Upcoming IAP2 Trainings from The Participation Company

Posted on May 2, 2016 by Roshan Bliss

If you’re looking to build your skills for public engagement, then we encourage you to check out the newly-released calendar of trainings from NCDD member organization, The Participation Company (TPC). TPC offers trainings that earn participants the International Association of Public Participation’s certificate in public participation, and NCDD members are eligible for a $20 per day discount! You can learn more in their announcement below or at TPC’s website here.

IAP2 Training Events in 2016

If you work in communications, public relations, public affairs, planning, public outreach and understanding, community development, advocacy, or lobbying, this training will help you to increase your skills and to be of even greater value to your employer.

This is your chance to join the many thousands of practitioners worldwide who have completed the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) certificate training.

Dates for IAP2’s Foundations in Public Participation (5-Day) certificate program:
PLANNING for Effective Public Participation (3-Days) and/or *TECHNIQUES for Effective Public Participation (2-Days)

June 1-3 – Omaha, NE (3-day Planning)
August 11-12 – Omaha, NE (2-day Techniques)
August 30-September 1 – Fort Collins, CO (3-day Planning)
October 24-28 – Denver, CO (3-day Planning and 2-day Techniques)
October 31-November 4 – Anchorage, AK (3-day Planning and 2-day Techniques)
November 3-4 – Fort Collins, CO (2-day Techniques)
December 5-9 – Salt Lake City, UT (3-day Planning and 2-day Techniques)

Please check their website for updates to the calendar.
*The 3-Day Planning is a prerequisite to TECHNIQUES

Dates for IAP2’s Emotion, Outrage and Public Participation: Moving from Rage to Reason (2-Days)

June 15-16 – Chicago, IL (2-day EOP2)
July 20-21 – Austin, TX (2-day EOP2)

The Participation Company offers discounted rates to NCDD members. Visit www.theparticipationcompany.com/training for more information and on-line registration.

Register for 5/17 Tech Tuesday with Urban Interactive Studio

Posted on April 29, 2016 by Courtney Breese

Registration is now open for May’s Tech Tuesday event with Urban Interactive Studio. Join us for this FREE event Tuesday, May 17th from 1:00-2:00pm Eastern/10:00-11:00am Pacific.

UIS Urban Interactive Studio helps agencies and consultants engage communities online through project websites and participation apps that can be tailored to any approach, process or project objective. As web and mobile technology has become commonplace, citizens now expect online participation options, but public engagement practitioners are often forced to cobble together inflexible off-the-shelf tools that only partially meet their engagement needs. UIS’s EngagingPlans and EngagingApps deliver a comprehensive, feature-rich, and adaptable solution that helps meet varied objectives at every project stage, from early visioning to final draft review and interactive online plans.

EngagingPlans and EngagingApps inform and involve broad audiences while also generating actionable insights for decision makers. EngagingPlans bundles the most widely used features into one project hub that reaches, informs, and involves citizens and stakeholders in civic projects and decision making. EngagingPlans websites form the backbone of digital project communications, keeping documents, events, news, and FAQs accessible and collecting community feedback through surveys, discussions, idea walls, and draft reviews.

As projects progress beyond open-ended visioning, the choices for online engagement software decrease drastically. EngagingApps are semi-customizable mapping tools, workbooks, interactive plans, and simulators that encourage informed, specific feedback about topics like commuting habits, proposed land use designations, design concepts, growth scenarios, and funding allocation.

On this call, NCDD Member Chris Haller, Founder & CEO and Emily Crespin, Partnership Manager of Urban Interactive Studio will walk through examples of both EngagingPlans and EngagingApps in action, with particular emphasis on how EngagingApps can be configured to address unique participation objectives during each stage of any public process. Participants are encouraged to review the UIS website prior to Tech Tuesday and be prepared for a high-level overview of EngagingPlans and an in-depth discussion about EngagingApps and strategies for implementation.

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to see these tools in action – register today!

Tech Tuesdays are a series of learning events from NCDD focused on technology for engagement. These 1-hour events are designed to help dialogue and deliberation practitioners get a better sense of the online engagement landscape and how they can take advantage of the myriad opportunities available to them. You do not have to be a member of NCDD to participate in our Tech Tuesday learning events.

Register for the Intro to NCDD Webinar, THIS Wednesday!

Posted on April 18, 2016 by Roshan Bliss

As we’ve previously announced, we are excited to be hosting our first webinar introduction to NCDD this Wednesday, April 20th from 1-2pm Eastern / 10-11am Pacific, and we encourage you to register today to join us! This “get to know us” event is a great way for D&D newcomers and veterans alike to learn things about NCDD’s website, resources, network, and staff that you might have never known. You won’t want to miss it!

