Author: Dave Biggs

[WEBINAR] A Recipe for Award-Winning Online Community Engagement Featuring Elevating Erie

This highly visual 45-minute webinar presents research findings, proven best practices, practical tips and award-winning case studies to guide agencies towards the successful application of online community engagement for planning projects. Participants walk away with an understanding about how to leverage digital engagement to achieve unprecedented results using cost-effective tools.

The webinar showcases a wide range of outstanding planning projects from the Northeastern US. Our special guests from the City of Syracuse and the Town of Dewitt join us to talk about the Elevating Erie project, one of the most innovative and successful outreach efforts we’ve ever seen. They discuss the innovative ways they combined online and targeted face to face community engagement to involve thousands of community members to help inform the process. They also share advice for agencies seeking to improve the diversity and effectiveness of their community engagement efforts and talk about the positive difference that broad community support is making as they move forward.

Watch Recording

View Slides

This webinar featured three presenters: Dave Biggs from MetroQuest, Sam Gordon from the Town of DeWitt and Owen Kerney from the Syracuse – Onondaga County Planning Agency.

View Dave’s Slides

View Sam & Owen’s Slides

Participant Comments

Thanks so much for the great comments and kudos. Here’s some of our favorites:
“The presentation was well crafted and interesting.”
“Great webinar for public outreach. Very interesting. The tool looks very effective!”
“Exemplary project presentation and “How-To” regarding the Public Participation/Open Process.”
“One of the better webinars I’ve heard. Graphics were great.”
“Great webinar. Really good info, efficient, relevant to my work.”
“Interesting, upbeat, helpful as we will be writing a comp plan over the next two years.”
“I really enjoyed this webinar and found it very useful and timely. It was a very visual presentation and I plan to look back at it again.”
“Public engagement has always been a tough job. This webinar was great – highlights quickly what is working”
Average rating: 4.75/5 stars

[Wow, thanks!]

AICP CM Credits

Here is the direct link to claim your AICP credits from the APA. Note that the date trips people up. This webinar is part of a series so they instructed us to set it up as an “on-demand” session so you’ll notice that the start and end are a year apart.

Get ACIP CM Credit

During the webinar Sam and Owen shared a video that they produced to promote participation but it was a little choppy so feel free to check it out here.

Bonus Case Study: NashvilleNext

Mentioned briefly in the webinar, this case study of the NashvilleNext process shows why they were the 2016 winners of the APA 2016 National Daniel Burnham Award for a Comprehensive Plan.

Q&A

Here are the questions that were raised by participants or that came in after by email that we didn’t get a chance to respond to fully during the session.

Questions for MetroQuest

Q: MetroQuest looks useful. Who is the best person to speak to for more information about it?
A: [From Dave] I apologize for not being able to provide more in-depth information about MetroQuest due to the educational nature of this session. The best person is Derek Warburton at MetroQuest (by email to derek.warburton@metroquest.com, or toll free phone: 1 855-215-0186. Derek will be pleased to make sure you get the information you need. In the meantime, here is a quick video to give you a better sense of the software.

Questions for Elevating Erie

Q: How many staff people did you have working on the project?
A: [From Sam] Between the City and the Town we had 4 different staff people working on different aspects of the project. We also had 3 different consultants who provided assistance.

Q: What was the overall budget and funding sources for this project?
A: [From Sam] Between the City and Town we spent approximately $85,000 on the Elevating Erie project inclusive of the design of the ideas competition, running the competition, coordinating the jury, building the exhibition, purchasing and putting together the Metroquest engagement tool. Roughly $35,000 was from the Town of DeWitt Local Waterfront Revitalization Program funding through NYS Department of State, $30,000 was from the City of Syracuse of Syracuse Brownfield Opportunity Area Funding also through NYS Department of State, and we also received a $20,000 grant from a local community foundation.

Q: Have you done any analysis of the demographic difference of community members engaged via on-line methods vs. in-person? (older/younger? Resident/non-resident?)
A: [From Sam] According to our survey responses, approximately 28% of our respondents were between 20-35, 30% were between 36-50, and 28% were between 51-65. – also approximately 30% of participants were from the town, 31% were from the City of Syracuse, and 26% from elsewhere in Onondaga County. 10 percent of participants were from other parts of New York State, and just over 4% of participants identified as outside of New York State. It was important to us to hear from a variety of audiences, and to be able to demonstrate that there was interest in this project from outside of the region, we feel that we were successful to date in being able to demonstrate this.

