For future webinar version see: http://neighborsonline.eventbrite.com
The audio for download: http://e-democracy.org/files/sound/neighborsonlinebayarea.mp3
Audio in SlideShare is not synchronized with slides.
3. Welcome
Why? Neighbors Online Surf
Local Online Groups and Hurricane Sandy
Introductions - Bay Area Share-a-thon
Inclusion: Who’s Missing?
Our Spin: Neighbors Forums
In-Depth: Outreach, Inclusion, and
Engagement in St. Paul and Minneapolis
4. Someone needed help.
The Wheel of Cheese
Frantic online forum request:
“Is anyone flying to Seattle in
next 12 hours? I am stuck out
of town. Can you take a wheel of cheese to the national
competition? Ours went missing. Homeland Security won’t
let us overnight replacement.”
Neighbor replies, “I am a former airline employee and I’ve
been looking for a reason to go to Seattle. “ Cheese makes
it in time.
Read more – on Powderhorn Neighbors Forum – Photo CC jojomelons via Flickr
5.
6.
7. E-Democracy.org's mission:
Harness the power of online tools to support
participation in public life, strengthen
communities, and build democracy.
Creating online spaces for civic
engagement since 1994.
8. 1994 – World’s first election information web site
AND Minnesota Politics two-way e-list
1998 – Minneapolis and St. Paul Issues Forums –
“online town hall” model
2005 – UK grant to pilot, Bristol and Oxford asked
for neighbourhoods in ’07
2008 – Minneapolis neighborhoods get started
Mixed classic “neighborhood e-list” with PUBLIC online town hall with
neighborhood watch, Freecycle, Craigslist (non-selling), community
news and bulletin board for areas with 5,000 to 15,000 residents
9. Our goal to build civic engagement and raise diverse
voices was NOT being met by all volunteer start-up
activity … built on volunteer foundation with:
2010-11 – Ford Foundation - pilot Inclusive Social
Media effort – deep engagement in Cedar Riverside,
expanding to Frogtown (note 60 page evaluation)
2012-14 – Knight Foundation – scaling to 14+
Neighbors Forums reflecting diversity with outreach
and active forum engagement to reach ~10,000
daily participants
10.
11. Social connections, family-friendly
Safety and crime prevention
Mutual benefit , sharing stuff
Greater voices and civic engagement
Social capital generator
Openness and inclusion (if done right)
= Stronger communities
Resources: Block Activities, Block Connectors,
Locals Online, Soul of the Community
12. Crime Prevention Local Food
Disaster Preparedness and Diverse Community Cohesion
Community Recovery Education and Community
Emergency Preparedness and Service
Response Recent Immigrant and Refugee
Neighborly Mutual Benefit and Integration and Support
Support Sustainable Broadband
Health Care and Long-term Care Adoption
Energy Efficiency Rural Community Building
Environmental Sustainability Youth Employment and
Senior Care and Inter- Experience
generational Connections Community Building, Civic
Small Business Promotion Engagement, and Social Capital
Transportation
Details on the E-Democracy Blog
13. Two-way online “groups” at core
Connecting at two primary levels:
Block-level, neighborhood crime watch
▪ Very Private, Covering ~100 households, typically
resident-only, often “cc:” e-mail chains
Neighborhood/Community-wide
▪ Public , Semi-Public (request to join), or Private -
Covering hundreds to thousands of households
14. 27% of adult Net users (22% overall) use
“digital tools to talk to their
neighbors and keep informed
about community issues.”
Source: Neighbors Online study from PewInternet.org, 2010
15. “Joiners” – 10.5% of adult Net users
members of neighborhood e-mail lists, forums, or
social network site groups
Includes 7% on e-lists/forums or ~10 million
folks across ~20,000 to 40,000 online spaces
– DC, Seattle, Mpls, etc. have deep history
Source: Neighbors Online study from PewInternet.org, 2010
16.
17. Seattle must have the most placeblogs per capita!
Editor in center with “news” models vs. groups
18. West Seattle Blog’s
Forums
Most successful
media-sponsored
local online forums
in the world??
