The "vision" behind Vision Manlius

My experience getting the Vision Manlius story was quite good. I found out about the meeting by accident one day when I was driving through the village of Manlius and saw a poster advertising the meeting. I was interested in the story to begin with, since I am from Manlius, so it was easier to come up with questions to ask since the plan would ultimately be affecting my life.

I was able to set up an interview with Natalie Miner, who is a village trustee, as well as Chairperson of the Vision Manlius Steering Committee. Unfortunately, she was only able to meet with me during our Newhouse advising session, so I was stressed out when I arrived at the interview because I missed advising information and I was a little late for the interview. Luckily, Miner didn't even notice that I was late, and she ended up knowing my dad, so she was very friendly.

I learned that sometimes the best questions you can ask during an interview are ones that you didn't plan on asking. I also learned that asking for clarification, even if you think you understand something, is a good idea. I was able to get some really good details about the whole process of creating the "Vision Manlius" plan by asking where the idea originated and what will be done to finalize the process. I also learned that my strategy of asking "Is there anything else you would like me to know" at the end of an interview is very useful because it usually results in a great soundbite, in case you didn't get any other good ones during the course of the interview!

Overall, the meeting was really interesting. I enjoyed hearing residents' feedback to the plan, because the presentation I saw was a very one-sided view of the plan... obviously, the creators were very supportive of their plan! I learned that it's helpful to take notes of people who speak out at public meetings, what they look like, their names, and what they said. Thanks to this last-minute idea, I was able to track down a man who didn't think some parts of the plan were as specific as they could be. He seemed impressed that I approached him saying, "Mr. Alcott, I noticed that you had some concerns about the economic development section..." All in all, it was a good experience, and it was a "real news" story that I (surprisingly) actually enjoyed covering!