Category Archives: NCDD confab archives

Register for the Intro to NCDD Webinar, THIS Wednesday!

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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 Small green NCDD logowebsite, 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!

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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!

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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:

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!

What You Missed from the NCDD Confab Call with PBP

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Our NCDD Confab Call this week featuring the Participatory Budgeting Project was one of our best so far! Over 75 people participated in the call and learned tons about the work that PBP is doing to grow participatory budgeting across the country – you missed out if you weren’t on the call!

PBP-Logo-Stacked-Rectangle-web1NCDD member and PBP’s Communications Director David Beasley told us about exciting developments coming down the line for PBP, including working closely with the City of New York to use PB inside their housing authority agency, the PB Squared initiative (PB^2) that employs PB to decide how PBP uses its money, and the upcoming Participatory Budgeting Conference.

We also heard from Allison Rizzolo of Public Agenda about some of the great evaluation work being coordinated by the North American PB Research Board, the ongoing research into PB processes, and the PB research and evaluation toolkit that Public Agenda made available here.

If you missed out on the call, don’t worry, we recorded the presentation and discussion, which you can see and hear by clicking here. We also had a lively discussion in the text-based chat that informed the call, so we’ve also made the transcript of that conversation available as a PDF here.

Confab bubble imageThanks again to David, Allison, and the PBP and Public Agenda teams for collaborating with us to make this Confab Call a great success!

To learn more about NCDD’s Confab Calls and hear recordings of others, visit www.ncdd.org/events/confabs.

Join Confab Call with Participatory Budgeting Project, 3/23

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We wanted to share a friendly reminder that we are hosting out next NCDD Confab Call this Wednesday, March 23rd from 2-3pm Eastern / 11am-12pm Pacific, and you won’t want to miss it! This month’s Confab will focus on the Participatory Budgeting Project (PBP), an NCDD member organization and the leading US group working with participatory budgeting.

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. PB is one of the fastest-growing D&D processes today, and David will talk with us about the that has Confab bubble imagecreated both successes challenges for PBP. We’ll also hear about PBP’s current PB Squared initiative (PB^2) which uses the participatory budgeting process to bring forward ideas on improving participatory budgeting practices. And of course, we’ll preview the upcoming Participatory Budgeting Conference in Boston.

The Confab will also feature Allison Rizzolo from Public Agenda, who will share about PA’s project aimed at evaluating participatory budgeting processes around the country. Come ready to learn more about this exciting work and to contribute your ideas about how PB can continue to develop and advance our field as a whole.

Register today to secure your spot for this great conversation!

Register for March Confab with Participatory Budgeting Project

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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)PBP-Logo-Stacked-Rectangle-web1 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…

Confab bubble imageNCDD’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.

Missed the Tech Tuesday Balancing Act Call? Listen Now!

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Earlier this week, NCDD hosted another installment of our Tech Tuesday call series, this time in partnership with IAP2. The call focused on an introduction to Balancing Act, the powerful online budgeting tool that Engaged Public created to help average citizens understand the financial choices that government balancing-act-logoofficial have to make, and we had a great call with over 55 NCDD and IAP2 members participating!

Engaged Public’s president Chris Adams gave an informative presentation about the history, purpose, and current uses of the Balancing Act tool, and he took us on a virtual walk through of the tool in action both from the front end and the back end. It was a wonderful chance to learn more about involving everyday people in public budgeting.

If you missed out on the call, don’t worry, we recorded the presentation and discussion, which you can see and hear by clicking here.

Tech_Tuesday_BadgeThanks again to Chris and his team for presenting, and to IAP2 for co-hosting the call with us!

To learn more about NCDD’s Tech Tuesday series and hear recordings of past calls, please visit www.ncdd.org/events/tech-tuesdays.