Local web-based
“forums” in U.S. rare,
popular in UK
19. Imagine a shared e-mail box for
your neighborhood:
neighbors@inyourarea.org
20. From our directory:
YahooGroups mostly, Admiral - 123 members
“forum host” is crucial Alki Beach- 185
Ballard - 110
Few are “public” - hard Beacon Hill
to “see” the Hillman City - 192
awesomeness your Georgetown - 557
area is missing Greenwood - 420
Montlake - 946
Talk2 Seattle.Gov North Ravenna
Dozens! Mostly nhood Squire Park - 330
assoc work??? Can’t tell South Park- 759
how active
21. Moms/Parents E-Lists
Seattle has a massive
network ~20
MUST live in a certain area
Biggest – Ballard 1705, N
Beacon 1876, Madrona
2785, Magnolia 903 …
Seattle “Dads” 1
22. Hillman Brighton
moved from
YahooGroups
Host likes pictures
in Member
Directory
Few FB Groups for
Seattle Nhoods?
23. We Grew Up in
San Francisco
Chinatown
(1232, Open)
San Francisco
Chinatown Just
for Fun 2
(1522, Private)
24. One Week in Seattle Free trees
Missing bike School walk
Chickens
“foro de discusión” –
Seeking Spanish-
Gunshots
speaking folks
Free stuff Voter registration
City council Nickelsville
Folk club Bikes for books
Food forest
Suicide prevention
Spanish lesson guy
Strawberry plants
Neighbor needed for
Nhood meeting school project
25. Green Lake blog
moved to
EveryBlock
Everyblock
serves ~20 major
cities, started as
local data to map
site, added
community
26. Private residents-only
“social network for your
neighborhood”
Venture funded, partnering with
some governments
Mostly small groups, but can
cover thousands of residents
(no access for non-resident local
businesses, community orgs,
elected officials by design)
27. #bainbridge
Very social
“Organic”
Tags launched
during crisises
28.
29. Official: Broadcast – FEMA.Gov, etc.
Community: Many to many
“Like” a Facebook Page to express support
“Share” photos, news, Tweets
“Gather” data and put on a map, etc.
“Join” an Online Group to get involved
“Volunteer” via OccupySandy, etc.
“Needs and Offers” via Recovers.org, etc.
30. Hurricane Sandy – Facebook
Groups Galore
More local groups with
leadership have sustained
activity
Lesson: Have a local online group
before you really need it
▪ http://bitly.com/sandygroups - Guide linked here too
▪ Examples:
▪ Rockaways, Staten Island Strong, Union Beach NJ, Black Rock CT
31.
32.
33. Everyone Neighbors Online
Name
Group Members
Neighborhood/Place
Which one
Top question?
Which tech platform
How long a member
Diverse Voices Most recent example
Social Media Important or useful
Which community(ies) example
Current online efforts
34.
35.
36. Neighborhood E-Lists/Forums – 7% Overall
15% of online households over $75K – 5 times higher!
3% of online households under $50K
3% Latino
2% Rural …
8% Blacks and Whites
9% Women, 5% Men
Of 22% of ALL adults who “talk digitally with
neighbors”: Only 12% under 30K, Over 75K 39%
Source: Neighbors Online study from PewInternet.org, 2010
37. Public (vs. private groups)
Open access (vs. invite only)
Publicly searchable archive
(vs. member only access)
Local scope
Encourage strong civility
Must use real names, accountability
38. Digital inclusion for community engagement leverages
other key efforts
Engagement
Digital Literacy
Online and Computer Skills
Technology and Broadband Access
39. Series by Eric Fisher
Red is White, Blue is Black,
Green is Asian, Orange is
Hispanic, Yellow is Other, and
each dot is 25 residents.
40.
41.
42. “Local” online public places to:
share information, events, ideas
discuss neighborhood issues
gather diverse people in an open place
take action and promote solutions
E-Democracy.org’s neighborhood-level Issues Forums are
powered by two-way group communication
We host over 50 neighbors/community forums in 17
communities across 3 countries today
43. You
Everyone welcome
Residents, local workers, business owners
People who “serve” the community
Local governments, non-profits, etc.