Q: What’s considered a good length of time to run a campaign of this scope? I noticed on the Erie billboard the project was on display at the museum May through August. How long did you collect input?
A: [From Sam] We collected input over a three month timeframe, which seemed to be a good window for sustaining both interest from the community and our own effort of scheduling and appearing at the various venues, speaking engagements, and media opportunities during that timeframe. [from Dave] 3 months seems to be a good standard for most of our clients. It’s important to keep the promotional effort going throughout to spur on new spikes in participation. It’s also useful as let people know that there is a limited amount of time and count down as the end get near to increase the sense of urgency.

Many thanks for joining us!

October 24, 2016
[INSIGHTS] New Illinois DOT Report – 8 Recommendations to Enhance Quality Engagement

With the importance of public engagement for transportation agencies, it’s reassuring to see the efforts that agencies are making to conduct meaningful research and share best practices and leading case studies. One of the most effective examples we’ve seen was conducted by the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Institute for Policy and Civic Engagement and culminated in a report report commissioned by the Illinois Department of Transportation.

The report entitled ‘Recommendations to the Illinois DOT to Enhance Quality Public Engagement’ was guided by the objective to, “provide IDOT with clear recommendations on how best to improve its public engagement practices. The guidance and recommendations can be applied to demographic groups of all kinds; special consideration has been given to engaging disadvantaged populations, also called “underserved” or “hard-to-reach” populations. These include minority, low-income, limited English proficiency, and low-literacy groups. Rural populations are also of concern, so the report further noted how these public engagement techniques can be applied to a rural context.”

The research team outlined eight recommendations: (1) Know Your Audience, (2) Use Existing Community Resources, (3) Perform Informal Outreach and Use Nontraditional Locations, (4) Match Engagement Technique with Goal and Context, (5) Enhance Staff Capabilities through Training, (6) Build Institutional Memory through Knowledge Management, (7) Measure and Assess, and (8) Use Technology to Enhance and Complement Outreach.

Masterclass in Public Engagement Via MnDOT Case Study

The research team a single case study to highlight and demonstrate their recommendations. The approach to public engagement by MnDOT on the Minnesota GO project is so well-designed and implemented that it essentially provides a checklist of many of the best practices contained in the report. In particular, and of interest to many of our readers, their use of technology to enhance outreach was a masterclass for others to follow. Here’s how the authors describe the project (from page 55 of the report):

“The Minnesota Department of Transportation’s revision of its Statewide Multimodal Transportation Plan, called the Minnesota GO project, provides an excellent example of a smart and comprehensive use of technology to aid public engagement. In this project, which is ongoing, the department has used technology to complement external engagement and improve the efficiency of its activities in real-time.

Website: The team developed a sophisticated and aesthetically pleasing website capable of hosting surveys and integrated with social media. The website provides project information and allows users to take part in mini-surveys, letting them see the results in real-time. It also contains a very easy to use calendar of events and a portal that allows interested groups to request in-person presentations. For several months, the site employed the online engagement tool MetroQuest to gauge public opinion on different investment scenarios. MnDOT also put on an online open house, providing a digital alternative to the traditional offline open house events which were occurring concurrently around the state. Importantly, the site is both mobile-friendly and ADA-accessible.

The team has closely tracked website activity throughout the project, which has given it insight into how the website is used and how cost effective it is. As of March 2016, it has discovered that 85% of usage came from desktop computers while the other 15% was from mobile phones. It has also determined that it costs $5 to generate a unique visitor and $1.14 to generate a visit.

Social media: MnDOT’s social media activity strategy was carried out through Minnesota GO’s own Facebook and Twitter profiles, with occasional related posts put out through MnDOT’s own social media accounts. Posts were made semi-weekly for the purposes of “driving traffic to the project website for more information and educational materials, promoting surveys and other feedback opportunities and interacting with followers to gain input directly through Twitter.”

Complementing its use of social media, the department also ran four rounds of targeted Facebook ads, with the first rounds intended to promote the use of online engagement tools and the final round used to promote open house events. These ads were especially valuable because they were relatively cost effective and could be used to target specific demographics. Each round was analyzed in terms of cost, number of clicks, demographics of participants, effectiveness of images used, etc. The results of previous rounds informed the approach for future rounds. MnDOT received 357 total responses at an estimated cost of $4,946, giving them a “per measured feedback” cost of $13.86. The ads were the second most-cost effective way of obtaining direct, quantifiable input. (State fair interactions were the most cost effective at $1.42 per measured feedback).

