8 Principles for Public Outreach
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
It is never too late to start an outreach campaign, as long as your public participation initiative is still open. In this document we outline eight different principles and strategies for outreach, including the dos and don’ts for each. The principles include pointers on messaging, interactivity, ambassadors, mediums, the rationale, tracking, intentions, and social media.
You can download the latest in our Open Government Directions series here: Eight Principles of Public Outreach.
Case Study Jam – A few golden rules for using social media
Friday, February 19th, 2010
I recently took part in Ottawa’s second “Case Study Jam,” (twitter.com/CaseStudyJam) – an open learning and dialogue event for people who work in or care about social media, whether in government, businesses or elsewhere.
We heard three case studies – a win, a fail and a work in progress. Although each situation was unique, a few common themes jumped out at me. These may not be groundbreaking; just solid advice.
When you’ve proven to yourself that a way of using a tool works, don’t suddenly throw it out the window: One presenter explained his failed attempt to create a new Twitter account, the “Daily Blog” on blogging. Straying from his own proven ways of using Twitter, and juggling a busy workload, he set a rule for his new account – one Tweet a day before 12:00 noon – no more, no less. By sticking to this rule, though, the Twitter account lacked the critical “community-building” piece of social media in which tweeters regularly engage and discuss with their followers.
Do your research on available tools before deciding on one to use: Another presenter explained her adventures creating a “Social Media Book Club”. Having seen a particular meeting management website used a number of times, she signed up, and paid for a small monthly hosting fee. Unfortunately, that initial monthly fee was introductory, doubling after three months, and she learned could easily manage the event using her own website. After amicable discussions with the meeting management website admins, her account was closed, but not before the website sent a message to all 60 members, explaining the event had been permanently closed. With no way to get in touch with the members (a membership export resulted only in a list of names – no emails), she had difficulty in re-establishing contact with people, and assuring them the Club was indeed still up and running.
Small actions can have big results: The final presenter spoke to recent fires at two housing complexes for victims of family violence, and the role that social media played to bring the local community together to help the residents. After writing a blog on the fires and urging action, word spread through the community via social media, with the blogger offering to pick up donations on one given afternoon. Local media picked up on the story, further spreading the call for donations. In the end, a car load of goods and hundreds of dollars in cash and gift certificates were collected. And it all started with a simple blog!
- Stephan Telka -
Engaging with the New Facebook
Friday, February 12th, 2010
Facebook recently launched a new Home Page design and is also planning more changes for how Facebook Applications can engage users. A fairly technical developer roadmap has been published by Facebook but we’ll try to summarize here:
The Bad
With the current round of changes Facebook Applications going to take a hit initially in terms of traditional user engagement tools. Facebook Notifications will be discontinued soon, instead Facebook Applications will be expected to communicate with users via Email or the Application Newsfeed Items. Facebook Invites and Requests will also be moving to the Facebook Inbox and won’t have a prominent screen location.
These changes are consistent with Facebook’s direction of forcing user application engagement into the Facebook Newsfeed/Stream. Given the level of Application spam we’ve seen from Facebook Games and other noisy application this seems to be the correct direction to maintain an engaged user base.
With more and more communication moving to the Facebook Inbox a number of changes are planned to provide better filtering on communication. Facebook has provided the following preview of how Invites will be filtered in the new Inbox:
Profile Changes
Facebook Profile boxes and Extended Profile Information ( rarely used ) will be discontinued but users can still manually add a Tab on their profile for their favourite Facebook Applications. And example of the Facebook Profile Tab, using the Where I’ve been Application:
The Facebook Tab functionality has been available for while but has been widely under used by users. We’re not expecting this to change unless Facebook provides a greater push to educate users to provide tools to make adding a Facebook Tab easier.
The Good
Facebook Application Newsfeed items will be moved to the new Application or Game Bashboards. An example of the Game Dashboard:
The Dashboard will show your activity in applications you’ve used recently. Your Friends recently used Applications will also be displayed, if there privacy settings allow them. A smaller Application Directory will also be included on the Dashboard with popular Applications. One of the most engaging aspects of the Facebook Application Dashboard is the addition of small notification “counters” indicating activity within the Dashboards. This is a similar process to the iPhone and other platforms to provide subtle notice of activity that the user can investigate further.
We’re expecting that the separate Application Dashboard should allow Applications to engage more directly with users and avoid a lot of the noise associated with the Facebook Games. The main unknown is how quickly and how often users will use the Application Dashboards.
Facebook Pages
In this round of updates, the Facebook Pages have received very little in the way of new functionality but maybe the most telling is the lack of change. Facebook Pages can still issue items into the Facebook Newsfeed/Stream and continue to be a very powerful tool to engage Facebook users. Even with the stock functionality of Facebook Page it can very engaging and it can also host Facebook Applications as specialized Tabs for Contests or News Letter information.
