The five days of the Taos charrette put idea-sorting and decision-making on a fast track. And all the work will be done right in front of citizens and their leaders.

The public is welcome anytime the entire week. But you'll probably want to pick times where discussions or designer availability best address your interests. Here's an overview:

General, public meetings where the design team presents the broadest range of ideas are scheduled for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights at 6:30 p.m. The opening public meeting on Monday night will set the stage for the week. The Wednesday meeting is a "pin-up" session to show work in progress. And on Friday night, the team presents a final report on the charrette's work. The presentations will be full of illustrations and examples, so you don't want to miss them.

On Tuesday and Wednesday during the days, the team has scheduled information-sharing meetings with specific groups, such as public works staffers and business owners. Those meetings are also open to anyone, but they'll focus on issues of special interest to those groups.

Tuesday through Thursday, the design team will have their greatest availability between 1 and 4pm to meet with citizens directly to discuss specific concerns or parcels.

Friday during the day, the design team will be working on a tight deadline to produce the Friday-night report, so they request that citizens with questions or comments chat first with PlaceMakers communications team members before approaching designers directly. No one will be turned away. This is a very public, very inclusive process.

Here’s the run-down:

Monday, September 17
PlaceMakers team sets-up at Convention Center, and tours area
Opening public presentation, 6:30pm

Tuesday, September 18
Public Officials Meeting, 8:30-9:30am
Community Groups Brown Bag Lunch, 12:00-1:00pm
Public Works and Transportation Meeting, 4:00-5:00pm
Commercial and Retail Meeting, 5:30-6:30pm
Design team works throughout the day

Wednesday, September 19
Real Estate Development Professionals Meeting, 9:00-10:00am
Design team works throughout the day
Pin-Up of ideas for public review, 6:30-8:30pm

Thursday, September 20
Design team works throughout the day

Friday, September 21
Design and production for closing presentation
Public presentation of charrette work, 6:30pm