Email: Using Constant Contact, the Minnesota GO team is also engaged in an intentional and targeted email campaign designed especially to reach organizations and stakeholders that have been identified as representing disadvantaged populations.

Data: The team has demonstrated an appreciation for the importance of data and how it can be used to make-adjustments in real-time. The team has closely tracked the effectiveness of its engagement methods in reaching community members of all kinds and has been willing to make adjustments in its strategy when it identified a deficiency. For example, realizing that women, people of color, and Minnesotans outside major metropolitan areas were not being properly reached, the team successfully employed targeted Facebook ads to boost their participation. They also held more events across the state and shifted resources to focus specifically on underrepresented communities in the final weeks of the project phase. This data is now also being utilized to examine demographic transportation priorities and inform future engagement.”

This case study, among other lessons, highlights that there is no silver bullet tool or technology. Rather the effectiveness comes from smartly combining a variety of approaches to leverage the strengths of each. Congratulations to the IDOT and Institute for Policy and Civic Engagement for their leadership in community engagement. If you would like information on the MnDOT project please don’t hesitate to contact us.

October 17, 2016
[WEBINAR] A Recipe for Award-Winning Online Community Engagement Featuring ARC

This highly visual webinar presents research findings, proven best practices, practical tips and award-winning case studies to guide agencies towards the successful application of online community engagement for planning projects. Participants walk away with an understanding about how to leverage digital engagement to achieve unprecedented results using cost-effective tools.

The webinar showcases a wide range of outstanding planning projects throughout Georgia as well as North and South Carolina. Our special guests from the Atlanta Regional Commission join us to talk about The Atlanta Region’s Plan, one of the most innovative and successful outreach efforts we’ve ever seen. They discuss the innovative ways they combined online and targeted face to face community engagement to involve over 25,000 community members to help plan the region. They also share advice for agencies seeking to improve the diversity and effectiveness of their community engagement efforts and talk about the positive difference that broad community support is making as they move forward.

Watch Recording

View Slides

This webinar featured two presenters: Dave Biggs from MetroQuest followed by Melissa Roberts from the Atlanta Regional Commission.

View Dave’s Slides

View Melissa’s Slides

Participant Comments

Thanks so much for the great comments and kudos. Here’s some of our favorites:
“Very informative!”
“Great webinar for public outreach. Very interesting. The tool looks very effective!”
“It was good to learn tips for engagement like how a registration page upfront eliminates 90% of potential responses.”
“One of the better webinars I’ve heard. Graphics were great.”
“Great webinar. Really good info, efficient, relevant to my work.”
“Interesting, upbeat, helpful as we will be writing a comp plan over the next two years.”
“Great presentation that had a lot of good visual examples and tips and tricks on engaging the public with current and groundbreaking tools.”
“Public engagement has always been a tough job. This webinar was great – highlights quickly what is working”
Average rating: 4.75/5 stars

[Wow, thanks!]

AICP CM Credits

Here is the direct link to claim your AICP credits from the APA. Note that the date trips people up. This webinar is part of a series so they instructed us to set it up as an “on-demand” session so you’ll notice that the start and end are a year apart.

Get AICP CM Credit

Bonus Case Study: NashvilleNext

Mentioned briefly in the webinar, this case study of the NashvilleNext process shows why they were the 2016 winners of the APA 2016 National Daniel Burnham Award for a Comprehensive Plan.

Q&A

Here are the questions that were raised by participants that we didn’t get a chance to respond to during the session.

Questions for Dave from MetroQuest

Q: MetroQuest looks like useful software. What is the best way to get more information about it?
A: [From Dave] I apologize for not being able to provide more in-depth information about MetroQuest due to the educational nature of this session. The best place to start would be to connect with us by filling out the Contact Us form. We will be pleased to make sure you get the information you need. In the meantime, here is a quick video to give you a better sense of the software.

Q: I was curious as to whether by using the MetroQuest software, if you do reach out to a larger demographic, do communities see things coming through that the staff may not have thought of.
A: [From Dave] This certainly seems to be the case since we hear this comment frequently. The reality is that the types of people who agencies are used to hearing from represent a very narrow cross section of the community. MetroQuest clients report that the feedback that is received online is more positive and constructive than what generally comes out at public meetings. I think this is due to the fact that many who attend public meetings are fired up about the project, often not in a good way.

Secondly, new information tends to emerge about community preferences since MetroQuest is specifically well-suited to reach a broader demographic that, in the past, has not been represented at all.