Outreach essential:
Diverse communities: http://e-democracy.org/inclusion
100 members for strong opening
1070 members on largest forum today, ~25% households
45. City Hall
Local Media
Neighbor #1
Coverage
N
E Neighbors
Your I Local Biz
Networks G Forum
H Join the Online
B Forum
O
R
S
In-person
Conversations Shared on
Facebook
46. Public (vs. private groups)
Open access (vs. invite only)
Publicly searchable archive (vs. member only access)
Local scope
Encourage strong civility
Must use real names, accountability
47. Volunteer-driven, Non-profit
(Pictures of some of our awesome volunteer Forum Managers and contractors )
Local scope key
“Public life” openness not “virtual
gated communities”
Government can access us
Unlike Facebook which is blocked by many organizations
Open source technology, sharing
We use GroupServer.org GPL tech out of New Zealand
48. Online advantages
24 x 7 – Anytime, anywhere convenience
Engage people unable to attend meetings,
with limited mobility, two jobs, children
Less intimidating for some – open and
accessible “ice breaker” into public life
Local approach coupled with in-person
activities increases value and trust – Online
only would be a major disadvantage
49. Civility matters
Real names build trust
No name calling
Post just 2 times a day (on most forums)
spreads participation, retains audience
Facilitated by local volunteer “Forum
Manager,” rules are enforced
Major contrast with often anonymous,
nasty online news comments
51. Being local means we can easily meet
and act together
Community garden effort launched
“It’s cold” discussion results in winter wear drive to
help recent immigrants
Sexual assault response by “Mom”
and 400+ rally on a cold winter
night, community brainstorming
54. Topics like: • Helping neighbors
Community news • Local history
Crime and safety • New small businesses
Crisis response • Landlord issues
Schools and parks • Local
Service provider
environment/recycling
recommendations – • Questions of every kind
home repairs, child – “What was that
care, etc. noise?”
55. Community/cultural events
Neighborhood meetings
Local news, photos, video
Free stuff (selling is rare/not promoted)
Elected official updates
Lost or found pets
In any language
Bi-lingual announcements encouraged
56. Via the web:
e-democracy.org
Or beneighbors.org
▪ Directory starting in Twin Cities
▪ Join via Facebook Option Available
57. Via simple paper sign-up sheets
Sign up at local events, by neighbors, or
when doorknocked.
58.
59.
60. 46% People
of Color
17% Foreign
Born
Lower
income
areas,
renters, etc.
61.
62.
63. 1. Online spaces for neighbors to connect
with each other in the ways that they want
2. Spaces as representative as possible of
the neighborhoods, 10%+ of households
3. More people having a voice, who often
do not have a voice in their neighborhood
4. Engagement that builds trust, bridges,
and social capital
64.
65. 60 Page Report and
Webinar
e-democracy.org/
evaluation
Funding from Ford
Foundation 2010-11,
Minneapolis Base
65
66. Pilot expansion methods across three
neighborhood/forums
Special outreach to diverse communities in
Minneapolis and St. Paul:
▪ Latino, Native American, East African,
African American, Hmong/SE Asian
67. Face-to-face outreach, paper signup sheets,
and a personal approach most successful
Building trust is essential. Knowing that
“someone like me” is on the forum helps
Personal invitations and direct support help
people get started with posting.
67
68. Work with community event organizers to
bring forum members out “IRL” to their
community events, sign up new people too
Understand people’s interests and needs, then
find ways to address them through the forum
to encourage sustained participation
Ford Foundation funded, 2010-2011
69. Members: Forum provides new information and
alternative viewpoints
Elected officials pay attention to forum posts
Community organizations who actively participated
found it relevant and rewarding
Range and depth of conversations dependent on
forum members’ willingness to share opinions, ask
questions, and seek input
70.
71.
72. Goal: Recruit and engage 10,000+ Saint Paulites
by end of 2014
Focus outreach on highly diverse, immigrant
and low-income communities
Knight Foundation funded, 625K 3 year grant
(through end of 2014)
Applied Ford lessons
73. Utilize grassroots community organizing
techniques to bring a diversity of neighbors
onto the forums.
Bring in around 3000 new members over the
summer and begin building relationships in
Saint Paul communities.
Hire ~10 multi-lingual outreach team
members working 15 hours a week
74. 1. Research and set goals
2. Intensive recruitment and training
3. Utilized open access tools to manage
logistics increasing mobility and capacity of
team (GDocs, Dropbox, etc.)