Facebook Connect Additions
Facebook continues to add more functionality to Facebook Connect and provide the ability to use Facebook functionality on external sites. Facebook Chat can now be integrated into external websites and instant messaging services. The Facebook Translations engine can also be used on external websites to provide translation functionality similar to what is available inside of Facebook.
Facebook’s roadmap also has commitments to increased support for Facebook Connect through what they are calling the Open Graph API. The intent behind the Open Graph API is to allow external websites to duplicate much of the function of their Facebook Page on their own website. In this way the engagement they have with users can be same inside Facebook or on their own website.
- Colin Smillie -
“Hard Times, Hard Choices”: The power of public deliberation to solve tough problems
Thursday, February 11th, 2010
When people have access to balanced information about an issue and an opportunity to talk-through policy options with others, they are willing to make tough choices and sacrifices to serve the public interest.
If you pay attention to traditional public opinion polls, it’s easy to get depressed about the public’s capacity to play a productive role in its own governance. After all, people just want lower taxes and better services, right?
Wrong.
Surveys only scratch the surface and don’t give people the space to really think about a tough problem or issue facing their community. They only gather knee-jerk or “top of mind” responses.
In stark contrast, a recent public dialogue – the “Hard Times, Hard Choices” project from Michigan – shows the power of deliberation to solve tough problems. This was no survey.
The project brought together a representative sample of over 300 people from across Michigan to recommend directions for the state’s economy and budget. The organizers used a Deliberative Polling approach: the process starts and ends with a poll about key questions, but the interesting part is what happens between these. Participants learn about the issues through balanced briefings, and then think through options in small groups. By comparing people’s opinions in the before and after polls, organizers can literally measure deliberation or informed participation.
Here are a few of the results that I found interesting. You can read the full report here.
People actually recommended increasing their taxes. By the end of public deliberations, support for increasing income tax had gone up from 27% to 45%. Similarly, support or raising sales taxes rose from 37% to 51%.
People also recommended decreasing business taxes. At the end of the process, support for cutting business taxes rose from 40% to 67%. They believed it would stimulate businesses and create jobs.
You can actually see footage from “Hard Times, Hard Choices” here. It’s from a PBS documentary on the project.
- Ellis Westwood -
Toyota, Community & Public Participation
Friday, February 5th, 2010
How the carmaker could be better engaging its community to assess and fix recent safety problems.
Over the past weeks and months, Toyota has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Reports of technical problems with its cars, along with suggestions that it failed to take safety reports seriously, have damaged its brand and relationships that matter most – with its customers. I’m on of those, with a 2007 Prius.
PR professionals have already been lamenting what the see as the carmaker’s slow, confused and unstrategic communications response.
I’ve been thinking about this too, but from a public participation perspective – about how Toyota could be building and engaging its community, especially its loyal base of “true believers”, as it responds to safety concerns.
Here are some of the community-building steps I think they should be considering:
Actively involving their community in assessing the scope of the problem.
Part of Toyota’s woes is the perception that it doesn’t fully understand the scope of safety problems. To really find out, it could use an online story tool where customers could privately submit reports of technical issues, along with their car’s serial number. This could provide Toyota with a rich dataset to analyze and contact information for those most concerned for proactive customer service.
Sending personalized help and advice to individual community members
Right now, owners are worried and are seeking information. But by Toyota’s own admission, callers are experiencing long wait times “on hold” to call centres. Not ideal. A better approach would be to create an online tool where owners could register for information, by providing their model, year of production and email address. Using this contact, Toyota could send people personalized information for their specific car, including whether there is a problem, where clients can go to get it fixed, and what they can do in the meantime.
Hosting local dealership dialogue events
People who purchased their cars from local dealerships may have stronger relationships with these showrooms and individual sales staff than with Toyota head office. The problem right now is that many of these local representatives may be getting their news from TV, just like everybody else. Instead, Toyota could be reaching out to these community members by empowering and encouraging dealers to host in-person events with customers to share experiences, fixes and timelines.
Right now, Toyota’s approach seems old-fashioned and top-down. Already, pundits are predicting severe damage to the brand unless it changes strategy. Hopefully they are using social media to listen for suggestions.
Have other suggestion for Toyota? Share them with us and our @ascentum community!
