Category Archives: online & hi-tech

Technology & Democracy Video Project Seeks Submissions

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Here’s a fun-but-relevant thing happening out there: the collaborative team at hitRECord is partnering with the ACLU to crowd source a series of short films on the theme of how technology has impacted democracy. They’re asking folks to submit videos of themselves speaking on the subject, and we know many of our NCDD members have great thoughts to share on the topic! Read more about the project below or find hitRECord’s original post along with their introductory video by clicking here.

Are you there, Democracy? It’s me, the Internet.

Today’s technology is changing pretty much every facet of our lives – even things as important as our Democracy. And especially with this being an election year here in the US, I think these changes are really worth having a conversation about, and making art about.

So, I wanna hear what you think. Record yourself (or interview someone else) on camera answering these three questions:

  1. Is today’s technology good or bad for Democracy?
  2. How might the technology of the future be BAD for Democracy?
  3. How might the technology of the future be GOOD for Democracy?

Once we have lots of footage of different people answering these questions, we’ll use that footage to produce a bunch of short films. We could make a stylized documentary, we could dramatize somebody’s personal point of view, we could do animation, a song, who knows.

And now, I’m very pleased to announce that for this project, hitRECord will be partnering with the ACLU. The ACLU is a 100-year-old, non-profit, legal organization who is right at the forefront of figuring out how today’s laws should or shouldn’t adapt to today’s technology.

And, although this project isn’t about the money, as with every hitRECord production, if one of your contributions is used in one of the final short films, you will get paid. I just finished shooting a movie where I play Edward Snowden, which really got me thinking about all of this. And so I’ve decided to donate my acting fee from that movie to facilitate this conversation about technology and democracy. Some of that money will go to this production, and the rest will go to the ACLU.

That’s about it. I really look forward to hearing how you answer the three questions and seeing what kinds of short films we can make out of it.

You can find the original version of this hitRECord post at www.hitrecord.org/projects/2650089.

Davenport Launches Tool for Evaluating Gov’t Engagement

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We were excited to hear the news last week that the team at the Davenport Institute – one of our NCDD member organizations – is launching a powerful new platform for government agencies to evaluate their own public engagement efforts and compare them to other cities or agencies. We commend the Davenport team on creating this needed tool. You can learn more about the tool’s launch in the press release below that we found on Business Wire, or read the original here.

The Davenport Institute Launches New Public Engagement Evaluation Platform

DavenportInst-logoThe Davenport Institute for Public Engagement and Civic Leadership at the Pepperdine University School of Public Policy is pleased to announce the launch of a new tool to help cities and other local public agencies evaluate their public engagement efforts, the “How are WE Doing? Public Engagement Evaluation Platform.”

In a 2012 survey of California public sector officials regarding their views of public engagement, 85 percent of respondents said their “views on public engagement have changed since their careers began,” and 77 percent were “interested in hearing more about public engagement practices that have worked in other places.”

For almost a decade, The Davenport Institute has been researching, training, and consulting with public officials to improve the ways in which governments involve their residents in making tough policy decisions. This work has taken Institute leadership throughout California and across the country, learning about and teaching the latest techniques in effective participatory governance.

With a growing awareness of what constitutes effective public engagement, we continue to hear from many public leaders seeking a way to take a “30,000 foot view” of their government’s practices in this area. The “How are WE Doing? Public Engagement Evaluation Platform” is the product of these conversations, and of the committed participation of an esteemed group of California leaders.

It is designed to offer governments a lens through which they can evaluate their agencies public processes, and to give them the opportunity to apply for recognition of successful engagement. Cities, counties, special districts, agencies, and departments can apply for recognition at one of three levels of engagement:

  • Silver Engagement – the government is making genuine efforts to improve its engagement with residents and successfully meets at least 12 of the 20 criteria listed.
  • Gold Engagement – the government has successfully institutionalized resident engagement as part of its operational culture, meeting at least 15 of the 20 criteria listed.
  • Platinum Engagement – the government is a leader in the engagement field, earning this designation by meeting at least 17 of the criteria listed.

“How are WE Doing?” also offers a way of gathering data on how governments across the state, and eventually around the country, are doing collectively in their attempts to involve residents, data the Institute will make available to all participants in the platform.

The Davenport Institute would like to thank the following Advisory Council members who devoted their time and expertise to developing this platform:

  • Artie Fields, City Manager, City of Inglewood
  • Rod Gould, City Manager, City of Santa Monica
  • Ken Hampian, City Manager, City of San Luis Obispo
  • Dennis Donohue, former Mayor, City of Salinas.

