Category Archives: NCDD News

Look yourself up on NCDD’s new Google map and directory

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NCDD’s new Google map and searchable online directory are both live and up-to-date with all our members deets! Now is a great time to search for yourself on the map and in the directory and make sure the info we have for you is updated and complete.

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(Not on the map or in the directory? Sounds like it’s time to officially join NCDD!)

The map and directory are both pretty standard and intuitive, but here are some step-by-step instructions for those not used to this technology or not sure what to look for…

On the map:

The Google map is at www.ncdd.org/map (we make things easy for you!). Use your scroll wheel or the map navigation tools to scroll in on your region in the U.S. — or if you’re based elsewhere on the planet, scroll out first to find your country.

We have 1900 members currently, so many icons are hidden by other icons until you scroll in closer.

Notice the nice legend Andy created that lives right below the map. As you can see from the legend, we recognize our supporting members with larger icons. Supporting members based in government get the golden building icons. Higher ed based members get the green school icons. And consultants and facilitators get the blue drop icons. Supporting members who aren’t marked in our database as being consultants/facilitators or based in government or higher ed are represented with the white drop icons. Non-dues members are represented by dots of similar colors.

Note that if you’ve asked us not to share your street address, Google has used your city, state and zip code to map you — so your icon may not be in the exact right location and you may need to click around to find it.

Click on the icons to view a pop-up with info about the member represented by the icon. Once you find yourself, check to see:

  1. If your info is up to date
  2. If you have empty fields that can be filled
  3. If your dues are due or lapsed
  4. If you have been assigned the correct icon
  5. If your bio has been cut off awkwardly (only 500 characters are shown)

If it’s time for you to renew (or if you’re a non-dues Member who’d like to have a bigger icon), use the renew/upgrade form at www.ncdd.org/renew. If you have additions or corrections to make to your map entry, you can let us know on the form — or email them directly to Joy at joy@ncdd.org.

If you’ve noticed that your bio cuts off at an awkward place, feel free to submit a shorter bio of 500 characters or less to Joy so she can replace what’s displayed on the map.

In the directory:

The online members directory is up at www.ncdd.org/directory but you can also find it right under the map! It’s super easy to search — just use the drop-down menu to select the field you want to search in (name, organization, state, country, etc.), type in your text, and click the search box (or just hit return). If you see yourself in the results, click on your name to view your full listing.

The info here should be the same as in your map entry, but please check for these three things:

  1. If your info is up to date
  2. If you have empty fields that can be filled
  3. If your dues are due or lapsed

Again, send any changes to our office manager, Joy Garman, at joy@ncdd.org. And please renew your membership if your dues have lapsed.

Why these tools?

For those interested, we’re using Google Maps and Fusion Tables for the map, and a WordPress plugin called Participants Database for the directory. These two tools are replacing our old Member Network, which was run on a Facebook-like social network called Social Engine that never worked very well for our purposes.

We wanted a way for our members to easily find each other when they knew each other’s name or organization. We also wanted an easy way for people to see who’s in their area — maybe because they’re looking for a facilitator or consultant to work with closeby, or perhaps because they want to find colleagues near them. We weren’t able to find an affordable tool that provided both a map and a robust search function, so for now we’re covering our bases with these two tools.

We hope you like them!

Invite others to join NCDD before Thanksgiving for 50% off

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As part of our 2013 member drive, we want to encourage our existing members to invite others to join NCDD as a Supporting Member for just $25. Word-of-mouth from those of you who know NCDD is absolutely the best way to expand our reach and get more people involved — and hopefully this gives you some incentive to encourage others to become members of this great network of ours.

Table-group-600px-outlinedJust send people to www.ncdd.org/drive-join50 to complete the membership application.  The first question on the form is “Who invited you to join NCDD during the 2013 member drive,” so we can recognize those who bring in new members!

The form allows people to join at 50% off the regular (already very reasonable) membership rates. People can join as a Supporting Member for only $25 (instead of $50) or a Sustaining Member for $62.50 (instead of $125).

You may want to send out a few emails to people you think should be involved in NCDD, or maybe you’d want to post an invitation on Facebook or send an alert out to a listserv you’re active in. Here’s some suggested text you can use as you see fit…

I’d like to invite you to join a great network I’m involved in — the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation. You can join for just $25 (50% off the regular dues for Supporting Members) if you complete the membership app at www.ncdd.org/drive-join50 before Thanksgiving.

