Local governments of all sizes are already reaching more residents and streamlining their engagement initiatives through Go Vocal’s participation platform. Watch our webinars here, where we reveal key tips and discuss best practices with experienced practitioners.
In this webinar, we unveil CitizenLab’s AI toolkit - a set of indispensable tools that will enable you to analyze community feedback more efficiently. Say goodbye to tedious manual work and hello to a quicker path to clear, actionable insights. Here’s what you'll discover: * Learn how our AI Sensemaking module slashes analysis time by 50%, turning a day's work into mere hours. * See how you can bring offline input to your digital platform with our Form Sync feature. * Hear from our client, the City of Vienna, about how the AI Sensemaking module in our platform will lead to more efficient engagement and better decision-making.
If engagement is not genuine, it can lead to engagement fatigue and a lack of trust in the government's ability to make decisions with community input. That's why it's essential to focus on creating genuine and data-driven engagement opportunities that allow citizens to have a real impact on your decision-making. Join us for a webinar in partnership with the Davenport Institute for Public Engagement and Civic Leadership, the City of Lancaster, PA, and the City of Rexburg, ID as we explore the topic of "How Does Engagement Data Affect Decision-Making?" In this session, we'll dive into the data that cities see when it comes to community engagement and how this information is used by government officials. We'll also examine what information citizens need to feel engaged and how engagement can become a critical piece of the toolkit for decision-makers. It's not just about checking a box and going through the motions of community engagement, but rather creating meaningful opportunities for citizens to impact and inform decisions. After watching this webinar, you'll come away with a better understanding of how engagement data can inform decision-making, what citizens need to feel engaged, and practical steps for creating meaningful engagement opportunities.
Your community engagement website is up and running, but how do you get people to use it? In this webinar, we'll explore effective strategies for promoting and marketing your online engagement platform to ensure you're reaching as many community members as possible. Learn how to effectively promote and market your online community engagement website and increase participation and engagement from your community members.
Go Vocal and Konveio have teamed up to ensure local governments can match the right communications and engagement tools to each part of a project lifecycle. Local governments can now do it all; launch a project using Go Vocal's engagement tools; refine early drafts or mockups using Konveio's embedded document engagement platform; and then communicate out findings and reports, all in one place.
Public Engagement and communications are two areas within local government that are often conflated and seen as one and the same. This is due either to limited staff resources, or the two areas are not seen as distinctly separate. While some public engagement elements incorporate communications, not all communication efforts are public engagement. It is important to understand the distinction between the two to effectively determine which avenue will be best to reach the community. Establishing an internal understanding of when either or both communication and/or public engagement is necessary directly improves community relations. Successful communication and public engagement processes not only help build trust between local government and the community but allow informed decision-making on both sides.
Go with us on a tour of the City of Seattle's Engagement site: "One Seattle Plan," with insights into how they have successfully taken the conversation online. By broadening their reach, they've made the comprehensive plan more accessible and equitable, while being able to report back what they are hearing.
What does good online engagement look like, and how do you make it work for you? In this session, our online engagement expert and former Assistant City Manager Amanda Rotella breaks down the methodology Go Vocal uses to help large cities like Seattle, WA and small towns like Struthers, OH translate their engagement needs into easy and effective online tools. Join us as we walk through key frameworks designed to help you: ask the right questions, anticipate the level of effort needed, and demonstrate the impact of your online engagement projects. We'll look at real examples, from parks and transportation planning to ARPA/IIJA prioritization, and show you how to communicate information, collect feedback, and tie that feedback to decision-making. This approach has helped 300+ local governments turn online engagement from a box to check into an efficient and strategic tool to better serve their communities.
Online community engagement provides local governments with a single hub to collect, share, and discuss resident feedback and ideas. But how can you reach those who aren't online? In this webinar, we sat down with Milzy Carrasco, Director of Community Engagement for Lancaster, PA and Rebecca Woodbury, who runs The Department of Civic Things, to discuss how local governments can combine online and offline community engagement to reach more people, build trust, and make more strategic and equitable decisions. From survey design to pop-up workshops, our guests discussed the specific tactics they've used in their communities to ensure traditionally under-heard groups have a say in online participation initiatives. We also looked ahead and discuss the importance of engagement when allocating ARP funding.
