The inside of the bureaucratic bubble can feel like a nice, safe place to work with people who think alike and sometimes feel themselves to be above the mass of the “great unwashed.’’ I know that sounds harsh and it’s certainly not common to most people working in the public sector, but we encounter it… read more →
We in this business often struggle with terminology. Various practitioners consider public or community participation, involvement, or engagement to mean different things, but the definitions are really in the minds of the beholders. Academia likes using ‘‘co-production’’ in reference to government’s public relationships and working with the people it serves and I think that’s… read more →
I talked to a colleague recently who told me that the public agency she’s working with has now decided that from now on, all public meetings and interactions shall indeed only be done virtually, by Zoom. It’s worked well enough for them over the past several months, it’s easier and cheap for them to do,… read more →
Giving the governed access to their government is a critical part of authentic, effective public involvement. But engagement can’t be just a zero-sum numbers game. It’s about bringing people in to learn, weigh, consider, discuss and really contribute to the best decisions for everyone’s collective interests. Online and video engagement is the game changer that… read more →
The events of January 6th scared a lot of us – it should have scared every one of us. In this unbalanced time, we need to remember that democracy is based on balance and equilibrium and the secret sauce is the involvement of its citizens. You’ll find this, along with a couple of freebies that… read more →
It’s easy to think that the political and public polarization of this country is a fairly recent phenomenon, but it isn’t; we’ve seen it steadily growing for a long time. It just took a few people with talent for propaganda and promotion to more clearly define the tribes, identify the enemies and light the match.… read more →
There are a lot of challenges facing us in the public participation biz, not the least of which is the constant evolution of demographic change. Adding that to the growth and expansion of technology, and the thermonuclear political war underway in the U.S., makes for interesting times. This is a brief, interesting look at some… read more →
All of us wish we’d bought stock in Zoom a year ago and we’ve adapted to moving training, coaching and our work with clients and communities online. Fact is, it’s working quite a bit better than we originally thought it might. It’s definitely different and doing interpersonal work in this impersonal environment has limitations, but… read more →
You’re tired… we’re all tired. The silent majority has become the exhausted majority and the research and evidence shows that depression, alcohol abuse, stress, domestic violence and all of the other maladies that you might imagine occurring in these strange times are on the rise. Our social lives are upside down and when you’re engaging… read more →
By the time you’re reading this, you may have seen two Presidential and one Vice-Presidential debates and you’ve gotten a lesson in the value and challenge of facilitation. Managing discussions or debates with people who are aggressive, aggrieved or just dominant requires skills that not everyone necessarily has, including seasoned journalists. Chris Wallace got a… read more →