NCDD (the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation) is an active network of about 2,000 organizations and professionals in the public engagement and group process realms. We all work — in one way or another — to bring people together across divides to discuss, decide, and act together on today’s toughest challenges.

NCDD essentially serves as a gathering place, a resource center, a news source, and a facilitative leader for an active community of practice centered around the practices of dialogue and deliberation. Their online resource center is unmatched, with nearly 3,000 resources, and more than 32,000 people are subscribed to their monthly email updates. Their community is rich, responsive, and informed — their listservs, national conferences, and member “confab calls” demonstrate that.

NCDD is constantly creating opportunities for innovators in this growing field to connect with each other, learn from each other, and stay updated on what’s happening in the field. They also encourage collaboration through activities like their Catalyst Awards, and are always partnering with other leaders to help our field make a greater impact.

As a member, you’ll be among the first to hear about what’s happening in this important field. You’ll be featured on the NCDD member map and in the member directory, and you’ll be able to post to the NCDD blog, listservs and social media about your work. You’ll have access to all kinds of discounts on programs that boost your skills in engagement. And you’ll become part of a wonderfully rich, supportive, and dynamic network of people and organizations who are working to bring sanity and civility back to the way we solve public problems.

You can learn more about membership at www.ncdd.org/join, or just complete the form today at www.ncdd.org/drive-join50 to join for the $25 rate I’m extending you.

Developing “Text, Talk, and Act”: A new strategy for combining ‘thick’ and ‘thin’ engagement

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NCDD members may be interested in contributing to the development of a new public engagement process that will roll out in December as part of the National Dialogue on Mental Health. “Text, Talk, and Act” has been developed by Matt Leighninger of the Deliberative Democracy Consortium (DDC), the other members of the National Dialogue’s Creating Community Solutions partnership, and the directors of two civic technology nonprofits: Michelle Lee of Textizen and Michael Smith of United Americans. Sandy Heierbacher of NCDD, Raquel Goodrich of the National Institute for Civil Discourse, and Mary Jacksteit and Sue McCormack of CCS have been instrumental in making this happen.

We developed this process because we were looking for a way to involve more young people, with the technology they use most, in a way that captures national excitement and produces meaningful small-group dialogue.

Essentially, what we are doing is combining the strengths of ‘thick’ and ‘thin’ engagement. Thick engagement has been a key element of public participation for a long time, though it has proliferated dramatically in the last twenty years; it happens mainly in groups, either face-to-face, online, or both, and features various forms of dialogue, deliberation, action planning, and policy choicework. Thin engagement has developed more recently; it happens mainly online, and is easier, faster, and potentially more viral – it is done by individuals, who are often motivated by feeling a part of some larger movement or cause.

Both thin and thick engagement have their merits – and their limitations. We wanted to find better ways to weave together these two strands, thickening the thin forms and thinning out the thick. “Text, Talk, and Act” resulted directly from this conversation.

Like most kinds of thin engagement, “Text, Talk, and Act” is easy to organize. You don’t need moderators, discussion materials, computers, or screens: just participants with text-capable cellphones. (If not everyone has a cellphone, you need only ensure that there is one cellphone per small group.)

  • Participants form into groups of 4-6 people, then start the 60-minute process by texting ‘START’ to 89800.
  • They receive a welcome text, followed quickly by a few polling questions about mental health, such as “1 in 5 people experience mental illness each year. Take a guess: Half of all mental health problems begin at age: A) 14, B) 24, C) 30”
  • Each time the participant texts in a response, they receive a text with the next question.
  • Aggregated results of the polling can be viewed online in real time.
  • Participants are asked to accept some guidelines: “Let’s talk guidelines: 1. Listen w/ respect, 2. It’s OK to disagree but don’t make it personal, 3. What’s said here stays here. Is this OK?”
  • The participants then receive the first of several dialogue questions, including: “Without naming names, talk about how mental health issues have affected you or people you know (Take 15 mins to discuss in groups & reply NEXT to go on.)”
  • Responses to these dialogue questions are not recorded. (And phone numbers are not kept in the system after the process has ended.)
  • Next in the sequence are polling and dialogue questions on the best ways to “make a difference” on mental health issues.
  • One of the final questions asks participants to “commit to 1 action to help make a difference” – participants can text in their ideas, which can then be viewed online along with other ideas from their school, university, or community.

The process is designed to last one hour, but the technology allows people to start any time they like (on December 5th), and take as long as they like. Participants will also be able to organize a “Text, Talk, and Act” event after the 5th.

