Sounding Board Discusses What Comes Next

Last Saturday, the Decibel team hosted its second meeting in 2026 with the Rundberg Sounding board. Conversations ranged from future community outreach opportunities, reporting ideas, and the future of Decibel.

The Decibel team first discussed the recent Rundberg Dinner Club, an outreach idea that came from the Sounding Board. We reviewed some of the takeaways from that event:

• A 65% attendance rate
• 14 story ideas, more than one per person
• Overall increase in attendees’ sense of community after event

Our team asked if attendees thought the event was a success, and if we should do more in the future. The answer was a resounding yes. One attendee suggested hosting a Dinner Club each month. Unfortunately with our team of two, we probably will only be able to host a few more Dinner Clubs this year. Our group also discussed alternative days and locations to make it more accessible, and other potential restaurants to visit.

We also presented some upcoming projects, including a local elementary’s STEM club, a pilot program combining technology and community input to flag firearm use in neighborhoods, and the future of shuttered buildings. This topic garnered a lot of interest from attendees. What is the future of a closed chain restaurant? What impact can such a space have on the community? Our team talked about meeting with researchers and community members to dive into the topic more. We’re looking forward to rolling these out over the next few months.

We also screened our latest project on mental health resources and access in Rundberg. Attendees then were able to rate the story using an online polling platform. Feedback both at this event and submitted earlier has been positive. Sounding Board members said it accurately represented members of the Rundberg community, and that it showed calm balance to a stressful topic.

Finally, we discussed how to say goodbye to Rundberg. While we’ll be continuing our reporting through the end of 2026, we want to start thinking about what we can leave the community with before we go. Attendees suggested a wrap party, and honoring individuals we’ve showcased in our reporting. We also discussed creating a resource guide for Rundberg outlining different ways for residents to connect with their community. We’ll continue to brainstorm as we move forward with our reporting in Rundberg.