To learn more about “How are WE Doing? Public Engagement Evaluation Platform” visit the homepage here or view the platform here.

For more information about The Davenport Institute for Public Engagement and Civic Leadership at Pepperdine University, visit http://publicpolicy.pepperdine.edu/davenport-institute.

You can see the original version of this announcement on Business Wire at www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160215005664/en/Davenport-Institute-Launches-Public-Engagement-Evaluation-Platform.

Register for “Trusting the Public” Talk featuring CIR, Feb. 25

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The New America Foundation is hosting a talk called “Rebuilding the Public’s Trust Starts with Trusting the Public,” this Thursday, February 25th from 10-11am Eastern, and we want to encourage our NCDD members to consider participating.

The event will focus on democratic innovations that changing the way citizens participate in government, featuring a presentation on the Citizens’ Initiative Review (CIR) process from long-time NCDD member John Gastil who will be on a panel with Carolyn Lukensmeyer, another long-time NCDD member, and author Hollie Russon-Gilman.

Here’s how New America describes the event:

Rebuilding the Public’s Trust Begins with Trusting the Public

From the ascent of Trump to armed protest and the tragedy of Flint, we have reason to worry about the future of our democracy. On Thursday, February 25, from 10-11am New America will host a talk that brings more encouraging news about real democratic reforms happening in the United States.

Penn State political communication professor John Gastil will share his insights on a reform that helps voters make smarter decisions in initiative elections. This innovation, called the Citizens’ Initiative Review, began in Oregon in 2009 and is appearing this year in Massachusetts. New America fellow Hollie Russon-Gilman will also share reflections from her brand new book, Democracy Reinvented: Participatory Budgeting and Civic Innovation in America.

This talk will be taking place in downtown Washington, DC and we hope lots of our DC-based members can make it. For the rest of us, the talk will be streamed live via webcast. Either way, we encourage you to RSVP here today to make sure to save your spot!

You can learn more about this event and New America by visiting www.newamerica.org/political-reform/rebuilding-the-publics-trust-begins-with-trusting-the-public.

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.

Seeking Nominations for Inaugural Civilution Awards by 2/14

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We want to encourage NCDD members to consider submitting nominations for the inaugural Civilution Awards, hosted by the Bridge Alliance – an NCDD member organization. NCDD was one of the founding members of the Alliance because we respect their efforts to foster ” transpartisan” politics in the US, and the Civilution Awards are a way to recognize those leading the way. We’d love to see an NCDDer win this year, so be sure to submit your nominations before the deadline on Feb. 14th! Learn more about the Civilution Awards in the Bridge Alliance announcement below, or find the original here.

Civilution Awards

Get out your tux. Your designer gown. Start preparing your acceptance speech.

We’ll see you on the Red, White, and Blue carpet!

The inaugural Bridge Alliance Civilution Awards, presented by the “Academy of Civility and Bridge-Building Arts & Sciences,” will honor one individual and one organization for truly embodying the Civilution Declaration and exemplifying best bridge-building practices.

Civilution Declaration

  • Engage in respectful dialogue with others, even if we disagree.
  • Seek creative problem solving with others.
  • Support elected officials and leaders who work together to address and solve our nation’s challenges.

All nominees – both individuals and organizations – will be considered based on the following core principles and criteria:

  • Collaborative partnership: Excellence in collaboration with other individuals or organizations, finding creative ways to work together.
  • Innovative solutions putting country before party: Creatively addressing even the most challenging of problems across political divides or special interests.
  • Display of curiosity and inquisitiveness in political conversations: Demonstration of openness and curiosity, display of respect and civility.

Nominations for this prestigious award will be accepted February 1st  through February 14th with a culminating virtual awards ceremony to recognize excellence in our field on February 28, 2016.

Judges will review submission, media stories, blogs and websites.  Judges are volunteers and staff of the Bridge Alliance.

Please include contact information for your nominee. If you would like to make more than one nomination, email info@bridgealliance.us.

Listening for, and Finding, a Public Voice (Connections 2015)

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The four-page article, Listening for, and Finding, a Public Voice by Bob Daley was published Fall 2015 in Kettering Foundation‘s annual newsletter, “Connections 2015 – Our History: Journeys in KF Research”.

The article describes how the design of deliberative democracy by David Mathews, president of Kettering Foundation, and Daniel Yankelovich, president of Public Agenda; sought to address what it meant to have “a public voice”. From this inquiry came a series of deliberative forums around some of the more important current issues, and the results were then shared with policymakers. Kettering Foundation created, A Public Voice, a nation-wide broadcast that would act as the annual report of these deliberative forums, which first aired April 1991 and continues to today. Below is an excerpt from the article. Connections 2015 is available for free PDF download on Kettering’s site here.