We used the Textizen platform for the high school pilot of “Text, Talk, and Act,” held at Rex Putnam High School in Milwaukie, Oregon. “This exercise has created a more trusting environment in our class,” one student said. “We understand each other better now.” Our college pilot, at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island, used the United Americans platform. Please contact either Textizen or United Americans if you are interested in using this process.

Meanwhile, please join us on December 5th in trying out this new process! There are three easy steps:

  1. Bring some people together on the 5th
  2. Have them form into groups of 4-5, with at least one cellphone per group
  3. Ask them to text “START” to 89800

Learn more and sign up for updates at www.creatingcommunitysolutions.org/texttalkact, and see Sandy’s previous post about the project at www.ncdd.org/13369 (including the infographic NCDD’s Andy Fluke created for the project!).

Join us for “Text, Talk, Act” on Mental Health

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On December 5th, we encourage all NCDD members to participate in the first-ever, nationwide text-enabled dialogue on mental health. All you need is 1 hour, 4 people, and at least 1 phone.

TXTTLKACT_Infographic

This is a project of Creating Community Solutions – a collaborative effort led by the National Institute for Civil Discourse, the Deliberative Democracy Consortium, AmericaSpeaks, Everyday Democracy, National Issues Forums Institute, and the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation (with many, many partner organizations signed on — including some of you!). We’re excited to be experimenting with the use of text messaging technology to help groups of young people and adults, all over the country, get together in small groups for one-hour discussions on mental health.

Sign up today at bit.ly/texttalkact, and think about whether you can get your university, your classroom, your community group, your neighbors, or others involved in Text Talk Act!

And please share this infographic widely to help us promote the event! The infographic was created by Andy Fluke — NCDD’s Creative Director.

Small groups of 4-5 people will gather together for the event. Each group will need a cell phone and will receive polling & discussion questions and process suggestions via text message.

Results from the live polling questions will be tabulated almost instantly, so that people will be able to see how participants across the country responded. The discussion questions will provide a safe space for candid dialogue on mental health, one of the most critical and misunderstood public issues we face. The process will also provide an opportunity for participants to discuss actions they can take to strengthen mental health on their campuses and in their communities.

Launching a 3-year learning exchange with the Kettering Foundation

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NCDD is pleased to announce that we are embarking upon an exciting three-year “learning exchange” with the Kettering Foundation.

This research with Kettering focuses on documenting and making explicit what NCDD is learning in areas of mutual importance to Kettering, to NCDD, and to our field. Specifically, under this agreement, we will:

  • Explore the capacity and track record of collaboration among practitioners in public dialogue and deliberation, while exploring new opportunities as well. This joint research will give us the opportunity to think through—with many of you—the obstacles to collaboration in our field and how to overcome them.
  • Leverage our network to help quantify the level of dialogue and deliberation in the U.S. We’ll be surveying you in a number of ways to find out where, when, and how often you’re engaging people; what your organizations’ strengths and specialties are; and what your hopes and challenges are. The goal is to inventory the assets that exist in our field as a whole—and present that information in ways that public administrators, funders, potential sponsoring organizations, the media, and all of you can access.

We will certainly need your help for these efforts to be successful. Many of you are working together on a wide variety of projects already. We ask that over these next few years, you help us to learn from your work and explore with us what’s possible. We’ll also be looking for people to help us catalog, report on, and map what we’re learning. Ideas, input and involvement from our members will be critical in all our upcoming work with Kettering.

I am so excited about this opportunity to work more closely with the Kettering Foundation and to create a better climate for dialogue and deliberation, at a time when our world so desperately needs it. Please join me in celebrating our new venture.

About the Kettering Foundation…

The Kettering Foundation is a nonprofit operating foundation rooted in the American tradition of cooperative research. Kettering’s primary research question is “What does it take to make democracy work as it should?” Kettering’s research is distinctive because it is conducted from the perspective of citizens and focuses on what people can do collectively to address problems affecting their lives, their communities, and their nation.

The foundation seeks to identify and address the challenges to making democracy work as it should through interrelated program areas that focus on citizens, communities, and institutions. Guiding Kettering’s research are three hypotheses. Kettering’s research suggests that democracy requires:

  • Responsible citizens who can make sound choices about their future;
  • Communities of citizens acting together to address common problems; and
  • Institutions with public legitimacy that contribute to strengthening society.

The foundation’s small staff and extensive network of associates collaborate with community organizations, government agencies, researchers, scholars, and citizens around the world. A monthly meeting series brings together Kettering staff, associates, researchers, and others with whom the foundation works to explore a tightly focused research question or area. Those working on related problems share what they are learning at the foundation’s many meetings, which provide space for an ongoing exchange of ideas and stories in an effort to develop research interests.