A good example that comes to mind is a recent project about cycling. The voice that was missing in previous bike planning efforts in this community was the large group of people who do not currently bike but would be willing to start if certain changes were made. In the past they were missing because they did not identify as cyclists and were not passionate about the topic. It turned out that this missing demographic was uniquely suited to identify what changes would encourage the largest mode shift towards biking. By making is very easy to participate and getting the benefit of social media sharing this project was able to hear from over 7,000 people and they received over 50,000 inputs from the community including some valuable new insights for the bike plan. [Editorial comment: It’s case studies like these that make it all worthwhile.]

Questions for Melissa from Atlanta Regional Commission

Q: Address measure of effectiveness beyond on-line usage and zip code mapping such as reaching under-represented populations.
A: [From Melissa] Currently, we measure our effectiveness in reaching under-represented populations through accounting for the number of people who attend various meetings, as well as an inventory of the community organizations ARC works with on a regular basis. Specifically we maintain a current listing of community-based organizations and coalitions focused on organizing, serving and meeting the needs of under-represented populations. We then determine our current level of interaction and support of these organizations, and develop strategies for strengthening our relationships with them, such as regular face to face meeting times, attendance at their special events, and on-going communication. It is our intent to continue to develop robust outcomes for reaching lower-income and under-represented populations. I would welcome any advice or best practices related to measuring the effectiveness of engaging with harder to reach populations.

Q: What strategy has worked best so far engaging the low income, minority, and Hispanic communities?
A: [From Melissa] I believe that our best work in engaging low income, minority, and Hispanic communities has been face to face meetings, both in smaller and larger groups. These meetings are most effective at reaching these under-served populations when we host them in venues where a greater percentage of low income, minority and Hispanic communities live. In particular, our most successful engagement activities (measured through the number of attendees and/or the depth of community input generated) has been when we partner with trusted community partners in co-designing and hosting face to face events within the community (and not at our own offices). The outreach booths at various festivals and events within communities are effective at generating awareness of ARC and our work, as well as, identifying new contacts to follow up with for future, more in-depth relationship building and dialogues.

[from Dave] Participants might be interested in this webinar recording on the topic, “Engaging Vulnerable & Disadvantaged People in Planning.” It was so popular we had to hold a second one which also filled to capacity so we posted it as an on-demand resource.

Thanks again for your interest and participation in this webinar.

October 6, 2016
[WEBINAR] A Recipe for Award-Winning Online Community Engagement with COTA

This highly visual webinar presents research findings, proven best practices, practical tips and award-winning case studies to guide agencies towards the successful application of online community engagement for planning projects. Viewers will walk away with an understanding about how to leverage digital engagement to achieve unprecedented results using cost-effective tools.

The webinar showcases a wide range of outstanding planning projects throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and the Northeastern US. Our special guests from the Central Ohio Transit Authority join us to talk about NextGen, one of the most innovative and successful outreach efforts we’ve ever seen. They discuss the innovative ways they combined online and targeted face to face community engagement to involve an unprecedented number and diversity of community members to help define the transit needs for the region. They also share advice for agencies seeking to improve the breadth and effectiveness of their community engagement efforts and talk about the positive difference that broad community support is making as they move forward.

Watch Recording

AICP CM Credits

Here is the direct link to claim your AICP credits from the APA. Note that the date trips people up. This webinar is part of a series so they instructed us to set it up as an “on-demand” session so you’ll notice that the start and end are a year apart.

Get AICP CM Credit

COTA’s video from the presentation (the one that didn’t play well)

Bonus Case Study: NashvilleNext

Q&A

Here are the questions that were raised by participants following the presentations with answers provided by the presenters.

Questions for Dave

Q: MetroQuest looks like useful software. What is the best way to get more information about it?
A: [From Dave] I apologize for not being able to provide more in-depth information about MetroQuest due to the nature of this session. The best place to start would be to connect with Derek Warburton at MetroQuest (by email to derek.warburton@metroquest.com, or toll free phone:1 855-215-0186. Derek will be pleased to make sure you get the information you need. In the meantime, here is a quick video to give you a better sense of the software.

