Beyond the Open House: How Stow Kept Residents Engaged Through Plan Adoption

Introduction

The Town of Stow, Massachusetts, embarked on the development of its Comprehensive Plan 2035 with a strong emphasis on meaningful public engagement. Working with their consulting team, JM Goldson, the Town prioritized inclusive, accessible participation throughout a multi-phase planning process.

To support expanded engagement, particularly during the strategy development and final plan review phases, the team leveraged Konveio to create a hybrid experience that complemented in-person outreach and made it easier for residents to engage with complex planning materials on their own time.

Problem

While comprehensive planning processes typically emphasize public engagement during early visioning stages, participation often drops off as projects move into more detailed strategy development.

In Stow, the Town and project team identified an opportunity to extend public involvement deeper into the process. With additional funding secured through a grant, they aimed to:

• Expand engagement during the strategy phase (Phase 3), where content becomes more detailed and complex
• Reach residents who may not attend in-person meetings
• Present a large volume of information in a way that remained accessible and not overwhelming

Traditional approaches such as static PDFs or in-person-only workshops would have limited and made it difficult for residents to provide targeted, meaningful feedback.

Solution

To address these challenges, the team implemented Konveio as a central component of a hybrid engagement strategy.

They designed engagement materials simultaneously for both in-person and online use, ensuring consistency across formats. Posters and workshop materials available at Town facilities were mirrored directly within the Konveio platform, allowing residents to have the same experience regardless of how they participated.

Using Konveio, the team:

• Hosted an asynchronous online open house for reviewing and commenting on strategies
• Enabled document-based commenting tied to specific sections
• Organized virtual focus groups by topic
• Published both a graphic plan and a text-only version for accessibility

This approach made it easier for residents to navigate and engage with the material. As the team shared, “People found it really easy to scroll through the document and drop a pin… it made it easy for folks to skip around and focus on what they cared about.”

The platform was promoted through municipal communication channels, including social media, newsletters, and board outreach, building on established engagement efforts from earlier phases.

Impact

Expanded Accessibility: Residents could participate without needing to attend in-person events, engaging with materials on their own time.

Improved Navigation of Complex Content: Konveio’s interactive interface helped simplify a large and detailed plan. Users could jump between sections within the summary and focus on topics relevant to them.

More Actionable Feedback: Commenting directly within the document led to more specific and useful input.

Consistency Across Engagement Formats: A single set of materials supported both in-person and digital engagement, reducing duplication of effort.

Enhanced Late-Stage Engagement: By hosting the full draft plan on Konveio, the Town transformed a typically static review process into an interactive experience.

“Having it in a dedicated platform is a lot easier for folks to engage with than just a PDF… participants don’t have to go find someone’s email or attend a meeting.”

Results

The Stow Comprehensive Plan 2035 was approved by the Planning Board on November 18, 2025.

By integrating Konveio into later phases, the Town ensured that community input shaped not only the vision but also the detailed strategies and final plan document.

Konveio proved especially valuable for projects involving detailed, graphic-rich planning documents. By making complex materials interactive and accessible, the platform enabled deeper engagement, more actionable feedback, and a more transparent planning process.