As the foundation’s learning progresses, Kettering shares its research findings through books, research reports, occasional papers, videos, and its website. The foundation also disseminates its research in three periodicals: Connections, the Higher Education Exchange, and the Kettering Review.

In addition, Kettering produces materials, including issue books and starter videos, for the National Issues Forums (NIF), a network of civic and educational organizations whose common interest is promoting public deliberation. The foundation collaborates with NIF as part of its research efforts.

Established in 1927 by inventor Charles F. Kettering, the foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization that does not make grants but engages in joint research with others. It is an operating foundation headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, with offices in Washington, D.C., and New York City.

Why NCDD is so great…

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I’m feeling really grateful right now for this supportive network we’ve built up over the past 11 years, and all of the amazing people that make NCDD a special, one-of-a-kind community.

I just realized we had SEVEN people renew their membership today and yesterday, and I wanted to give them a quick shout-out. Thank you to John Vogelsang, Tim Steffensmeier of Kansas State University, Leanne Nurse of the U.S. EPA, Maggie Herzig of the Public Conversations Project, Kay Lindahl of The Listening Center, Tobin Quereau of Austin Community College, and Angela Lowrey of Delta Diablo!

Your ongoing support and involvement mean the world to us, and those of us on staff feel so lucky to be able to serve and work with who we consider to be some of the greatest people on the planet.

The photo collage below is a testament to that.

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Back when we were organizing the NCDD national conference in Seattle last year, we asked our members to send in photos of themselves holding up signs about why their work has meaning for them (kudos to Susan Stuart Clark for the idea!).

We compiled a slideshow of these great photos (and photos from past events) that played while people were arriving for the first day of the conference, and you can check out that video here along with all the other videos from NCDD Seattle.

Making Public Participation Legal launched at Brookings

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Most of the laws that govern public participation in the U.S. are over thirty years old. They do not match the expectations and capacities of citizens today, they pre-date the Internet, and they do not reflect the lessons learned in the last two decades about how citizens and governments can work together. Increasingly, public administrators and public engagement practitioners are hindered by the fact that it’s unclear if many of the best practices in participation are even allowed by the law.

MakingP2Legal-BrookingsPicMaking Public Participation Legal, a new publication of the National Civic League (with support from the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation), presents a valuable set of tools, including a model ordinance, set of policy options, and resource list, to help communities improve public participation.

We released the publication at a launch event on Wednesday (October 23rd) at the Brookings Institution in D.C. Download this free — but extremely valuable — publication today at www.tinyurl.com/p2law.

The tools and articles in Making Public Participation Legal were developed over the past year by the Working Group on Legal Frameworks for Public Participation — an impressive team convened and guided by Matt Leighninger of the Deliberative Democracy Consortium (DDC).

In addition to DDC, NCL and NCDD, the Working Group also includes representatives of the American Bar Association, International Municipal Lawyers Association, National League of Cities, Policy Consensus Initiative, International Association for Public Participation, and International City/County Management Association, as well as leading practitioners and scholars of public participation.

Wednesday’s launch event was opened by Darrell West, Brookings’ VP and director of Governance Studies and the director of the Center for Technology Innovation. Members of an expert panel described the overarching problem as the lack of guiding principles to govern civic engagement. The panelists included moderator Matt Leighninger, executive director of the Deliberative Democracy Consortium, Lisa Blomgren Amsler, professor of public service at Indiana University, Mike Huggins, former city manager in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and Kevin Curry, Program Director for the Code for America Brigade.

MakingP2Legal-coverThe main remedy the panelists proposed was the Model Municipal Public Participation Ordinance. Prof. Amsler said it would be a starting point to set the ground for whoever wants to innovate. The way public participation is defined in the ordinance allows for increased freedom of discussion and innovation. She also advocated for local government offices to appoint an individual to learn about public engagement, pass on that knowledge, and bridge the gap between the local government and the people in regards to public participation.

Leighninger described the situation created by the ordinance as “a model which … does not require public participation in any particular format but enables and supports what we hope will be better public participation.”

Huggins also supported the ordinance because it would create a positive definition of public participation as a public good. He saw it as an important way to foster more communication between the government and the public. To Huggins, the ordinance would build a capacity for local elected officials to have support from the community through discussion and innovation.

See the Brookings Institutions’ full overview of the event here, or download the audio archive here.

