Issues Forums

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Issues Forums

• By Steven Clift, E-Democracy.Org

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Agenda

• Introduction
• British Expedition
• How Issues Forums Work
• Participant Interviews
• UK Pilots and Products
• Analysis
• UK Panel and Discussion
• GroupServer Demonstration
• Whats Next for Issues Forums in the UK?

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DQ
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(No Transcript)
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(No Transcript)
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Doug Grow, Most read newspaper columnist

• Quotes, Council member Carol Johnson
• They've got public officials twisted around
  their little fingers."

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The British Expedition
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UK ODPM/E-democracy Project Visit

• July 2004 visit by ODPM and UK Local E-democracy
  National Project Visit
• Met forum managers, and citizen volunteers
  involved with local forums in Minneapolis, St.
  Paul, and Winona
• Gathered samples to plant back in the UK

Images from Northfield.org Visit
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E-Democracy.Org History

• Launched worlds first election-oriented web
  site in 1994
• Included citizen-to-citizen MN-POLITICS e-mail
  discussion forum, people kept talking
• Model localized with 1998 launch of Minneapolis
  Issues Forum
• Volunteer-based, non-profit community
  organization

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Why Issues Forums are Needed

• Effective citizen engagement any time, anywhere
  agenda-setting
• Share community knowledge of public leaders and
  active citizens with all civic learning
• Openness and accountability accountability of
  citizens, the local media, and government

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Why Issues Forum are Needed

• Most non-partisan e-democracy efforts are
  government-based, need cost-effective complement
  to e-consultations
• Most citizen efforts have a view point and
  advocate politically often anti-something
• Many local forums are anonymous rough and tumble
  exchanges privately owned spaces, few offer
  e-mail options
• Cost-effective starting point provides
  e-citizen foundation for additional activities
  like

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How Issues Forums Work
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How Issues Forums Work
Starting with private citizens moving toward
public e-citizens
Citizens
Extensive personal e-mail networks exist
friends, family, co-workers
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How Issues Forums Work
Local E-Democracy group creates the public
space, defines charter (scope)
Citizens
Issues Forum GroupServer e-mails posts web view
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How Issues Forums Work
Recruit citizens, councillors, media, etc. with
sticky opt-in
Citizens
Issues Forum GroupServer e-mails posts web view
Subscribe once Commitment secured
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How Issues Forums Work

• Participants agree to rules
• Sign real name
• Post no more than twice a day
• Stay within scope of charter
• Understand that with two warnings they can be
  suspended for two weeks, three warnings six
  months, etc..
• Forum is facilitated, NOT pre-moderated, those
  posting content are 100 responsible for what
  they post

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How Issues Forums Work
Position forum in center of real power
Mayor
Researcher
Citizen 1
Student
Reporter
Citizen 2
Citizens
Issues Forum GroupServer e-mails posts web view
Candidate
Post via e-mail/web
Political Activist
Citizen 500
City Council
e-publish, many-to-many
Crazy Person
Neighborhood Leader
Forum Manager
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How Forums Rock and Roll
Agenda-setting discussions, e-mail leaks,
facilitation and rule enforcement key
Mayor
Researcher
Citizen 1
Student
Reporter
Online discussions in the heart of local power
Citizen 2
Citizens
Issues Forum GroupServer e-mails posts web view
Candidate
Subscribe once Commitment secured Post via
e-mail/web
Political Activist
Citizen 500
City Council
Crazy Person
Neighborhood Leader
Forum Manager
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Dori from St. Paul

• Active citizens and average citizens raise
  their voices
• Ten minute GSE (Gopher State Ethanol) video at
• http//e-democracy.org/experience
• Dori Ullman raises her voice about the stench

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Jamal from Minneapolis

• Large Somali community in Minneapolis
• Their voice was missing despite outreach
• Bus strike provided motivation and real world
  reason to join and post to forum

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Mayor Rybak from Minneapolis

• In 2001, RT Rybak announced mayoral candidacy on
  forum before press conference
• Continues to post monthly
• Video clips
• The Seven O'clock Meeting
• Budget Issues - Informing
• Lets Ski - Gathering Ideas
• Two-way Wont Kill You

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(No Transcript)
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Squirrel Story

• From Southwest Journal newspaper
• by Martiga Lohn
• Most days, mpls-issues is a substantive
  discussion of important public policy issues
• However here are a few excerpts from this
  burning issue
• gtGo to hardware storebuy trapset trackkill
  squirrel. End of public policy question.
• gtGrab a trap and KILL the squirrel????????? Why
  must we destroy a living thing as a solution?
• gtRocky and his friends are out of control. If
  you want

• evidence, try to eat a sandwich on a bench in
  Loring Park.
• gtQuit telling people to move their nasty attack
  squirrels to wooded areas (i.e., Minneapolis
  parks) we already have our fair share.
• gtI ran on an anti-squirrel platform for Student
  Legislature at Syracuse University in my freshman
  year in college. I promised to eradicate the
  nuisance squirrel population. It was my first
  election loss.

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UK Issues Forums
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UK Issues Forums

• Call for interest Brighton Hove, Newham
  emerge
• Guidebook produced
• Steering committees
• Charter and rules
• Forum managers
• Recruitment
• Launch and facilitation
• GroupServer used, released open source
• Case study, evaluation, multimedia, etc.

