The Yardstick User Group Meeting is an opportunity for members of the Yardstick Parks Project (and interested parties) to get together and review the results of the project for the past year and to discuss the implications of these results for municipal operations. In addition, discussion will take place regarding potential enhancements and refinements to questions and data for next year’s benchmarking.
Facilitator: Chris Rutherford, Yardstick Project Director
The User Group Meeting usually lasts 2 to 3 hours, followed by lunch and a tour of a location the host organization wishes to showcase, in this case the beautiful Civic Green Courtyard and Accessibility Entrance at the Civic Centre. This creates a good day of networking and sharing of best practices. Yardstick member organizations are encouraged to send several representatives. Non-member organizations are very welcome to attend, as this meeting will provide a great opportunity for potential participants to find out more about the Yardstick Parks Project and the benefits it holds for Ontario municipalities.
PLEASE NOTE: There is no cost to attend this event, however advance registration is required.
Why should you attend? How do you know if you are doing a good job, and what is a good job? The Yardstick benchmarking program provides management, financial and planning information for parks, open space and facilities managers. Participating in this project will allow you to measure and compare your performance, levels of service and operational costs with similar sized municipalities across the province, the country and internationally.
Still unsure if this information session is for you? Try answering the following questions:
- How many hectares of park land do you provide per 1000 residents?
- What is it costing you per hectare to provide this level of service?
- How many street trees do you provide per kilometre of road and what is your annual expenditure per street tree?
- How many playgrounds do you provide per 1000 children and what are they costing to maintain?
- What is your annual expenditure per m2 of garden bed?
- Do you have activity strategies for provision of tracks and trails, playgrounds or washrooms in your parks?
- How much is your organization spending each year on parks as a proportion of its total spend?
- What do your park visitors value about your parks, and does the level of service you provide meet their expectations?
Were you able to answer all, or at least most of the questions above? If not, don’t worry, you are not alone. Most members of the Yardstick project had the same problem … until they started benchmarking. Now they are able to confidently respond to those, and many other questions, while providing quantifiable data to support their claims.
Yardstick provides easy to use, flexible, online reports, along with an individual analysis report for each member organization—measuring each member against industry best practices. Wouldn’t you, or the elected officials in your community, like to know how your municipality/facility will measure up so you can plan, and invest, more wisely?
Join us at either of the following events:
SESSION 1:
WHEN: Monday, October 21st, 12:30 pm to 3:00 pm
VENUE/HOST: Town of Tillsonburg - Tillsonburg Community Centre, Lion’s Den Meeting Room, 45 Hardy Avenue, Tillsonburg, ON N4G 3W9
SESSION 2:
WHEN: Tuesday, October 22nd, 9:30 am to 1:30 pm
VENUE/HOST: Town of East Gwillimbury - Town of East Gwillimbury Civic Centre Holland Landing Room, 19000 Leslie Street, Sharon, ON
TO REGISTER: Please click here and you will be directed to the registration page.