From the article…

KF_Connections 2015The question was: If the public doesn’t offer infallible wisdom for policymakers, what does it offer? The exchange between Henry and Cheney marked the beginning of the foundation’s inquiry into a public voice—not, mind you, the public voice, but a public voice—that continues today.

In his 2012 book, Voice and Judgment: The Practice of Public Politics, Kettering Foundation senior associate Bob Kingston said researchers wanted “to learn more clearly how the public might find and exert its will in shaping its communities and directing its nation (which sometimes seems, paradoxically, more oligarchy than democracy).”

The research plan included a series of deliberative forums held throughout the country on urgent national issues followed by reporting outcomes to policymakers…

…

In 1990, it was suggested, Kettering could build NIF’s influence in Washington, and its underlying vision of politics, through a widely distributed, annual report of the forums not much different from the National Town Meetings.

To envision the celebration’s annual national town meeting as a program televised from coast to coast was an incremental step forward. Kettering’s goal was to reach political and media leadership with a message about deliberative democracy and the public voice. To attract congressional attention, the reasoning went, NIF had to be of interest to a significant public audience in congressional districts.

The best way to ensure congressional attention to a public voice, it was felt, was to have congressional participation in the video. The second best way, it was further felt, was to ensure that the discussion was widely seen by elected officials’ constituents.

After reviewing several options, public television—considered to command a reasonable, national audience—was targeted. The foundation’s senior associate Bob Kingston was executive producer; Milton Hoffman, experienced in public affairs, public television programs, was the producer; and senior associate Diane Eisenberg handled distribution.

A Public Voice ’91, a one-hour public affairs television program was taped on April 15, 1991, at the National Press Club. It was the first time A Public Voice was used formally to describe forum outcomes. Bob Kingston was the moderator. Four members of Congress, four members of the press, and four members of the public joined him.

By September 5, 1991, 123 public television stations and 49 cable systems had broadcast the program and it was being distributed by community colleges to their local public access channels. The program continued to be produced in much the same format as the first one from 1991 through 2007. At its peak, A Public Voice was broadcast by nearly 300 public television stations across the country every year.

The program was seen as the central thrust in the foundation’s campaign to bring a new sense of politics to the consideration of the nation’s political and media leadership. The video had a single purpose: to show that there is something we can call “a public voice” on complex and troubling policy matters. And this public voice is significantly different from the debate on these issues as it is recorded in the media and significantly different from the debate “as we hear it through the mouths of political leaders.”

About Kettering Foundation and Connections
KF_LogoThe 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.

Each issue of this annual newsletter focuses on a particular area of Kettering’s research. The 2015 issue, edited by Kettering program officer Melinda Gilmore and director of communications David Holwerk, focuses on our yearlong review of Kettering’s research over time.

Follow on Twitter: @KetteringFdn

Resource Link: www.kettering.org/sites/default/files/periodical-article/Daley_2015.pdf

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!

NCDD’s 2015 Year in Review

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When a new year begins, we naturally tend to reflect back on the previous year. As we look back on 2015, it’s clear that it was quite a year for NCDD, and it’s inspiring to look back and see all that’s happened.

Keiva-profile-borderThe year of 2015 was one of many transitions. NCDD had some personnel changes as we said a fond farewell to our former Creative Director Andy Fluke and gave a warm welcome to our new Resource Curator and Social Media Coordinator Keiva Hummel (pictured at left). We also brought Ellie Boynton on board to help maintain NCDD’s website.

In the midst of these transitions, I also made a personal transition with a move from rural Pennsylvania to Boston, moving NCDD headquarters (my home office!) closer to hundreds of our members in the process.

GrandeLum-NextStepBubble-borderNCDD also had a very dynamic year in 2015 in terms of programs and projects. 2015 saw the launch of our informal partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Community Relations Service, which came out of CRS Director Grande Lum’s involvement in our 2014 national conference. Meetings were held between Community Relations Service leaders and NCDD members in Boston, Detroit, Chicago, Kansas City, New York, Dallas, and Seattle, and a few more are still in the works. The meetings were designed to be informal networking and information-exchange events, and next steps have emerged organically from the events such as a great new collaboration in Chicago, with more on the way.

RoshanPic2014At this time last year, we began a scoping project in which we had Roshan Bliss, NCDD’s Student & Youth Outreach Coordinator for the 2014 conference (and our fearless Blog Curator!; pictured at left), conduct an online youth survey, seek feedback from our network about the role of young people in the D&D field, and host a few “focus group” calls with younger NCDDers in an effort to frame a possible NCDD youth initiative. The results gave us some good insights into how NCDD can support young people and folks who are new to the field, and will form the basis of what a Youth Program we’ll be launching this year.