Download the publication from the National Civic League site at www.tinyurl.com/p2law.

Join us at the Brookings Institution on Wednesday!

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Tired of tense, unproductive public meetings? Want to embed better online and face-to-face processes in the way governments work? Making Public Participation Legal, a new publication of the National Civic League, presents a valuable set of tools, including a model ordinance, set of policy options, and resource list, to help communities improve public participation. The publication is being released at a launch event at the Brookings Institution this Wednesday, October 23rd.

RSVP today if you can join us!

MakingP2Legal-coverMost of the laws that govern public participation in the United States are over thirty years old. They do not match the expectations and capacities of citizens today, they pre-date the Internet, and they do not reflect the lessons learned in the last two decades about how citizens and governments can work together. Increasingly, public officials and staff are wondering whether the best practices in participation are in fact supported – or even allowed – by the law.

Over the past year, the Working Group on Legal Frameworks for Public Participation has produced new tools, including a model local ordinance and model amendment to state legislation, in order to help create a more supportive, productive, and equitable environment for public participation. The Working Group has been coordinated by the Deliberative Democracy Consortium (DDC).

Communities that want to move forward with new public engagement processes and policies can also turn to an array of new resources being offered through ICMA’s Center for Management Strategies. CMS has assembled a team of leading engagement practitioners, research specialists, and subject matter experts who can help local governments develop and implement effective civic engagement programs.

Making Public Participation Legal is a publication of the National Civic League, with support from the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation. The Working Group also includes representatives of the American Bar Association, International Municipal Lawyers Association, National League of Cities, Policy Consensus Initiative, International Association for Public Participation, and International City/County Management Association, as well as leading practitioners and scholars of public participation.

Changes coming on the NCDD website!

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Hi, folks! We wanted to give you a heads-up about some changes that are coming soon on the website, and to get your input on what should be featured on the main page of the site.

US-GoogleMap-outlinedFirst, we’re taking down the Members Network that’s currently up at www.ncdd.org/members. It uses a social network platform that doesn’t really work too well — it’s slow-loading, hard to search and navigate, and our members rarely use it.

We’re replacing it with two tools that we think you’ll find more useful:  the global google map of members up at www.ncdd.org/map in beta, and a simple directory of our members that will be ready for you to check out soon.

Second, we’re revamping the main page of our site. Instead of having so many lists and so much text, we’re planning on having a grid of different-sized images, titles, and social media widgets. You can get a sense of what I mean at www.ncdd.org/working-grid. Imagine that some of the gray boxes have lively images (of you guys!) in them; one may list the latest three blog posts (or perhaps just the title of one featured post); the long one on the right may show a list of our latest Tweets; another would announce an upcoming event, and another may send people to the Beginner’s Guide in the Resource Center.

We’re not sure exactly what will go into those boxes yet, and really want your ideas!  What is it that YOU use most on the site? What do you find useful on the site that is a little hard to get to? What do you think is most useful for people who are new to the site? Please add your thoughts below!

Catalyst Awards Update at IAP2 Conference Next Week

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Catalyst AwardsAttendees of the IAP2 national conference being held in Salt Lake City, UT next week will have the opportunity to learn more about the progress of both NCDD 2012 Catalyst Award projects.  Project representatives, John Spady (National Dialogue Network) and Tim Bonnemann (Real Dialogues), will be hosting the session “Bridge Building and Other Civic Infrastructures — Status of NCDD Catalyst Award Efforts” on Monday from 1:30pm to 3:00pm. Below is the session summary.

Presenters will describe their independent and collaborative efforts since receiving grants from the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation at the beginning of 2013. Tim Bonnemann will present the “Real Dialogues” project, an experiment in using Google Hangouts to create mass media content for promoting public engagement opportunities to the general public. John Spady will use materials developed for a national audience and lead participants through face to face conversations on the broad topic of “Poverty/Wealth in America.” At the end of the conversations participants will answer the current national survey. If time permits, feedback collected during the session will be analyzed and reported back to the group so they can experience the next phase of the national project: public analysis.

The National Dialogue Network project officially launched this week, sharing news of its program and offering a Conversation Kit for participants. Learn how to get involved here, www.nationaldialoguenetwork.org/get-involved.  Tim Bonnemann will be sharing a Real Dialogues status report at the IAP2 event, and we’ll have additional updates on the NCDD news blog soon.

The IAP2 conference is being held next week, from September 22-24 in Salt Lake City at the Radisson Downtown.  You can learn more at the event’s website,  www.iap2usa.org/conference.