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Brighton Hove Today
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Newham Today
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Analysis
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Creating Public in Private e-Life

• Online Civic Communication Model 1994-98

Issues Forum serves as public group communication
organizer, multiplier, and amplifier leaks
back into private communication
Group communication remains highly private via
e-mail without public spaces
vs.
E-mailForum
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One-way versus Forum Dynamic

• Online Civic Communication Model 1998

One-way content, semi-public online advocacy
expands
Forum diffusion, viable two-way options tied to
online advocacy and one-way content
vs.
IssuesForum
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Blogofest Destiny?

• Blogs democratize media, provide accountability
• Compared to forums, most are highly
  individualistic often privately controlled spaces
  with some dialogue
• Need own blog to join the e-ristocracy
• As a whole, blogging, RSS, and aggregation of
  whats now is fundamentally underappreciated

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Value from Blogging

• Headline syndication
• Blogs can share headlines and display current
  content from other sources
• XML-based GroupServer provides RSS headlines for
  Issues Forums
• Aggregation
• Sites like Technorati allow searching of World
  Live Web, E-Democracy Forums Today page
• Aggregation strategy both display of local
  feeds, like future local government or media
  headlines required
• Other standards
• Pinging, Trackback, Permalink options etc. need
  to be explored to position forums as ultimate
  many-to-many multi-editor blog

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Forum Hosts - Media

• Media
• Promotional ability for its own forums (about 40
  online news sites in U.S. have them) is strength
• Normally promote or allow pseudo-anonymity and
  remove highly offensive posts
• Elected officials, much less, government
  officials rarely post
• Reporter use Issues Forums for story ideas and
  access to sources rarely use their own forums
  (you dont quote a letter to the editor)
• Media, could be important outreach partners IF
  forums not viewed as competitive effort

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Example Media Forum

• A different kind of exchange
• Satire on media hosted forums about lamp posts
  causing poor community behaviour ends with
• Brighton Councillors are EVIL. They EAT BABIES
  and do other NASTY THINGS. They are the most
  EVIL people ever. All the nasty people of
  History Hitler, Stalin, Jack the Ripper, Graham
  Norton are NICE compare to the EVIL
  councillors, who are all WICKED.
• Despite satire, name calling is against
  E-Democracy rules.

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Forum Hosts - Government

• Open forums are rare on government websites
• Citizens often expect service when clearly paid
  for by tax dollars
• Issues of responsiveness censorship, control,
  liability
• Fujisawa, Japan innovation one column with
  government selected topics and another for
  citizen driven discussions
• UK Local Authorities encouraged to host forums
  with E-Democracy.Org using citizen steering
  committee as essential management buffer
• Key complement to e-consultations, e-panels
  chicken Issues Forums as egg
• Issues Forum approach may be adapted by anyone
  our goals is citizen participation in local
  democracy

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The big picture someday?
Communities of Practice for Policy
Implementation Public Net-Work
or Neighbourhood community forums
Etc.
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Forum Hosts - Others

• Individuals, community associations, small
  businesses, etc.
• E-Democracy.Org/UK should organise and link to
  similar many-to-many non-partisan/multi-issue and
  perspective local forums
• Need to respect different models, but web forums
  often lack e-mail access and many are virtual
  ghost towns
• Over the long-term, an open question is Can we
  craft E-Democracy.Org forums as public parks or
  townhalls owned by the community or are they
  niche debate clubs of sorts

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How to Start One
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How to Start One

• Watch Experience
• http//e-democracy.org/experience
• Read Guidebook
• http//e-democracy.org/uk
• Join Liftoff
• http//forums.e-democracy.org
• Contact E-Democracy.Org UK
• Volunteer-based model that requires at least 4
  citizens on your local steering committee

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How to Start One

• Recruitment phase essential if local
  authorities fund start-up, this would be a key
  area to dedicate resources
• Forum manager volunteer role crucial avoid
  professionalizing core Issues Forum efforts to
  keep model low low cost
• Add-on special events and consultations may
  require funding with stipends or compensation
• E-Democracy.Org hosts shared GroupServer
  platform, building Rotary Club like Chapter
  model, with perhaps 1 out of 10 participants
  sought as 25 GBP/year members for mostly local
  costs

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Conclusion
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Conclusion

• This model is about your local democracy it
  must be authentically local.
• Together we can build a global model for local
  democracy in the information age.
• Everything
• http//e-democracy.org/uk

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UK Panel and Discussion
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Panelists

• Richard Stubbs, Newham
• Mark Walker, Brighton Hove

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GroupServer Demonstration
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GroupServer

• Open Source Tool Value beyond E-Democracy.Org
• Details and Web Movie
• http//e-democracy.org/groupserver
• Download and Official Home in NZ
• http//groupserver.org
• Building user base and development community

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Whats Next
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Whats Next Discussion Starters

• What should be done to strengthen existing
  forums?
• What other communities are interested in forums?

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Whats Next Discussion Starters

• Is there interest and support for expanding
  outreach and start-up assistance across the UK?
• What GroupServer features/tools do we need to
  assist recruitment, management, and expansion?

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Extra Slides
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Strategic posting by councillors, etc.

• Lessons Id like to get across to them
• This is real, not obscure e-mail leaks
• Rumors from offline world more easily squelched
  online where you can see them
• The media is watching (sometimes they feel
  scooped by citizens)
• Early and transparent engagement is often
  necessary to avoid public backlash, on the forum
  which can cause an exponential community backlash

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Strategic posting by councillors, etc.

• Lessons from those in power who get it
• Monitor
• OK to actively reply privately
• Post publicly when strategic, let people know
  you are there
• Ride the wave and avoid tit-for-tat debating