Q: Do you have any bike/ped examples where MetroQuest was used for public involvement?
A: [From Dave] MetroQuest is frequently used for bike/ped projects. Here are a few examples to play around with:

Northern Virginia Regional Bikeway and Trail Network Study, VA – https://novabikedemo1.metroquest.com/

HEPMPO, MD – https://bikehepmpodemo1.metroquest.com/

Eastside Greenway, OH – https://esgdemo1.metroquest.com/

Midway Cycle Track, OH – https://midway-demo.metroquest.com/

Rim of the World, CA Rim Rec & Parks District – https://rimrecatp-demo.metroquest.com/

Q: Is MetroQuest affordable for smaller communities?
A: [From Dave] MetroQuest has recently launched an annual subscription which allows for use of MetroQuest on as many projects as you wish. The cost of the subscription scales based on the size of the organization to ensure that it remains affordable for smaller agencies. Here’s how to learn more. https://metroquest.com/contact/

Q: I was curious as to whether by using the Metroquest software, if you do reach out to a larger demographic, do communities see things coming through that the staff may not have thought of.
A: [From Dave] This certainly seems to be the case since we hear this comment frequently. The reality is that the types of people who agencies are used to hearing from represent a very narrow cross section of the community. MetroQuest clients report that the feedback that is received online is more positive and constructive than what generally comes out at public meetings. I think this is due to the fact that many who attend public meetings are fired up about the project, often not in a good way.

Secondly, new information tends to emerge about community preferences since MetroQuest is specifically well-suited to reach a broader demographic that, in the past, has not been represented at all.

A good example that comes to mind is a recent project about cycling. The voice that was missing in previous bike planning efforts in this community was the large group of people who do not currently bike but would be willing to start if certain changes were made. In the past they were missing because they did not identify as cyclists and were not passionate about the topic. It turned out that this missing demographic was uniquely suited to identify what changes would encourage the largest mode shift towards biking. By making is very easy to participate and getting the benefit of social media sharing this project was able to hear from over 7,000 people and they received over 50,000 inputs from the community including some valuable new insights for the bike plan. [Editorial comment: It’s case studies like these that make it all worthwhile.]

Questions for Doug and Elliot from COTA

Q: Did COTA’s public involvement process ask people about using Uber/Lyft type organizations for first mile/last mile services?
A: [From COTA] COTA did not specifically ask about ridesharing companies in this phase. However, we did receive comments regarding these services. We asked the public what type of non-high capacity service improvements and investments the region should make using fairly broad categories without identifying the actual mode/vehicle. Modes and vehicles will be discussed in the spring of 2017 as part of finishing Phase 2 (out of 3) of the project.

Q: Did COTA’s public involvement process/planning process ask/consider about the impact of driverless vehicles on their service?
A: [From COTA] NextGen will consider driveless vehicles as part of the Vision 2050 plan; however, we did not specifically ask about these services during our Phase 2 outreach last year. Of note, the City of Columbus was recently awarded the FTA Smart City Challenge grant, of which driverless vehicles is a significant aspect. We anticipate our Phase 3 outreach will attract a robust conversation about this technology.

As of now, our consultant team does not believe the impact will be too great as driverless cars will offer the most benefits in less dense areas, due to traditionally longer trip times to work locations and more time spent in congestion.

This is under the assumption that work trips take place to/from the major employment centers in Columbus, that is Downtown and Ohio State University, and suburban locations.

Dense, urban areas, will benefit from driverless vehicles, but there will be a question of physical geometry and street capacity, particularly with the desire to narrow thoroughfares and implementation of complete streets policy in the region. Driverless vehicles will improve street capacity, which, I suspect at least, the public will claim the excess capacity for amenities such as more parking, bike lanes and expanded sidewalks. That is increasingly becoming the practice of the City of Columbus and its neighborhoods.

These assumptions are not set in stone as of yet and will be further fleshed out.

Q: How long did it take for COTA to get the data in place?
A: [From COTA] Our demographic and traffic projections came from our MPO, the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC). MORPC was updating their long-range Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) at the same time we were launching NextGen, which required employment, population and travel demand data be projected out to 2040. Being an MPO partner, MORPC adjusted their projections for us to include 2025 and 2050.

Another initiative that MORPC was leading along with ULI, was insight2050, which looked at various growth scenarios for the entire central Ohio region through 2050. MORPC also prepared data for this initiative.

All in all, we were fortunate that MORPC was able to respond to our requests quite easily, providing us with data within weeks of asking, tied to TAZ’s and ¼ mi. grids.

Q: How long did the public participation outreach take?
A: [From COTA] The public meetings occurred over the course of three days (September 28-30). The survey was available for 35 days (September 28 – November 2).

Thanks again for your interest and participation in this webinar.

October 3, 2016
[TIPS] How Much Does It Cost to Engage a Citizen?

