversation changed your thinking. Then we're done! This should take about an hour and it's important to stay for the entire length of our conversation. Does this make sense to everyone?"

Answer any questions that your guests may have. If you have trouble answering any questions, you can refer to our FAQ page.

"OK - time for the survey!  Your responses will be used to inform Lexington's Comprehensive Plan, a document that guides how Lexington will grow over the next 20 years. Each question in the survey relates to a different theme of the Plan. Your answers  will always be anonymous. If you have your phone or an internet device, you can find the survey online at ottlex.org/survey. We have around eight minutes to take the survey, but don't worry if it takes longer!"

If you are using paper surveys, this is the time to distribute them alongside pens/pencils. You'll collect these once the conversation is over. Set a timer for 8 minutes or keep an eye on a clock. Once the time has passed, let people know that it's time to start wrapping up. Of course, they can have more time if needed, but don't let it go on for too long.

Once everyone is done, it's time to move into the discussion! 

"Okay! Now that we're done with the survey it's time to move into the conversation. A few ground rules before we begin. First, remember we are all here for the same reason - we care about Lexington's future! So, be kind and respectful of everyone's opinion. Some of us may come from a different perspective or set of experiences. Let's all agree not to interrupt each other and give everyone here a chance to speak. This is a dialogue, not a debate!"

Use any or all of the prompts below to guide your conversation. Consider asking your group which topics they'd be interested in discussing, and select the corresponding prompt(s). Here are the topics: Lexington in 20 years, neighborhoods, environment, jobs, transportation, and growth.

Prompt 1: Lexington in 20 years
How do you want Lexington to change over the next 20 years? What do you want to be the same? What do you want to be different?

Prompt 2: Neighborhoods
Think about your neighborhood and its features like housing, schools, amenities, and safety. What do you like and dislike about your neighborhood? How would you like to see it improve?

Prompt 3: Environment
Lexington's environment is impacted by everything from recycling to our tree canopy and parks. What do you think should be done to protect the environment in Lexington?

Prompt 4: Jobs & Prosperity
A number of factors contribute to a person's financial success, including education, jobs, and a community's cost of living. How can Lexington make it easier for everyone here to financially succeed?

Prompt 5: Transportation
Getting around Lexington can be challenging whether you are driving, biking, walking, or using public transit. What do you think would make it easier to get around our city? 

Prompt 6: Growth
Lexington will grow and change significantly over the next 20 years, and new developments could be built downtown, along major roads, in existing neighborhoods, and on farmland. Where and how do you think new growth should happen in Lexington?

Take as much time as you need to have the conversation, but we find that anything longer than an hour gets tiring. Throughout the conversation, consider inviting people who have spoken less to jump in. The conversation might be difficult or challenging for some people, so try to make sure everyone is respectful of others. 

When you are ready to wrap up, continue on below.

"Thank you all so much for that conversation! Now it's time to fill out the final survey question. If you're using a paper survey, it's at the bottom. If you took a digital survey, you can go to post.ottlex.org to complete it. As you respond, think about if our conversation changed your mind or if you learned anything new."

Participants should now fill in the last question on the Participant Survey or navigate to post.ottlex.org on their smartphones. Once everyone has done this, it's time to thank everyone for coming and reminding them of the next steps.

"Thank you all again for participating in On the Table!  Try to hold on to the things that were shared today. Remember, the input you provided will be used to inform Lexington's Comprehensive Plan, which will guide how Lexington grows and changes over the next 20 years. There will also be additional opportunities for input as the Comprehensive Plan is built and adopted by the city over the next two years.

As a reminder, all of the survey answers from today are anonymous. If you provided your email address, it will be unpaired from your survey responses. If you have any questions about On the Table you can reach out to the team who organizes it at info@ottlex.org. If you have any questions about the Comprehensive Plan, you can reach out to Lexington's Division of Planning at imagine@lexingtonky.gov.

If you used paper surveys, the next step is getting them turned in to our data team. To return them, you can send a photo of each page to info@ottlex.org or 859-536-1334, or you can find a handy drop-off point here. Please return your survey by 5:00pm on Friday, April 22.

Once all the surveys are returned, our team will begin analyzing the data. For more information on what this means, visit our data page here. After the data is anonymized and processed, it will be sent to the Division of Planning for incorporation into the Comprehensive Plan. It will also be made public for anyone to access.