During the webinar, our five NCDD staff members will take participants on a virtual tour of the NCDD website including the blog, resource center, events pages, the member directory and map, and the listservs. We’ll also include a run down of how to best use our social media resources, as well as some little-known tips and tricks for getting the word out about your work.

This intro to NCDD webinar is the perfect chance to make sure you know how to take advantage of all of the tools your NCDD membership offers for learning about the D&D world and connecting to others in the field. Plus you’ll get to meet the wonderful people on the NCDD team who help the whole thing run. But you time is running out, so you have to register today!

We especially encourage new members and folks interested in joining NCDD to attend, but the call is open to everyone! It will be a good refresher even for the most experienced members. on how to get the most out of NCDD’s website. Be sure to register today!

Join Us for an Intro to NCDD’s Website April 20th!

Posted on April 7, 2016 by Courtney Breese

On Wednesday, April 20th, in one fell swoop, you can meet NCDD’s staff, tour the website, and get a better sense of what NCDD offers its members.

For the first time, all five of us will be walking new members, not-so-new members and prospective members through the whole NCDD site. You will be floored at the amount of resources, opportunities, and information available to you that you weren’t aware of!

NCDD_Staff_Pics_2016-600px

Join us on Wednesday, April 20th at 1pm Eastern (10am Pacific) for this special one-hour webinar that will help you make the most out of your NCDD membership.

The entire NCDD staff will participate in this event and discuss portions of the website related to their work with NCDD. NCDD’s staff includes:

Sandy Heierbacher, Director
Courtney Breese, Program Director
Joy Garman, Office Manager
Roshan Bliss, Blog Curator
Keiva Hummel, Resource Curator

The five of us will walk you through the various resources and tools available to NCDD members, including our news blog, resource center, events pages, the member directory and map, the listservs, our social media, and the myriad options you have for connecting and sharing information with other members. NCDD serves as a gathering place, a resource center, a news source, and a facilitative leader for this vital community of practice, and much of our work and offerings to the field are incorporated in our website.

New members are especially encouraged to attend, but the call is open to ANYONE who wants to learn more or get a refresher on how to get the most out of NCDD’s website. Be sure to register today!

Register for March Confab with Participatory Budgeting Project

Posted on March 8, 2016 by Courtney Breese

Join us on Wednesday, March 23rd for NCDD’s next “Confab Call.” We’ll be featuring NCDD organizational member the Participatory Budgeting Project and learning more about their exciting work with a rapidly expanding process. The confab will take place from 2-3pm Eastern (11am-12pm Pacific). Register today to secure your spot!

Participatory Budgeting Project (PBP) is a non-profit organization that empowers people to decide together how to spend public money, primarily in the US and Canada. PBP creates and supports participatory budgeting processes that deepen democracy, build stronger communities, and make public budgets more equitable and effective. Launched in 2009 and incorporated as a non-profit organization in the state of New York in October 2011, PBP now has offices in New York, Chicago and Oakland and has worked to bring participatory budgeting to numerous cities including Boston, San Jose, St Louis, and more!

On this Confab, we will hear from PBP’s Communications Director David Beasley about participatory budgeting, and PBP’s work to bring this approach to managing public money to cities, districts and schools. He’ll talk with us about the successes PBP has had working across the country and the challenges they face. We’ll also talk about PBP’s current PB Squared initiative (PB^2) which calls for ideas for how to make participatory budgeting better, and their upcoming Participatory Budgeting Conference in Boston. We’ll also be joined by Allison Rizzolo from Public Agenda, who will speak to their current work evaluating participatory budgeting. Come ready to learn more about this exciting work and to contribute your ideas about how to improve it further!

David is responsible for the strategic development and management of PBP’s communications, fundraising through individual giving, and their conference. He has trained dozens of advocates to be spokespeople for their movements and supported them through print and broadcast media engagements with organizations that include Safe Horizon, Scenarios USA, Hollaback!, and the Pop-Up Museum of Queer History, among others. David believes that telling better stories build movements that change culture.

As the Director of Communications at Public Agenda, Allison Rizzolo develops and executes communications strategies to broaden the impact of Public Agenda’s research and engagement work. A former teacher, Allison is also the co-author of Everyone at the Table: Engaging Teachers in Evaluation Reform.

For updates on about PB and best practices for empowering communities to decide together, sign up for PBP’s newsletter.

NCDD’s confabs (interactive conference calls) are free and open to all members and potential members. Register today if you’d like to join us!

About NCDD’s Confab Calls…

NCDD’s Confab Calls are opportunities for members (and potential members) of NCDD to talk with and hear from innovators in our field about the work they’re doing, and to connect with fellow members around shared interests. Membership in NCDD is encouraged but not required for participation. Register today if you’d like to join us.

