MetroQuest

Category: [MEET METROQUEST]

  • [MEET METROQUEST] Chris Gravel, Account Manager

    [MEET METROQUEST] Chris Gravel, Account Manager

    At MetroQuest, every member of our team gets excited about exceptional public engagement! Today, we introduce you to one of our very passionate MetroQuest All Stars: Chris Gravel! Chris is our most senior Account Manager. For seven years, he’s shown a genuine interest and obsession in the public outreach projects of his clients. Let’s get to know Chris a little better…

    Chris, can you give us the 10,000-foot view of your role at MetroQuest?

    As we’ve grown as a company, I’ve had the privilege to work with many government organizations, ranging from small towns, to cities, to State Departments of Transportations. I’ve also been involved with developing relationships among many of the industry’s top Planning and Engineering Firms, including: Kimely-Horn, AECOM, and Michael Baker, to name a few. I love discussing their outreach efforts and strategizing so they can achieve outstanding public participation outcomes.

    Before you joined MetroQuest, what was your background?

    I previously worked for Canada’s premier engineering and information technology firm as a Business Development Manager in a division focused on providing Earth Observation products and solutions to clients who were largely focused on resource and environmental monitoring.  I had the pleasure of working with clients from around the globe and hone my sales, project management, and operations skills in a highly complex, competitive environment.

    You’ve seen so many successful public engagement projects over the years. What are some of your favorite elements, common among these projects? 

    Truly hearing and understanding what the public is saying – that’s the success common among MetroQuest subscribers. Many of our clients end up with a tremendous amount of meaningful data following their MetroQuest survey. It gives them a platform to reach the voices that are normally not heard: people who are too shy to speak up in public, or who are too busy or unable to get to public meetings, or even those who are minorities and typically underrepresented at public events. Hearing the reaction of clients when they see greater participation and diversity in their results than they are used to is exciting for me! Clients that hear progressive and diverse ideas, and are willing to incorporate them as opposed to just accepting the status quo, those are the projects that I feel are most successful and likely to meet the long-term needs of their communities.

    What advice would you give to government agencies and consulting firms about their next public engagement project?

    Two things come to mind. We’ve seen great success with clients using social media ads to get their survey publicised – it’s easy and it’s cheap. Another fantastic strategy is to create a share kit for your stakeholders, media, and local partners with the message and branding you want to get across. These share kits should include template emails, social media posts, images, and whatever else you think would be valuable in getting your message to others. Share kits make getting the word out easy – others can engage and promote your MetroQuest survey by simply cutting and pasting the details.

    What do you like to do outside of work?

    I’m very passionate about staying active and spending time outdoors. We are blessed in Vancouver to have amazing access to nature and favourable weather. I ride my bike to work every day and am also an avid Mountain Biker. I can also be found paddle boarding, skiing, or hiking with family and friends.

    You are passionate about cycling, the environment, and sustainability. How are you able to draw from these passions and utilize them in your role at MetroQuest?

    I’d say most of our clients are dealing with challenges around mobility, the environment, and driven by a desire to make their own communities more livable and resilient. These ambitions speak directly to my passions that I try to advocate for in my own community. I see MetroQuest as being one way to help empower better conversations around community and how we move around the globe. I am lucky to be able to work with like-mind clients who value the voice of the public.

  • [MEET METROQUEST] Happy Holidays From All of Us!

    [MEET METROQUEST] Happy Holidays From All of Us!

    Happy holidays to you and your family from all your friends at MetroQuest!

    We wanted to share some of our celebrations with you, so before you head off to enjoy your festivities, grab a glass of eggnog and share in the sweetness of the season.

    This year, Heather wowed us all with a Secret Santa treat in the office … she made us amazing MetroQuest themed holiday cookies!

    These cookies are still being talked about, especially with their unexpected hint of almond extract in the icing. Who would of thought that this subtle change would make such an impact. Heather was kind enough to share her recipe, so now you can enjoy them too!

    This is a great cookie to add to your holiday baking traditions, or maybe even add a glass of milk and leave as a snack for a certain someone special this season.

    Dave was so excited about these cookies that he even highlighted them in one of our recent webinars, Optimizing Online Engagement with MetroQuest.

    We wish you all the best this holiday season! See you again in the New Year!

  • [MEET METROQUEST] Tara Crothers, Customer Success and Support Manager

    [MEET METROQUEST] Tara Crothers, Customer Success and Support Manager

    At MetroQuest, we take customer success very seriously. We’re simply passionate about great public engagement and love helping government agencies and their consulting firms build the best online experiences to engage citizens. In this post, we introduce you to one of our MetroQuest All Stars! Tara Crothers heads up the world-class Customer Success and Support team. 

    Tara, can you give us the 10,000-foot view of your role at MetroQuest?

