People-centred processes & decision making
Online
Online community engagement – It’s a dogs life
At a recent visit to the vets I read that one year of a dogs life is the equivalent of seven human years. I think a similar comparison could be made about experience in the world of online community engagement.
The online world moves at a fast pace. There’s no point in reading books from the library about online tools for community engagement as there probably aren’t any. And if there were, they’d be out of date.
All of these thoughts led me on to thinking about the phenomenal knowledge and experience someone would have if they’d spent three years working on developing and delivering safe, online spaces for the community to have a say over or debate public policy. Three years ago in online years is a long time.
And that’s part of the reason I’m proud to be associated with Bang the Table. With their dedication and passion for providing straightforward, accessible and safe spaces for the public to discuss decisions that affect them combined with their time spent in what has been a crazy few years of massive growth in Internet usage by millions of Australians, Bang the Table is clearly Australia’s leading online community engagement company.
And of course not forgetting the combined experience in the world of face-to-face community engagement of founders Dr Crispin Butteriss and Matthew Crozier. Collectively they have over 30 years experience in the UK and Australian public sectors (wow, they are old). Their combination of face-to-face knowledge with online expertise is unique.
And the great news is that Crispin, Matt and the team at Bang the Table have produced a fabulous little booklet that shares some of their experience to date. ‘100 Ideas to Help Engage Your Community Online’ is available to download or order through their website. I highly recommend that anyone considering conducting some online community engagement gets hold of a copy! (And if you are worried it’ll go out of date, you can add and view other ideas as they happen via a wiki set up by Craig Thomler here)
And as for me, I love working in association with Bang the Table as our values align and I’m passionate about innovation. And as dog years go, collectively we’re old but incredibly wise.
Location-Based Networking – A future in Community Engagement?
I’m a bit of a sucker for social media. I’m not sure if it’s my Gemini personality but I become very easily engaged in worlds of online networking.
The most popular tools of our current time are obviously Facebook and Twitter but recently I’ve become fascinated by Foursquare.
Foursquare is the current leader in this new thing we seem to be calling ‘location-based networking’ and it describes itself as a way of using your phone to find new ways to explore your city.
The basic idea is that when you arrive at a location (a cafe, hotel, library and so on) you ‘check in’. After checking in, you get to see who else is at the same location and whether any of your friends are nearby. It’s a little bit stalker-ish and I personally only check in when leaving the venue!
You also get points for each check in you make or when you add a new venue. This element of competition doesn’t really interest me, though there is something kind of cool about checking in the most at a particular venue and becoming the ‘mayor’…
So what’s the point in all this, I hear you ask.
Well, to me it is a bit of a gimmick. It’s networking on the go. It’s fun for a geek like me. And sometimes you tap in to special offers or tips. On a recent trip to Sydney I checked in at a pub (I won’t lie, I needed a drink before noon) and a special offer flashed up on my screen for another pub down the road! If I checked in at the other pub, I’d get 2 for 1 drinks and if I was mayor I’d get 2 for 1 meals! So I suppose its a modern day marketing tool.
However. I see some great potential for the use of Foursquare in community engagement.
If (and only if) this concept of location-based networking takes off, I see it as a brilliant resource. Just imagine ‘checking in’ at the local library, not only to have a list of new release books or DVDs pop up on your screen, but also a notification that the library are currently seeking feedback on plans for a redesign of the space. The little notification could link you directly to an online consultation, or towards a real life display or place that you can have your say.
Can you imagine checking in at a particular train station with the same idea? It could be an awesome way of literally attracting passing traffic to your engagement activity! Pure gold!
But. And a big but. All of this relies on this concept of location-based networking taking off and businesses getting on board to promote special offers and tips. With Twitter recently jumping on board with ‘Twitter Places’ providing the option to specify your location when you tweet, it’s just a matter of wait and see. I wouldn’t like to put money on it.
But for now I think people just genuinely don’t see the point!
