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Mass Innovations, From The Beacon, March 2012
Barnstable has expanded its efforts to engage residents in the local decision-making process by launching a new online tool that encourages collaborative problem-solving.
In December, the town launched Barnstable iForum (www.barnstableiforum.com) with the help of MindMixer.com, an Omaha, Neb.-based company that hosts the site and advises communities on how to make optimal use of it. MindMixer enabled Barnstable to create an initial set of six topics, including “Vision 2030,” “Getting Around Barnstable,” “Dog Park” and “Bicycle Improvements.”
By the time new topics were posted in early February, roughly 340 people had taken part in the online discussions, leading to the posting of more than 100 ideas, according to Acting Town Manager Tom Lynch.
Lynch says the high level of engagement is partly an outgrowth of the town’s use of other media tools, including a weekly e-mail newsletter and a 90-minute daily morning cable program, which can serve to highlight iForum topics.
The iForum includes a rewards system based on the number of ideas and suggestions posted by an individual and the extent to which other people comment and build on those ideas. Winners can choose rewards ranging from a one-on-one breakfast discussion with Lynch or a department head to an opportunity to be “Weather-Person-for-a-Day” on the morning cable program.
From early on, participants wanted to know what would become of the ideas they posted, Lynch said.
“We weren’t a week into it, and we started getting questions, such as, ‘Is anyone listening?’” Lynch recalled. “We thought we’d have time to work that out. But it turned out that people were looking for a little more instant response.”
Lynch began sharing the ideas posted on iForum with his department heads. A discussion about beach maintenance, for example, provided the public works department with ideas on how they might do things differently next summer.
The topics posted in February were presented as questions, such as, “What transportation goals should Barnstable establish?” and “How can we encourage Barnstable to be a drug-free community?” Within a matter of days, the latter question drew a half-dozen suggestions, including implementing school dress codes. Lynch said the town’s school superintendent is considering surveying parents to more fully gauge support for this idea.
By early February, the site also had a feature enabling people to check on the status of their proposals. Each idea is tagged with a comment such as “Your idea is going to be implemented,” “Your idea is under review,” “Your idea is financially challenging,” and so on, according to Lynch.
Barnstable also has used the site to reach out to residents who moved away as young adults.
“If they stay connected, and contribute … when they’re able to come back and maybe raise a family, they’ll feel vested in the community,” Lynch said.
MindMixer charges Barnstable $7,500 per year for its services. The company promotes its product as a means of widening the range of people who participate in public discourse.
“We’re trying to engage our citizens in a conversation about many of the policy questions we struggle with all the time,” Lynch said. “It’s not meant to replace the different hearings we have on a given policy. But we hope it will supplement them and give people who don’t have time to attend some of the traditional forums another way of participating in the governmental process.”
For more information, contact Tom Lynch at (508) 862-4610.