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April 19, 2012
From GIS to Place-Based Stories [Cartography]

A couple of weeks ago, I was able to attend the 2012 Where Conference, held in San Fransisco, California, and I am pleased to say that this year’s event surpassed all of my expectations. For those of you not familiar with this conference, the annual event features the latest and greatest in location-based social applications, mapping technology, and innovative GIS related public engagement best practices. While many of the presentations at this year’s Where Conference focused on leveraging location-based social media apps installed on our smart phones and tablets, it was the presentations about creating compelling stories about place and space that caught my attention as they relate specifically to public involvement, which can provide planners with some very useful resources in citizen engagement. Overall, I would say that “doing GIS” is getting easier.

February 23, 2012
Communicating Planning Project Initiatives & Achievements

The question of how to effectively and appropriately communicate with the public regarding department or organizational planning initiatives and achievements frequently comes up for us with clients. Although some planners may have fine tuned their project communication strategy, it became apparent to us recently, while browsing discussions on Cyburbia.com, that many are still struggling to find some fresh ideas on how to spread the word about what they are actually working on.

February 17, 2012
Where Conference 2012: The Art and Business of Location

Now in its eighth year, Where Conference: The Art and Business of Location, is where the grassroots and leading-edge developers building location-aware technology intersect with the businesses and entrepreneurs seeking out location apps, platforms, and hardware to gain a competitive edge. In the O'Reilly conference tradition, Where Conference presents leading trends rather than chasing them.

Now in its eighth year, Where Conference: The Art and Business of Location, is where the grassroots and leading-edge developers building location-aware technology intersect with the businesses and entrepreneurs seeking out location apps, platforms, and hardware to gain a competitive edge. In the O'Reilly conference tradition, Where Conference presents leading trends rather than chasing them.

January 19, 2012
Study Reports That Using Citizen-Run Community Websites Can Enhance Public Involvement

The results of a survey conducted by Networked Neigbourhoods in 2011 are revealing that local government leaders are paying more attention to neighborhood websites than ever before. The UK consultancy’s survey results shows that local council officers and elected members consider neighborhood websites to be the most useful online channels, above others such as Facebook or Twitter.

The results of a survey conducted by Networked Neigbourhoods in 2011 are revealing that local government leaders are paying more attention to neighborhood websites than ever before. The UK consultancy’s survey results shows that local council officers and elected members consider neighborhood websites to be the most useful online channels, above others such as Facebook or Twitter.

December 7, 2011
Should My Department Have a Facebook Page?

An entry level planner approaches his manager and asks if the department should be considering creating a Facebook page to get the word out about current projects. Says he knows a planner in the Bay Area that has recently done this for his community. The manager is skeptical. His only experience with Facebook in this context is work-related questions that would come in directly to him from residents, which foiled his attempts to have a personal life in the small town he managed. So, is this a good idea? Or a bad one - to have a Facebook page dedicated to your community and managed by your city department? What about controversial projects you are working on?

This article is part of our Cyburbia series, featuring interesting conversations and perspectives from planners in the trenches on public engagement challenges they face in their daily work. The
Cyburbia Forums is the oldest and most active urban planning message board on the Internet.

July 18, 2011
Whitehouse Twitter Townhall: A Success in Public Engagement or an Over-Scripted Setback?

Results are in from President Obama’s July 6 live question-answering Twitter session, and from what we can tell, Americans were more than eager participate with reports of over 40,000 questions coming in and over 110,000 individual Twitter messages sent during during the live event. However, it seems that the latest attempts of the Whitehouse to blend traditional media and social media in hopes of reaching people who really care about current political issues, may have fallen short of participants’ expectations of openness.

Results are in from President Obama’s July 6 live question-answering Twitter session, and from what we can tell, Americans were more than eager participate with reports of over 40,000 questions coming in and over 110,000 individual Twitter messages sent during during the live event. However, it seems that the latest attempts of the Whitehouse to blend traditional media and social media in hopes of reaching people who really care about current political issues, may have fallen short of participants’ expectations of openness.

July 14, 2011
Using Online Tools - and Building Civic Infrastructure

In some ways, I was an unlikely choice to write a report on Using Online Tools to Engage –and be Engaged by – the Public. My work has centered mainly on face-to-face forms of public engagement. I had only just begun to use a Facebook page to distribute updates and resources to practitioners and researchers. I had to do most of the research on online tools from scratch. I was vaguely suspicious of Facebook status updates, RSS feeds, and (above all) Twitter.

June 29, 2011
Using Facebook Fan Pages to Better Engage Your Participants

These days RFPs for planning projects often include the requirement to use Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites as a means to communicate with the public. Unfortunately, it typically doesn’t go beyond that and many projects that we have seen simply use these venues under the assumption we-build-it-and-they-will-come. Therefore the level of activity and fans or followers is often low.

June 24, 2011
Institutions vs. Collaboration
May 10, 2011
Online Engagement Tools Emerge as a Key Component for Public Involvement

A recent study released by Pew Research Center on the Internet and Campaign 2010 shows some strong similarities between politics and planning when it comes to public involvement.

May 6, 2011
Gov2.0a conference is underway

The Gov 2.0a conference in Oklahoma City kicked off today. This is the second year of the conference on open government, technology and citizen engagement.

The Gov 2.0a conference in Oklahoma City kicked off today. This is the second year of the conference on open government, technology and citizen engagement.