    I run the Customer Success and Support department, meaning I’m involved in all things customer. I’m in charge of making sure our users are getting the most out of their MetroQuest subscription and managing a team of amazing support specialists who create the best customer experience possible. 

    What drives you to be so passionate about customer success?

    Our customers are helping people speak out and shape how their communities will grow, and that’s pretty inspirational for me! I’m driven to make sure that MetroQuest reaches every single person who wants to share their voice. 

    Before you joined MetroQuest, what was your background?

    I’ve spent 5 years at Apple educating people about technology and helping them when things went wrong. I’ve helped train new support specialists around the world, helped to develop apps that facilitate the best customer journey possible, and worked with huge teams of repair technicians in Apple Stores.   

    Before that, I worked on my Bachelor of Science, specializing in GIS! I love connecting with our customers about spatial data analysis and getting to see the amazing results they achieve with MetroQuest. 

    Tell us what compelled you to make the move from Apple to MetroQuest?

    I loved helping people get the most out of their personal devices, but I was ready to help them do even more. Instead of showing people how to get the most out of their phones and tables, I now enable government agencies to engage those same people to use their devices to change the world – by giving feedback and ideas as to how to make their cities better spaces to live, work, and play. I was ready to make a bigger impact. MetroQuest was the perfect opportunity.  

    What do you love about online public engagement?

    I’ve been to community meetings before, and there are so many opinions not expressed because the environment is loud, public, and overwhelming. It’s hard to get a question out, and usually only those who are extremely in favor or extremely opposed really end up sharing. I love that MetroQuest provides an online space where people can express everything they want to say in a safe and private environment, without all that stress and fear often present at town halls. 

    How do you feel you’re making a difference for government agencies and their consulting firms who use MetroQuest?

    Our customers look at a new project by asking what they need to learn from the community – what are the right questions, what data they want to get, and what they’ll do with that data. I approach a new project with the public in mind, because you can’t get valuable data without a highly engaging online experience. Bringing those two perspectives together is what makes all the difference, and I love working with customers to get the best of both worlds. 

    What are your three top tips for great public engagement?

    1. Make it look easy. Even if there are complex questions in there, keep the first few questions simple and fast to fill out so that participants think it’ll go by in a flash. You wouldn’t believe how many people close a window because something looks time consuming, without reading a word. 
    2. Use all of your resources. Sure, you’ll post a link to your MetroQuest site on your Facebook page, but have you considered just how many email lists your organization might have? Maybe there’s an email list of people waiting for a parking space at a facility that’s affected by this project. A list of people who have emailed in with complaints about existing features that this project aims to change. A list of parks and recreation visitors. These are people who have a voice in your community – reach out to them! 
    3. Don’t overthink it. If you wouldn’t understand the information provided quickly and easily yourself, why would a participant? Test out your engagement strategy on coworkers and friends, anyone not involved in designing the strategy – see what they think and hear their feedback.  

    Tell us about a day in your life at MetroQuest.

    My day changes, a lot. I spend some of it checking in on customer progress and exploring their projects. Some of it on the phone with customers hearing about their upcoming surveys and helping shape them into great online engagement experiences. I work with our development team to create new software features that will benefit our customers, and with our sales and marketing teams to make sure the customer experience is the best it can possibly be. The people here are passionate and determined to provide the best product and service imaginable. I can’t picture a better way to spend my day. 

    What do you like to do outside of work?

    I’m currently training for my second half-marathon with the other Tara in the office, so we spend a lot of time running! Beyond that – I love cooking and am always trying new recipes. You can usually find me hanging out with my wife at Sunset beach with a good book in hand. 

    What advice do you have for people thinking about working here?

    Show up ready to get a lot done. Color outside the lines of your job description. We’re a team of innovators, who rethink every process and question every assumption. This is an amazing place to work. All you have to do is find how you can contribute to making us better and you’ll never have a boring workday again!  

  • [MEET METROQUEST] Mike Walsh, Chief-Executive-Officer

    [MEET METROQUEST] Mike Walsh, Chief-Executive-Officer

    Welcome to the first of our new blog series entitled “Meet MetroQuest!”

    In this series, we’ll introduce the exceptional people who make up the MetroQuest team. We’re passionate about online public engagement, leading edge government technology, and delivering the best solutions to ensure citizens are involved in the planning of great cities. This blog series is a chance for us to celebrate our passionate people and their dedication.   

    In this first interview, we introduce you to Mike Walsh, our fearless CEO. 

    Mike, can you give us the 10,000-foot view of your role at MetroQuest? 

    It’s in my nature to be involved with all aspects of MetroQuest – from finance and accounting to customer support and success. With the latter, I tend to help with strategy and advise the team on bigger picture scenarios. Overall, I help plug gaps where they need to be plugged – this is sometimes why I’m called the Chief-of-Everything-Else Officer!  

    Of course, that continues to change as the company evolves. Last year we doubled our headcount, so it’s the case that things I used to be involved are now the responsibility of others. It’s a great feeling to delegate important work to talented people you can trust to make it happen. 