4. Major on the ground outreach!
5. Remembering to think long term about
empowerment and voice
74
87. ~3,000 memberships in-person in 2012, 800 online
129 Tracked Summer Outreach Events:
917 via door-knocking in 20 targeted areas
692 via 39 different community events
340 via 28 community locations (libraries, etc.)
182 via 10 National Night Out sites
89 via 4 ethnic soccer matches
76 via 12 community members
After ~12% error rate in e-mail addresses, opt-outs
88.
89. Over 50% of paper form survey responses
were from people of color
Surname analysis shows 30%+ of targeted
forums appear to be from racial/ethnic
communities (Asian, Latino, East African)
Demographic profile being built into tech,
quarterly participant survey planned
90. All 17 St. Paul neighborhoods (District
Councils) covered with online neighborhood
spaces, 3 outside our network
6,000 Forum Memberships, up from 3200 =
+266% in St. Paul, 1,000+ more on original
city-wide St. Paul Issues Forum
Minneapolis 0ver 9200 memberships
Detailed Blog Post, Insider Google Doc
91. 266% increase in St. Paul (blue)
memberships in 2012
Mpls (red) all volunteer “organic”
word of mouth growth
92.
93. Utilization of volunteers
Partnerships need to grow beyond links
Forum engagement staffing delayed to ‘13
Light guidance for contractors, more hands
on needed
Logistics of hand processing 3,000 paper
sign-ups
94.
95. Build volunteer capacity in forum
engagement to developing deeper
relationships in community - goal:
Forums that better reflect the diversity of
neighbors in the “virtual room.”
Ensure partnerships are mutually beneficial
Execute an intense forum engagement plan
95
96. Unleashing the power neighbors helping
neighbors for ALL communities.
Neighbor uses forum organize an awesome
birthday party and holiday gifts for their
immigrant neighbors daughter after the
family’s money was stolen.
98. We’d love to connect with you more!
Steven Clift - clift@e-democracy.org
Corrine.bruning@e-democracy.org
612-229-4471
On Twitter @edemo
More: e-democracy.org/contact
98
99.
100.
101.
102. Do you work with minority/low income/
immigrant populations?
Are you interested in building up a network
that allows more neighbors to connect with
each other?
102
103. 1. Doorknocking, Clipboards, and Sneakers
2. Careful Recruitment, Hiring, and Training of “outreach
team”
3. Team vs. Individual
4. Mobile & Open Access to Logistics
5. Thinking Long Term about Empowerment
106. 1. Utilization of volunteers
2. Partnerships
3. Forum Engagement (Short Term)
107. 1. Utilization of volunteers
2. Partnerships
3. Forum Engagement (Short Term)
4. Light Guidance
108. 1. Surname analysis shows 30%+ of targeted
forums appear to be from racial/ethnic diverse
communities.
2. We launched neighbors forums in 16 of 17 Saint
Paul neighborhoods
3. The Saint Paul Neighbors Forums virtually
doubled from 2,863 on June 4 to 5,609 on
September 11.
109. 200% increase in St. Paul (blue)
memberships since Jan 1.
Mpls (red) all volunteer “organic”
word of mouth growth
110. Develop and launch Volunteer Engagement
Plan
Utilize a set of local engaged volunteers on
EACH Saint Paul forum for deep forum
engagement
Build up and maintain partnerships
More outreach; lesson sharing
Convene in-person meetings of forum
members
111. Want to hear from you
First write down your initial thoughts
Small groups, discuss, and share
“Harvest” pieces of your conversation that
caught your attention.
112. E-Democracy.org is in the process of building the largest online civic
network in the nation serving a single community.
We hope to engage 10,000 people in St. Paul in online neighbors forums.
Critical to the success of our project, is reaching out and engaging
diverse, immigrant and low income communities using low-tech
strategies such as door-knocking and paper sign-up sheets.
The process has been thoroughly documented with both photos and
video. We are eager to share what worked for us as well as what didn’t
work, highlight stories from the field, and hear about similar projects in
other communities.