April 2, 2011
ImproveSF.org - Collecting ideas from city employees

When you think about government, you think about a lot of things. Taxes, parking tickets, police. Government touches each of our lives in ways we may not even notice.  But if there’s one thing government isn’t known for it is openness, engagement, and efficiency. A one way dialogue has kept the public voice muted and progressive technologies that can deliver much needed change at bay.

March 5, 2011
Renew Newcastle

Affectionately referred to as the Detroit of Australia, Newcastle inauspiciously jump-started their own downtown revitalization with the simple creation of a Facebook page. 

January 30, 2011
Trends in online activity

In what has now become an annual occurrence, we’d like to take a closer look at the latest trends in online activity, based on the Pew Research Center’s Generations 2010 report. 

In what has now become an annual occurrence, we’d like to take a closer look at the latest trends in online activity, based on the

December 20, 2010
Promoting Online When You’re Offline

While some would contest that having a reliable high-speed internet connection is synonymous to breathing; we can’t help but shed a little a perspective on our current online addiction.  And the truth is that even though the world wide web is only a click away, we still do most of our day-to-day activities in the real world. 

December 15, 2010
A Few Insights Into Facebook Insights

In a move recognizing small businesses and organizations, Facebook is now releasing stats, viewable only to page administrators, on every wall entry.  The feature has been out there for quite some time but was previously available only on pages that had more than 10,000 fans.

November 3, 2010
SNAPPatx - Share your snapps

SNAPPatx is an exciting pilot project of the Texas Citizen Fund: Social Networking and Planning Project (SNAPP) is the heart of the organization; atx, also known as Austin, Texas is the focus of their work. As their name would imply, SNAPPatx relies heavily on social media and networking. 

SNAPPatx is an exciting pilot project of the Texas Citizen Fund: Social Networking and Planning Project (SNAPP) is the heart of the organization; atx, also known as

November 1, 2010
Webinar on social media use by local government

Wigley and Associates is hosting a free webinar on social media use by local government on Monday, Nov. 1, at 8 PM CDT.

Wigley and Associates is hosting a free webinar on social media use by local government on Monday, Nov. 1, at 8 PM CDT. It will feature:

October 25, 2010
Open Data: Yes. Now What?

Earlier this summer at the Future of News and Civic Media Conference, speakers swarmed around the topic of open data.  The question of the hour was undoubtedly something to this effect: how can we use data to drive action?

September 10, 2010
The Portland Plan

Portland, Oregon does nothing half-heartedly.  As is the case with the city’s newly spearheaded 25-year master plan.  In true Portland fashion, this master plan has dreams of grandeur; of a thriving and sustainable city where all citizens are prosperous, healthy and educated.

June 23, 2010
History of Gov 2.0

Mark Drapeau, co-chair of the Gov 2.0 Expo and Director of Innovative Social Engagement for Microsoft’s U.S. Public Sector Division, recently wrote an article discussing the evolution of Government 2.0.

June 18, 2010
HarringayOnline.com - A Citizen-led Network For the Neighbourhood of Harringay

One of the most active and comprehensive citizen-driven neighborhood websites I’ve seen. Perfect example of how to do local community websites right. Almost offers too much functionality, something that only works in this context because they have such a large, active community. HarringayOnline has been recognized in the UK and internationally for their excellent work.

Website: http://www.HarringayOnline.com/

Planning Process: Online Community for Neighborhood

Engagement Features: Community blog, forum, groups, picture and video sharing

Engagement Metrics: High, 2300+ members, very active network

May 19, 2010
Twitterplan and PlanningAlerts highlight Government2.0 in Planning

As an active member of your community, you’re probably aware of any modifications your neighbors are planning to their homes.  But what about the empty lot six blocks away or your favorite hole-in-the-wall cafe down the street?  Even active community members have trouble keeping up with all the planning projects in their area, since it requires continually monitoring their municipality’s website.

May 7, 2010
GoTo2040.org: Social Media and Regional Planning

The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) has launched their initiative  ’Go To 2040’ in June 2008.  ’Go To 2040’ arose from the desire to create a comprehensive master plan for Metropolitan Chicago that addressed not only land use and transportation, but quality of life issues as well.  CMAP sought to gather as much input from the public as possible in creating this master plan and interestingly social media was a key element of their efforts to attract and involve more people in a sustained and on-going manner throughout the process.

The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) has launched their initiative ’Go To 2040’ in June 2008. ’Go To 2040’ arose from the desire to create a comprehensive master plan for Metropolitan Chicago that addressed not only land use and transportation, but quality of life issues as well. CMAP sought to gather as much input from the public as possible in creating this master plan and interestingly social media was a key element of their efforts to attract and involve more people in a sustained and on-going manner throughout the process.

May 6, 2010
New Paper: New Communication Tools and Participation – Social Media in Urban Planning

The Internet and new Web2.0 tools are changing the way we communicate in an unprecedented way. Weblogs, Microblogs (like Twitter), and social media in general enable worldwide, real-time, multimedia communication with low barriers to entry.

The Internet and new Web2.0 tools are changing the way we communicate in an unprecedented way. Weblogs, Microblogs (like Twitter), and social media in general enable worldwide, real-time, multimedia communication with low barriers to entry. But in what ways are urban planners taking advantage of these new communication channels? This paper discusses these new opportunities as well as the barriers they
present, and it makes recommendations for using social media in the urban planning processes.