    What led you to create MetroQuest? 

    Initially, there were three of us involved in developing a fusion of sustainability and computing that could be used to engage people in a conversation about sustainability for a town, city, or region.  

    It’s my view that we need to try and not just think about a place today, but envisage how that place will look like in 5, 10, or even 25 years. This visualization needs to happen because urban areas are changing and growing, and getting bigger and busier. With MetroQuest, we help clients visualize growth and expansion, with a focus on sustainability. Great cities don’t happen by accident. We need effective public participation and proactive plans for better transportation, move livable cities, and happier communities.  

    What drives you to be such a bold advocate for sustainable cities? 

    I’ve always been interested in the intersection of sustainability, business, and computers.  

    MetroQuest was born out of the Sustainable Development Research Institute at UBC, and the company really found its feet when I was a grad student studying sustainability.  

    Sustainability to me is another word for strategy. Most businesses have a strategy to really try to optimize or focus on financial performance, but don’t necessarily pay as much attention to the human or ecological implications. Sustainability is a broader way of talking about strategy and thinking a little more holistically about the issues at hand.  

    Sustainable cities, or Smart Cities, have become a very hot topic of late. As the global population continues to grow and many more people are choosing to live in cities, getting cities to be desirable places with a small energy and waste footprint will be critical. Smart Cities is really just the intersection of sustainability and urban places. 

    How do you see the future of public engagement evolving?  

    There’s always going to be a role for in-person interaction and there will always be town hall meetings. However, if you want to engage lots of people – people who are supportive of a project or issue – you aren’t going to see many of them at a town hall meeting. This means that if you want them to participate, you need to give them some other mechanism to do so.  

    That’s why there’s a shift to digital interaction online and it’s going to continue to go that way. At MetroQuest, we continue to see great examples of the traditionally silent majority now playing a key role in shaping urban and transportation plans by providing their informed input online. I think this will continue to be the case, creating increasing demand for ways to enable citizens to meaningfully participate online. 

    Would you say that MetroQuest is a disruptor of the industry? 

    We are pioneers in the space and could certainly be considered disruptors. We engineered digital interaction when there was no Internet. We used to go and shine things on the wall, using a laptop and a projector and gather input using polling keypads!  

    The advent of the Internet enabled us to access a lot more people for a lot less money per participant. The latest U.S. Census Bureau data tells us that nearly 80% of US households have a broadband Internet subscription with a desktop or laptop and a handheld computer (smartphone or tablet). It’s never been easier to empower government agencies to engage citizens online!  

    At MetroQuest, we continue to disrupt. With the proliferation of the Internet came many players in the “online survey” space. But, no one likes traditional surveys, even online. The best public engagement can only be born from compassion for the human experience. Our team has a relentless focus on enabling highly visual and interactive online engagement to support better city and transportation planning. Multiple choice questions don’t cut it. Because we gamify surveys and weave education about planning into the online experience, we bridge the gap between complex planning initiatives and quantifying the desires of citizens. This is why I like to call MetroQuest the “unsurvey. ” 

    What do you do outside of work? 

    My wife and I like to travel and ski. We’re out of the city many weekends, which definitely helps to disconnect your brain from the work world and reconnect with the outdoors.  

    What guidance do you give government agencies looking to garner meaningful public input? 

    First, make sure that you have a clear objective. We always ask clients: “how would you define success?”  Starting with the end in mind empowers agencies to achieve, and often surpass, their public engagement goals.  

    To that end, we also like to ask:

    • “what are you trying to accomplish?”
    • “what would success look like?”
    • “what information are you trying to collect”
    • “what are you going to do with that information?”  

    Second, we advise agencies to not just ask a question for the sake of asking a question. We encourage clients to ask questions that actually have a useful purpose further down the road. For example, we helped a client who wanted to gather information about demographics, in particular income. We advised them not to, because they were unclear as to what they were going to do with that information.  

    It’s a fact that the more questions you ask, the less answers you get. A five-minute survey is 500% more likely to be completed than a 15-minute survey. Asking extraneous questions is very counterproductive. The game is about getting what you want in the very minimum number of questions. 

    What advice do you have for people thinking about working at MetroQuest? 

    Everybody does a bit of everything here. We’re less structured than a larger organization and therefore able to better welcome creativity, courage, and play. Our team goes above and beyond every day, because we grow when we think and act bigger. We’re highly inclusive – everyone is equal at MetroQuest. And we’re highly collaborative within teams and across departments, because everyone has good ideas. We achieve greatness together, so we celebrate employee and customer milestones. We’re passionate about quality and results and generous with our encouragement.

    If that sounds interesting, then MetroQuest could be a good place for you. 

    Do you have any closing thoughts? 

    It’s been an interesting journey over the past 20 years. We’re excited to see where we get to go over the next 20.