South Australia Associate for Bang the Table
Dr Crispin Butteriss, Becky Hirst & Matthew Crozier
I am delighted to announce that Becky Hirst Consulting has become an Associate of the internationally renowned online community engagement company, Bang the Table. Jointly, our aim is to encourage South Australia to embrace technology as a tool for involving communities in problem-solving and decision-making.
Fed up of ‘public consultation’ involving requirements for hefty written submissions, or attendance at public meetings held in inaccessible locations at inconvenient times, I call for a shift in the way local, state and federal Government engage with communities.
Bang the Table provide independently moderated online forums for discussing public policy and the partnership with Becky Hirst Consulting hopes to increase the use of interactive online spaces used in South Australia during 2010.
Alongside promoting the use of online forums for public debate, Bang the Table will be providing training for Government staff in the use of social media for engaging communities in South Australia during 2010.
A new decade. A new approach.
Harvest Ideas through Twitter
I heard about the fabulous myidea4CA website a few weeks ago (thanks Bang the Table!) and am inspired by the way the people of California are able to contribute their ideas to move California forward via Twitter, with the responses all collated on the one website. Good work Mr Schwarzenegger and team!
Capturing the attention of a thirty-something
How do we best invite the general public to get involved with decision making that affects them? Over the last month I decided to take my ‘community engagement practitioner’ hat off and to put on my ‘young-ish woman living in South Australia’ hat on and monitor how many times I came across requests for my input into decision making!
In the car park – Adelaide City Council
After a recent trip to the hairdressers in Adelaide, I was returning to my car which was park in one of those big multistory car parks. I remember observing some big Adelaide City Council posters next to the lifts. As I waited, I read that Adelaide City Council was in the process of conducting a community consultation on their Draft 2009-10 Business Plan and Budget and they wanted my feedback.
What a great initiative of Adelaide City Council to put information where the general public could see it!
I didn’t take action on the poster and provide any feedback but providing ways that the public can easily ‘get involved’ is a whole other article. However, my awareness of the consultation was raised and that, in my opinion, is an achievement that Adelaide City Council should be proud of.
In the laundrette – City of Charles Sturt
One rainy Sunday afternoon, I took my pile of wet washing to the local laundrette and whilst my undies were tumbling, I browsed through the magazines. Curiosity made me pick up the City of Charles Sturt newsletter, Kaleidoscope. 
In the newsletter was an article about the Council budget laid out like a shopping list. Having worked with the City of Charles Sturt in the past, I remember conversations about how the community just aren’t (in general) interested in reading through hefty budget documents, let alone providing feedback. This was a great way to lay out the information and immediately grabbed my attention.
Again, I didn’t take action and provide any feedback but I was made aware of the local Council seeking my feedback.
Well done to the City of Charles Sturt!
In the mail – City of Onkaparinga
As a rate payer for the City of Onkaparinga I was interested to receive information on a current consultation on their Draft Annual Business Plan 2009/10. I had every good intention of reading the summary document they’d sent and perhaps dropping them an email with some feedback. This never eventuated though and I’m guessing the document ended up in the recycle bin!
Whilst I didn’t act on the request for feedback, I think that the City of Onkaparinga should still receive some recognition that they reached out to me and grabbed my attention. Good work!
Via twitter – Sydney Metro & Bang The Table
Now with this one, I let my ‘community engagement practitioner’ hat accidentally slip on. I follow Bang The Table on Twitter and was interested to read that they were conducting an online consultation with Sydney Metro. As a former Sydney commuter, I was instantly interested and clicked through straight away.
Despite my quick response to the request for input into decision making, I actually didn’t end up making any comments because I didn’t really find anything relevant to my short time as a Sydney commuter but Bang The Table and Sydney Metro certainly win the prize for getting me closest to providing feedback!
So what have I learnt?
I’ve been impressed that local Governemt in particular seems to be really picking up on innovative ways to inform the community of current opportunities to get involved with decision making. This is a very position step in the right direction.
However, the one consultation that got me closest to providing feedback was the one at the touch of a button.