It’s surprising how seldom we see a breakdown of the cost of public participation across multiple channels or tactics. These breakdowns give a unique window into community engagement that can be extremely useful to agencies trying to create engagement plans and realistic budgets to meet their outreach goals.

That’s why we were so surprised when the Metro Nashville Planning Commission included a powerful slide breaking down cost per participant in a recent webinar with over 600 people online. The agency employed a staggering 8 different tools and tactics in their community engagement process for the APA award-winning NashvilleNext project. They then took the time to carefully breakdown the average cost to engage participants for each one.

Their community engagement activities included a range of face to face public sessions (events, meetings, focus groups, community conversations, lounges and book-a-planner) and three of the most well-known online tools: Textizen, MindMixer and MetroQuest.

Greg Claxton talking about cost per participant on NashvilleNext

Not surprisingly, the face to face activities were the costliest ranging from $9 – $47 per participant compared with $3 – $9 per participant using the online tools. While it would be good to have comparable data from other projects, there are some surprising things here.

The range in costs within the various face to face approaches is larger than I would have expected. I also would have expected higher costs for public meetings based on what I’ve seen in other projects. The relatively low costs are likely testament to Nashville’s excellent promotional efforts to fill the meetings. The meeting shown above was an outlier. It lower cost was due to a terrific turnout on a hot topic.

While it’s gratifying that MetroQuest came out looking great, it’s important to point out, as Greg Claxton of Metro Nashville Planning Commission does in the video, that each tool or approach can attract a different audience. In our experience the most cost-effective strategy can be to use some of the face to face tactics to target demographic groups that are missing online, thus filling in the gaps.

For the online tools, the results met my expectations but I live in the online engagement world every day. SMS-based tools like Textizen can be particularly effective with demographics that love to text. While the audience size might be more limited, it is certainly can be an important component of a project, especially those seeking to hear from youth. Generally, tools that require participant registration like MindMixer (now called My Sidewalk) attract less participation because of people’s resistance to sign up. Even given those factors the cost per participant was still relatively low for all of the online tools.

I also caught up with Greg Claxton at the APA National Conference. You’ll see several clips of our interview in the short highlight compilation video below.

Highlights from 9 Mini Interviews on the Floor at APA 2016

P.S. Here are some thoughts on why these sorts of cost breakdowns are so rare. Firstly, in order to compare between strategies fairly, agencies need to use a wide variety of different approaches on the same project. With shrinking budgets, that’s hard to pull off. Secondly, someone has to do the work to cost out and compare the results of each activity. Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, that analysis has to be made public in order for you to learn about it. These projects are team efforts with multiple people, firms and departments attached to each activity and politicians and the public scrutinizing the effort. Given that mix of actors, there are almost always a few who would rather not share the cost-effectiveness details. Hopefully this sort of transparency will become increasingly common.

September 13, 2016
[INSIGHTS] Top 50 Vendors for Local Governments

For local government agencies it can be a daunting task to keep track of the myriad of firms specializing in products and services to fulfill their needs. Engaging Local Government Leaders (ELGL) understand this challenge well. That’s why they conducted an extensive voting process to compile a ranking of the Top 50 Local Government Vendors.

Agencies will find a terrific assortment of online tools, community engagement software and other technology products and services that have been vetted by local governments. Check out the feedback from local government clients for companies that made the Top 10.

“As resources shrink for local governments, the decision to select the right company to design a website, assist with public engagement, or manage a public works project, becomes increasingly important. ELGL wants to make that decision easier. We want our members to engage the best companies in solving their local government’s biggest challenges. The ELGL Choice Award identified the best 50 companies in local government by soliciting input from our membership of over 1,200.” Kent Wyatt, Co-Founder, ELGL

MetroQuest is thrilled to have been ranked #3 and we are very grateful to our clients for their support.

“Our goal is to provide the most effective online community engagement software for local and state government agencies. The fact that so many of them voted for us in this process and the positive testimony that they offered is deeply gratifying.” Mike Walsh, President, MetroQuest

The ELGL included written testimonials from MetroQuest clients to illustrate the nature of the responses that were received.

“MetroQuest landed near the top of the list because of the overwhelmingly positive experience of their clients.” Kent Wyatt, Co-Founder, ELGL

About ELGL

ELGL is a big tent local government organization with the mission of connecting, communicating, and educating about local government topics. ELGL is the only professional association in the country that encourages membership from all areas of the government arena.

September 8, 2016