113. All kinds of
neighbors can be
connected online
60 Pages:
e-democracy.org/evaluation
Free in-depth
webinar
114. “Community life” exchange builds
audience for inclusive civic discussions
“Little Mekong” branding for Asian business
promotion on University Ave
Triple homicide - Who can we trust to keep us safe
after a tragedy in East African grocery? Police? More
guns? Led to off-line discussions with local teens.
Vigil proposed, hundreds gather.
Also: Cats indoors or outdoors?, Airplane noise, etc.
115. Post announcements and events – reach
hundreds for free
Monitor the community agenda, advocate and
organize locally
Answer questions, share info
Connect people to your programs
Encourage your members/clients/etc. to join us
116. Neighbors Forums promote:
Community building
Neighbors helping neighbors
Sharing/reusing things very locally
Engagement with government and
accountability
And much more
117. Join your local Neighbors Forum today!
Every community needs a vibrant local online place
that makes your part of the world a better .
The lowest cost model for effectively building real
community and civic participation available today(?)
Start a forum. You can make this happen in your
neighborhood. If you don’t who will?
Contact us:
http://e-democracy.org/contact
team@e-democracy.org @edemo - Twitter
Tel/Text: +1-651-400-0880
118.
119. Yes, we reach people “where they are” via
many channels and technologies
Our “unified” integrated public forums
Facebook Page – Forum excerpts
Twitter – Topic headlines
“Blog” style Web Feed – Full-text
E-mail and web options – Most accessible, required to post
E-mail key to active “bridge building” and
mobile use – old-fashioned but EFFECTIVE
120. Stat tuned for more knowledge sharing
Inclusive Social Media Lessons, Evaluation
How to Start a Forum - Detailed
Forum Manager How-to Webinar
Follow our blog for updates:
http://blog.e-democracy.org
Key existing resources
http://e-democracy.org/if - Guidebook and more
http://e-democracy.org/webinars
121. Our neighborhood-level “Issues
Forum”:
24 forums across St. Paul and Minneapolis
▪ Many new forums - join our funded start-up campaign now
25 start-up forums in Christchurch, New Zealand
▪ Created for post-quake recovery by two volunteers
5 in the United Kingdom
▪ Where our “neighbourhood” level work started
11 “city-wide” online town hall “Issues Forums”
▪ Extensive details: http://e-democracy.org/if
▪ City-level forums provide place for city-wide issues and politics
▪ Includes five Greater Minnesota towns
122. Request one: Recipe
http://e-democracy.org 100 start-up members
http://tcneighbors.org 1 local volunteer “Forum
We technically set it up Manager” –You?
Paper sign-ups at
Outreach essential community events
E-mail outreach, e-letter
10+ forums in start-up signed by initial members
mode Friendly round of virtual
introductions with real
people using real names
Lessons/training from: to build trust
http://e-democracy.org/if
123. Strong “critical mass” launch is key to success
Need mix of local institutions – parks, officials,
places of worship, community groups AND everyday
residents
Forum Manager plays crucial role – needed to
“seed” forum with announcements until community
groups begin to do it themselves
~10% of households across forum area is a magic
threshold for “self-generative” community life
Forum facilitation prevents difficult topics from
turning into “flame wars” – one blow out can kill a
forum
124. Post via web
Login at http://e-democracy.org
Click on desired forum
New Topic :
▪ “post a new topic” - “Topics” tab
▪ Fill in text box, press “Start”
▪ Add files (PDF, Word, etc.)
Existing Topic:
▪ Login, read topics
▪ Text box at bottom
125. Connect your neighbors and neighborhood?
Make your community better? Improve civic
engagement?
Raise diverse voices? Share local information?
Do all this cost-effectively leveraging volunteers?
If yes, here is an introduction on Neighbors Issues
Forums from E-Democracy.org
126. Read via e-mail
or web
Daily e-digest
option - topics with
direct links
Text, files, photos,
YouTube videos
127. Post via e-mail
“place”@forums.e-democracy.org
e.g. mpls-phillips@forums.e-democracy.org
Post via web
Login at http://e-democracy.org
Visit desired forum and post
Post/attach files easily (Photos, PDF, Word, etc.)
128. Dozens of companies are getting into
the neighbor connecting business
Visit the local social media directory
Join the Locals Online community of
practice to join people from .org, .coms,
and many independent free spirits