NCDD Members Get 30% Off New Transpartisan Book

Posted on February 29, 2016 by Roshan Bliss

We are pleased to share the announcement below from the Bridge Alliance – one of our NCDD organizational members – about the release of its co-founder and NCDD member Mark Gerzon‘s new book, The Reunited States of America, on March 1st. Mark’s book is highly relevant for D&D practitioners, so he and Bridge Alliance are offering a 30% discount for NCDD members with the code “NCDD”. Read more about the book in the announcement below, or find Mark’s book here.

Reunited States of America

We have an exciting offer for you that you won’t want to miss!

Mark Gerzon is releasing his new book March 1st and we want you to be some of the first people with this timely and important tool in hand! That is why we are offering.30% off of the book when you pre-order as a member of NCDD.

Here are 5 reasons why you want to take advantage of this offer and order your copy of The Reunited States of America TODAY:

This book puts the spotlight on dozens of individuals and organizations that comprise a new narrative for Democracy 2.0. It is a manifesto for a movement that includes the NCDD field – and highlights the importance of what those of us in this field are all trying to do.
It describes problem solving on some of the most difficult and divisive issues, such as: abortion, gun control, sex education, defense spending, criminal justice reform and more!
Gerzon invites us into a movement to reunite our nation and put country before party! This book doesn’t ask party members to forfeit their values, but celebrates the beauty of all diverse voices that grow out of love for your country.
The Reunited States of America explains what you can do starting now to strengthen our nation’s sense of unity while honoring the vital role of conflicting points of view.
While we all know that not one book, one person nor one organization has the power to change the course of American politics. But this new narrative, with your help, can rise up above the barrage of attack ads and spread a message about dialogue, deliberation and real democracy!

Although we come from opposite ends of the political spectrum, we believe our country needs to come together. “The Reunited States of America” will help us do that. It reconnects us to our country’s motto – “out of many, one” – and helps us meet the challenge of reuniting the country that we all love.

– Grover Norquist, president, Americans for Tax Reform & Joan Blades, co-founder MoveOn.org and LivingRoomConversations.org

For 30% off of your copy of this book click here and use the discount code: NCDD

You bought the book, now what? Here are some easy ways to get the word out and unite America starting today!

Register for Feb. Tech Tuesday Event feat. Balancing Act, co-hosted by IAP2!

Posted on January 26, 2016 by Courtney Breese

Registration is now open for a special Tech Tuesday event co-hosted by NCDD and IAP2, featuring the platform Balancing Act. Join us for this FREE event Tuesday, February 9th from 3-4pm Eastern / 12-1pm Pacific.

Balancing Act is a tool for learning about public budgets and the choices elected officials face in the budgeting process. It allows participants to try allocating funds – expressing their priorities and preferences – but also requires them to balance spending and revenue. Balancing Act brings people and government officials closer together in an informed conversation about what priorities are in everyone’s best interests. Because it is online, it is accessible to anyone at anytime and is far more convenient than a traditional public meeting or budget hearing.

Balancing Act was created by Engaged Public, a public policy consulting firm specializing in engagement-driven strategies. On this call we will be joined by Chris Adams, President of Engaged Public, who will tell us more about Balancing Act and how it has been used by governments and communities. Chris will also highlight its application for participatory budgeting efforts and talk about a special offer for participatory budgeting projects.

This tool is available for cities, counties, school districts, libraries, non-profits, states and others, and Engaged Public will soon offer a Federal budget tool as well! The tool can be used with different currencies and in some different languages (English, French and Spanish, currently).

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to learn more about this fun, exciting tool – register today!

Tech_Tuesday_Badge Tech Tuesdays are a series of learning events focused on technology for engagement. These 1-hour events are designed to help dialogue and deliberation practitioners get a better sense of the online engagement landscape and how they can take advantage of the myriad opportunities available to them. You do not have to be a member of NCDD or IAP2 to participate in this event.

About NCDD
The National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation is a network of thousands of innovators who bring people together across divides to tackle today’s toughest challenges. NCDD serves as a gathering place, a resource clearinghouse, a news source, and a facilitative leader for this extraordinary community. Learn more about NCDD here.

About IAP2
The International Association for Public Participation is an international association of members who seek to promote and improve the practice of public participation in relation to individuals, governments, institutions, and other entities that affect the public interest in nations throughout the world. Learn more about IAP2 here.

Sign Up for December’s Tech Tuesday on Common Ground for Action

Posted on November 16, 2015 by Courtney Breese

Registration is now open for December’s Tech Tuesday event featuring Common Ground for Action. Join us for this FREE event Tuesday, December 1st from 2:00-3:00pm Eastern/11:00am-12:00pm Pacific.