Our regular Tech Tuesday and Confab Calls continued to thrive in 2015 under the coordination of our wonderful Program Director Courtney Breese. As always, you can check out the archives of the confabs at www.ncdd.org/confabs and watch the Tech Tuesday videos at www.ncdd.org/tech-tuesdays.

Confab bubble imageOur Confab Calls covered such topics as how brain science supports constructive dialogue and deliberation, ethics for facilitators, and strategies for handling latecomers in public engagement programs and disruptors at public engagement events. We talked with NCDD members Pete Peterson (about his experience running for CA Secretary of State on a “civic engagement” platform), Matt Leighninger and Tina Nabatchi (about their great new book Public Participation for 21st Century Democracy), and John Gastil (about the opportunity for organizations to host a fellow as part of the new Nevins Democracy Leaders Program).

Tech_Tuesday_BadgeAnd our Tech Tuesday events, which are designed to help practitioners stay on top of new opportunities and developments in the online engagement realm, featured innovative tools like Consider.it, Bang the Table, QiqoChat, and Common Ground for Action. In all, we served 450 people through our online events in 2015.

2015 also saw the launch of a new partnership between NCDD and the McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State to create infrastructure that will bring more young people into the D&D field. The Nevins Democracy Leaders program piloted its first two fellowship Mccourtney Institute Logoplacements in 2015 with Everyday Democracy and No Labels, and we are thrilled that 2016 will see nearly two dozen bright D&D-trained students placed with leading organizations in our field in fully funded fellowship positions.

In 2015, I continued to work very closely with the Kettering Foundation, in my role as Research Deputy and otherwise. KF’s president David Mathews took the time to write a special message to the NCDD community about the Kettering-sign-outlinedhistoric opportunity we have right now to “find the public voice that’s missing.” I worked particularly closely on Kettering’s annual A Public Voice event at the National Press Club. Also be on the lookout for a fascinating report on the strategies that public engagement practitioners use to develop productive relationships with public officials over time — a collaboration between NCDD, Kettering, and the Jefferson Center.

As we look forward to the coming year, we hope for more and more opportunities like our partnerships with the Kettering Foundation, the McCourtney Institute at Penn State, and the US DOJ Community Relations Service — opportunities that allow us to utilize the infrastructure we’ve built up to serve the broader field. We look forward to launching our youth program, distributing new materials, continuing to provide quality online programming for our community, and of course, hosting the 2016 National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation this October in Boston, MA!!!

NCDD’s work is funded mostly by members’ dues and small donations. If you want to support all of the great work we do, please consider making a tax-deductible donation by visiting www.ncdd.org/donate or renewing or upgrading your membership at www.ncdd.org/renew.

We look forward to enjoying the coming year with all of you, no doubt feeling constantly inspired by the important, innovative work you all are doing.

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.

Join OpenGov & CivicTech Online Unconference, Jan. 28th

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We encourage NCDD members to consider attending the 2016 OpenGov & CivicTech Online Unconference this Thursday, January 28th from 11am-2pm Eastern. The event is hosted by former NCDD Board member Lucas Cioffi, and NCDD members get a 30% discount on registration, so make sure to sign up today! Read more below or find the full invitation by clicking here.

2016 OpenGov & CivicTech Online Unconference

What is the purpose? Why should I attend?

  1. Spread the word about your civic tech project.
  2. Network with other innovators.
  3. Bring the toughest questions and challenges you’re facing and gain insights from other participants.

Use promo code “ncdd” when you register here to bring the cost down to just $10.

Register here: www.eventbrite.com/e/2016-opengov-civictech-online-unconference-tickets-20428926469

What is an “unconference”?

Unlike standard conferences sessions where people give presentations, unconference sessions are far more conversational.  Professionals will discuss and work through the challenges at the cutting edge of the opengov & civic tech fields.

What is the agenda?

Participants (including you!) create the agenda during the opening session.  This ensures that everyone finds a session that interests them and sets a collaborative tone for the event right from the start. Add your session to the agenda after you register.

Who will be there?

Designers, developers, activists, practitioners, and entrepreneurs working at the intersection of civic engagement and technology.  The power of this event is that it will bring together people with different skills.

You can find more information on the OpenGov & CivicTech Online Unconference by visiting www.eventbrite.com/e/2016-opengov-civictech-online-unconference-tickets-20428926469?.