The best public involvement is inclusive and increasingly it is being enforced as a requirement of planning efforts. At the same time, technology is changing the way we communicate. In response, the use of online public engagement is rapidly expanding, whether it’s on your laptop at home, kiosks in the community center or the smartphone in your pocket. However, when it comes to engaging vulnerable...
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When we talked to over 100 agencies about their goals for improving their public engagement activities, increasing participation rates came out #1. That was enough to motivate us to look into motivation. We did some research into the most important motivators for civic engagement and here is what we learned. 1. Fear It turns out that fear is the most motivating force for civic engagement. Any first-year...
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I recently gave a presentation "Go Viral - Best Practices for Online Public Engagement for MPO's" at AMPO 2015, the annual conference for the Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations. We had a great time in Las Vegas speaking with MPO staff and public communications experts. Above you'll find a recording of my presentation, and you may also view a copy of the slides here. Below you'll find...
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This 42-minute video presents a series of case studies, best practices and tips to guide MPO’s and DOT's towards the successful application of online public engagement for a variety of projects. Award-winning LRTP, STIP, TIP, NEPA, EIS, corridor, highway, transit, TOD and participatory budgeting projects that successfully leveraged innovative digital engagement are presented. From crowdsourcing platforms to interactive surveys to social media, the latest fleet...
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You may be wondering – what’s all the fuss about online engagement tools? Don’t the traditional methods work just fine? Digital tools have a few key advantages over traditional methods of public engagement. Here are six of the most common benefits of online engagement that we hear from organizations: 1. Increased quantity of participants Typically you hear from 50 people at a public meeting. While their input may...
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Good branding makes people excited to get involved and will garner more interest and sharing on social media networks. Good brands get recognized and spread – bad brands don’t. So what makes for a good brand? Clarity Explicitly communicate what’s in it for them. Be memorable and make things easy to understand. Use plain English with simple spelling and avoid technical jargon. Make sure your brand clearly relates...
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