In 2013, Kettering Foundation and the National Issues Forums collaborated with Conteneo, the developer of the San Jose Budget Games, to produce a platform that could allow truly deliberative online public forums. The result is Common Ground for Action, a simple, intuitive tool that allows participants to examine options for dealing with the problem, weigh tradeoffs, and find common ground, with beautiful visuals that let you actually see the shape of your conversation as it evolves. And because CGA works in any browser, there’s nothing to download, nothing to update – no technical mumbo jumbo.

CGA works not only for National Issues Forums issue guides, but also for localized adaptations of those guides, or in fact, any deliberative framework on any wicked problem.

On this call we will be joined by NCDD Members Amy Lee from the Kettering Foundation and Luke Hohmann from Conteneo, who will tell us more about how this tool was developed and demonstrate how it works. Amy will also tell us more about the current schedule of forums, and how you or your organization can utilize this FREE tool!

Don’t miss out on this opportunity – register today!

More about Common Ground for Action…

CGA can be helpful for any conversation where you need:

the ability to convene people from diverse locations
the ability to convene people who may not be able or willing to participate
in-person
the ability to let people talk together about an issue
visuals showing the group’s evolution in judgment
an easy-to-analyze record of the entire forum.

Other important facts about CGA:

It’s free!
It’s easy to become a moderator – 2 simple online sessions!
It can be used to augment in-person deliberations as well.

Upcoming IAP2 Trainings from the Participation Company

Posted on October 27, 2015 by Roshan Bliss

Make sure to note that the at The Participation Company – one of our NCDD member organizations – is offering more IAP2 trainings that NCDD members can get a discount $30-$100 on! The trainings use the International Association of Public Participation (IAP2) framework and are a great opportunity to earn an official IAP2 certification. Learn more about the trainings in the announcement below or here.

IAP2 Training Events in 2015-2016

This is your chance to join the many thousands of practitioners worldwide who have completed the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) certificate training.

Foundations in Public Participation (5-Day) certificate program: PLANNING for Effective Public Participation (3-Days) and/or *TECHNIQUES for Effective Public Participation (2-Days)

November 3 – 5, 2015 in Fort Collins, CO — 3-day Planning
December 9 – 11, 2015 in Great Falls, MT — 3-day Planning
December 14 – 18, 2015 in Chicago, IL — 3-day Planning & 2-day Techniques
February 1 – 5, 2016 in Arlington, VA — 3-day Planning & 2-day Techniques
February 2 – 3, 2016 in Fort Collins, CO — 2-day Techniques
February 25 – 26, 2016 in Fairmont, MT — 2-day Techniques
February 29 – March 4, 2016 in Phoenix, AZ — 3-day Planning & 2-day Techniques

Austin, TX and Santa Fe, NM coming soon. Please check our website for updates to the calendar.

*The 3-Day Planning is a prerequisite to TECHNIQUES

The Participation Company (TPC) offers discounted rates to NCDD members. Visit www.theparticipationcompany.com/foundations for more information and online registration.

Register for Oct. 28th Confab on Nevins Democracy Leaders Program

Posted on October 21, 2015 by Sandy Heierbacher

NCDD member organizations, be sure to join us next Wednesday, October 28th from 2-3pm Eastern/11am-12pm Pacific for a special NCDD Confab Call that can help your organization build capacity and contribute to the field!

This call will feature a discussion with long-time NCDD member Dr. John Gastil, who will be sharing about the amazing opportunity for organizations in the D&D field to host a bright Penn State fellow next summer through the McCourtney Institute‘s Nevins Democracy Leaders Program! Stipends and living expenses are provided to the students through the program.

This is a rare opportunity for our field, and the Confab will be one of the best ways to find out more about how your organization can benefit, so make sure to register today to secure your spot on the call!

The Nevins Democracy Leaders Program – recently founded after a gift from NCDD Sustaining Member David Nevins – provides education and training in transpartisan leadership skills by exposing participants to a variety of viewpoints and philosophies and teaches the tools of dialogue and deliberation as well as critical thinking. But perhaps most uniquely, the Nevins Program works to grow the next generation of democracy leaders by placing students in unique fellowship position in organizations focused on D&D, transpartisan dialogue, and civic renewal – that means organizations like yours!

NCDD is partnering with the McCourtney Institute to help identify FABULOUS organizations that can host Nevins fellows (among other roles we’ll be playing).

On this Confab, John Gastil will provide an overview of the Nevins program and its aims, discuss the training that the future fellows are going through, and share more about how your organization can take advantage of this great chance to help cultivate the next generation of D&D leaders while getting more support for your work – all for FREE! You really don’t want to miss this call!

Our confabs (interactive conference calls) are free and open to all NCDD members and potential members. Register today if you’d like to join us!

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