So as a young(ish) woman, it would appear that I’m too busy going to the hairdressers, doing my laundry and generally living life to deal with paperwork!
However, if you capture my attention (preferably online) and make it relevant to my world… I’m all yours.
Becky Mactavish – Who?
I stumbled across this fantastic blog article about a conference and world cafe held in Second Life!
So what is Second Life I hear you ask? Well, Wikipedia explains –
Second Life (SL) is a virtual world developed by Linden Lab that launched on June 23, 2003 and is accessible via the Internet. A free client program called the Second Life Viewer[1] enables its users, called Residents, to interact with each other through avatars. Residents can explore, meet other residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities, and create and trade virtual property and services with one another, or travel throughout the world, which residents refer to as the grid. Second Life is for people aged 18 and over, while Teen Second Life is for people aged 13 to 17.
I am in love with the idea of how the future may hold more and more opportunities like this where we can communicate and discuss topics of interest with people (in a virtual setting) with people from all over the world.
I had a go at logging in to Second Life and became Becky Mactavish for a few hours but I need a bit more guidance as to what to actually do! She just wandered around aimlessly looking a bit of a mess (you can change the way your avatars look) and was a million miles from participating in anything so grand as a world cafe or conference!
Visit Second Life for yourself and have a go!
It’s Twitter-tastic… but is it engagement?
The Premier of South Australia, Mike Rann has been actively using Twitter for the last few months and his latch on too 21st century communication methods has received mixed reviews. Personally, I have become a real fan and follow his regular updates, keeping myself up to speed on the latest movements of our state leader.
I am someone who has an interest in politics but I have never really been what you’d call an active follower. I had a rough idea of what the Premier did, but until now didn’t know what he actually did on a day to day basis. Through Twitter I now have a greater understanding for the work he does, and therefore much greater respect.
The great news is that is isn’t just me that is following him. 4,293 people are currently following him. Every friend of mine that is using Twitter is following him – this Twittering seems to have really hit the spot with my ‘late Gen-X early Gen-Y’ peers. It’s also great that I’ve been able to send messages directly to the Premier and on three occasions have received personal messages in return. All very impressive.
But when it comes to community engagement, or more specifically involving the community in decision making, where does all this twittering sit? I turned to the IAP2 Public Participation Spectrum to ponder.
Without a doubt, Premier Mike Rann is twittering at the Inform end of the spectrum. He is using Twitter to “provide the public with balanced and objective information to assist them in understanding the problems, alternatives, opportunities and/or solutions”. He has made a commitment to the public to keep them informed. Using Twitter is a quick and easy way to get messages to the public embracing the technology that is available.
But the real question arises when you start to look along the Spectrum. In my opinion, Premier Mike Rann’s twittering occasionally touches on the Consult level but doesn’t go any further. That is by no means a criticism as I’m not sure Twitter necessarily lends itself to processes any further along the Spectrum.
And when I say that it ‘touches’ on the consult level, this is generally more to do with his ‘followers’ providing feedback on the statements he makes and not necessarily Premier Mike Rann putting a question out to his audience and requesting a response.
Perhaps as time goes on, the use of Twitter will become more than just an information source and maybe more of a conversation? Or will the Premier’s audience become too big to administer and the personalised responses become less and less administratively possible?
All in all, the use of Twitter by the Premier of South Australia is a move in the right direction. This is a significant move for bringing politics into the 21st century and as more applications become possible, who knows what sort of opportunities we will encounter to fully engage with our leader…
Twitemperature, is an online tool that tells you whether you’re hot or cold on today’s topics of concern. It ignores meaningless points of measure like number of followers and number of people you are following, and instead focuses on what you’re actually saying, now. It polls your last several hundred tweets to score what you’re saying against what everyone else is saying in current hot conversations on Twitter and elsewhere. I am pleased to announce that Premier Mike Rann is “as hot as a freshly struck match!”
And on a final note, perhaps IAP2 will need to start thinking about using some more ‘technological’ example techniques when they next update their spectrum! Let us not get left behind by these hi-tech politicians!