Don’t Forget to Register for Feb. 9 Tech Tuesday Call on Balancing Act

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As we recently mentioned on the blog, NCDD is hosting another one of our popular Tech Tuesday calls this Tech_Tuesday_BadgeTuesday, February 9th from 3 – 4pm Eastern / 12 – 1pm Pacific in conjunction with IAP2.

This time the call will offer an inside look at Balancing Act, an online tool aimed at helping average citizens learn about public budgets and the choices elected officials face in the budgeting process. It’s right around the corner, so make sure you register today!

This Tech Tuesday will feature a presentation from Chris Adams of Engaged Public, the civic engagement group that developed Balancing Act. Chris will explain the functions of Balancing Act and talk about how it’s already being used by various governments and communities. Plus, you won’t want to miss the info about a special offer for folks doing participatory budgeting! 

Don’t miss this opportunity to learn about this useful new tool and connect with your NCDD colleagues! We look forward to have you on the call!

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

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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-logoBalancing 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_BadgeTech 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.

Listen to Common Ground for Action Tech Tuesday Call & Join NIFI’s #CGAFriday Series on the Economy

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Earlier this week, NCDD hosted another installment of our Tech Tuesday call series, this time focused on the Common Ground for Action (CGA) online deliberative tool from Kettering Foundation and Conteneo. Over 50 participants joined us for the call, which featured NCDD members Amy Lee and Laura Richardson taking us on an in-depth tour of this awesome online tool.

NIFI-CGA_Branded_LogoThe call was a great chance to learn more about how to use CGA for our own purposes and hear about opportunities to get further training with the tool, and we had a very informative discussion after the initial presentation. If you missed out on the call, don’t worry, we recorded the presentation and discussion, which you can see and hear by clicking here. Thanks again to Amy, Laura, and everyone who participated!

Looking for a chance to try out Common Ground for Action yourself? Then we highly encourage you to participate in the #CGAFridays series this month when NIFI will be hosting three opportunities for you to try both their CGA tool and their new issue guide about economic security and inequality, Making Ends Meet: How Do We Spread Prosperity and Improve Opportunity? Insights from these deliberative forums will be used in the Kettering Foundation’s reporting to federal policymakers throughout 2016.

If you’d like to participate in any of these forums, all you need to do is click the link below to register. Then, the day before the forum you’ve signed up for, you’ll receive an email with a unique URL. To join the forum, simply click that link no more than 10 minutes before the forum start time. The dates of the CGA Friday series and links to register are here:

These forums are open to the public, so feel free to share and to spread the word on social media using the hashtags #CGAFridays and #MEM+CGA. If you have any questions, email cga@nifi.org.

To find out more about CGA, visit www.nifi.org/en/common-ground-action.

To sign up to get trained as a moderator, visit www.nifi.org/en/groups/new-moderator-form
or www.everyvoiceengaged.org.

To learn more about NCDD’s Tech Tuesday series and hear recordings of past calls, please visit www.ncdd.org/events/tech-tuesdays.

Join Tech Tuesday Call on Common Ground for Action, 12/1

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As we recently announced, we are inviting you to register to join us this Tuesday, December 1st from 2-3pm Eastern/11am-12pm Pacific for our next Tech Tuesday call. This time, the call will feature a demonstration of Common Ground for Action (CGA), Tech_Tuesday_Badgea new online platform designed to create deliberative public forums online that allow participants to examine options for dealing with the problem, weigh tradeoffs, and find common ground.

CGA was developed in collaboration by the Kettering Foundation and Conteneo, so we’re pleased to be joined by Kettering’s Amy Lee and Conteneo’s Luke Homann – both NCDD members – to tell us more about their tool. Amy and Luke will walk us through the CGA’s features and functions and tell us more about the partnership that developed it. And you won’t want to miss the chance to hear about upcoming chances to use the tool yourself and to learn how you or your organization can utilize this FREE tool!

Don’t let the turkey haze or Black Friday rush make you forget – register today and make sure you don’t miss this great Tech Tuesday call! We can’t wait to have you all join us!