- Ellis Westwood -
Ascentum and Public Participation: Impressions of Our First Co-Op Student
Friday, January 29th, 2010
My name is Tristan Eclarin, and I’m currently working towards my Masters in Public Administration at the University of Victoria. This semester, I’m working here at Ascentum as a co-op student. I’m excited about the opportunity to learn everything I can about public participation and social media, and I’d like to share some of my first impressions:
1. We could be the generation that truly pushes civic engagement into the mainstream. I used to 
struggle with the idea of social media as a means of getting citizens engaged. But when you consider the technology that has emerged over the past few years, how rapidly it develops and evolves, and how it has been integrated into our everyday lives, you can imagine the possibilities. The claim here is not that social media, by itself, can make citizens more engaged. But if we refine the ways we use it, the easier it will be for people to get involved in issues they care about. However, a lot of this depends on my next insight…
2. It’s all about using social media effectively. Social media is an undeniably powerful tool: it is used for a wide range of purposes, and by different kinds of people and organizations. So how do we use social media to truly engage citizens? Although context is a significant factor, the key is developing good strategy and being increasingly innovative. If there is a message you want to convey, remember a few things:
3. Developing and implementing consultation approaches is often a strategically demanding process. Engaging citizens in public policy decisions requires a high level of strategic and technical planning, attention to detail, and long-term commitment by the organizations involved. However, these challenges do not diminish the social importance of conducting public and stakeholder consultations. With the time, energy and knowledge, there is always a way to meaningfully connect with the public.
That’s it for now! I’ll be with Ascentum until the end of April, at which point I return to school in Victoria. I’ll be blogging between now and then and will make sure to post a final blog on what I’ve learned before I leave.
- Tristan Eclarin -
12 myths about social media
Friday, January 22nd, 2010
The worst-culprit myths about using social media to engage the people important to your organization…
There’s a lot of hype about social media. It’s an exciting time to engage pub
lics using new technologies and approaches. Lots of people are doing interesting and groundbreaking work and sharing what they are learning with the broader community.
Unfortunately, there are also some persistent myths about social media. Earlier this week on Twitter, I came across a great list of 12 leading social media myths by a blogger on the West Coast, Pam Dyer. She does a great job of identifying & responding to these myths.
Here they are, with some of our own thinking on how they apply to public participation.
Do you have other myths to add, or experiences to share? We’d love to hear about them… Just post a comment at the bottom of the page!
- Ellis Westwood -
How to use Twitter to make your next in-person dialogue better
Friday, January 15th, 2010
At its core, Twitter is a community-building tool. In this blog, we’ll share ways you can build a Twitter community around your in-person dialogue events so they are engaging, create a stock of shared knowledge and make the results more sustainable.
Before your event…
Create a Twitter account for your in-person event(s), right at the start of the project planning and design stage.At your event…
After your event…
- Ellis Westwood -
The New Media Experiment
Friday, March 5th, 2010
There is a great series on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) called the Age of Persuasion. It is all about the business of marketing. The show is hosted by Terry O’Reilly who happens to be both compelling AND persuasive himself.
I listen to it religiously through the power of podcasts. Coincidently, the 27-minute episodes correlate to my morning or afternoon commutes.
Terry’s premise is that with adoption of every new media, you can count on several things taking place. First, people will inevitably say that this is the end of previously adopted media. For example, television would be the end of radio or the internet will be the end of television.
Second, you can pretty much guarantee that people will try use the tried and true tricks of the former media in new media. Think about a newspaper ad being transformed (e.g. read aloud) on a radio ad in the 1920s. They were pretty boring and ineffective at first.
Thirdly, he makes the conclusion that while new media needs to be experimented with, to see what works, old media needs to reinvent itself. Just ask yourself, in today’s age, why do we still have telegrams? Their role is for formal announcements and congratulations. Old media has a new or niche role.
So what does this all mean for social media? What we can count on is that with the adoption of any new media we will try old tricks that may or may not work that well. We have seen that take place with websites like brochures or Twitter feeds that clearly don’t understand the concept of 140 characters. Neither of these attempts are wrong, because what we also know, and Terry shares with us so well, is that we have to experiment.
We know that Twitter feeds, Facebook pages, wikis, and other social media need at least three things to work. First, they need to figure out the value proposition for the end-user to “subscribe” and to continue to have interest. What does our audience get out of this?
Second, they need to figure out the specific organizational context in which the social media is be utilized. What do we as an organization get out of this? How does it align with our goals?
Finally, there also has to be a willingness and expectation set that things will be tried, will work, will not work, and will need to be adjusted and refined. SO THEREFORE what our community wants and what we originally wanted, may have to be re-worked as well. (The caps are just to make sure you were still paying attention.)
I will leave you with one last thought from the Age of Persuasion. When the great inventor Alexander Graham Bell was figuring out how the telephone was going to be used at first, they needed to figure out the protocol to start and stop a conversation. There were many words that were thrown around but we eventually settled on “Hello.” The inventor of the telephone himself had proposed something completely different. His proposal was to start each conversation with, “Ahoy! Ahoy!” (like Mr. Burns on the Simpsons!) Experimentation, trial and error, and user preferences finally determined across many languages that “Hello” was what worked best. We are at the same point with social media adoption and practices. Before this new media is worked out, we have much experimentation, trial and error, and evolving preferences to look forward to. It is something we can count on.
The unofficial podcast for the Age of Persuasion is at: http://feeds.feedburner.com/cbc_ageofpersuasion. There are too many copyright issues for CBC to host on their own site.
- Joseph Peters -
Tags: Age of Persuasion, New media, Old media
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