Integrating in-person engagement with hybrid platforms
/Integrating in-person engagement with hybrid platforms
Although it offers several advantages, online platforms are hardly the only way to reach people. Some digital participation platforms recognize this fact by integrating their offerings with offline engagement at both the program and platform level.
For example, cities have appointed in-person translators to capture participant feedback and log it onto the digital platform. This way, participants who are more comfortable sharing feedback verbally can do so.
At the platform level, Decidim offers features that support face-to-face meetings, conferences, and workshops. The features integrate real-world gatherings into the digital participation platform. CONSUL also supports polling at in-person meetings.
From the Decidim website: The meeting component offers organizations and participants the opportunity to convene meetings, determine their location and time, register and limit attendees, and define the structure and content of the meeting, as well as publish the minutes and the resulting proposals.
The assemblies feature is a space that offers the possibility of creating decision-making bodies or groups (councils, working groups, committees, etc.) that meet periodically, detailing their composition, listing and geolocating their meetings, and allowing users to take part in them (for instance, attending if the seating capacity and nature of the assembly so permits, adding items to the agenda, or commenting on the proposals and decisions taken by that body."
Internal outreach
Depending on the size of your institution, you may also need to plan how to conduct internal communication. Publicizing your program and platform within your institution will prepare your colleagues before suggestions begin rolling in.
If you're fortunate enough to have colleagues or volunteers who are assigned to help operate the digital participation platform, they'll likely need training. The administration side of these platforms is usually designed to be user-friendly, but new tools always present a learning challenge. Build internal administrative training into your preparation timeline. Learning the platform together can also be a team-bonding opportunity.
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