Social Media Primer: Which Social Media Tool is the Best Fit for My Engagement Process and How Should I Use It?

A PublicForum Webinar - Thursday, 22 April 2010, 18:00 Eastern/22:00 GMT (90 minutes)
Registration closes Wednesday, 21 April

Social media tools are increasingly used to consult stakeholders about policies, programs and services, and to deliberate about community issues. Facebook, Twitter and Linked In are a few of the better known social networking brands, but many organizations also use social media platforms specifically designed to support the engagement process.

This PublicForum webinar focuses on two types of inquiry and the social media tools available to help meet their principle objectives:

   •  Processes for seeking input or feedback for policy making, program management or service delivery.

   •  Processes for deliberating about pressing community issues as part of building the capacity for people to participate.

The program will also address what you need to know when selecting social media tools and designing processes for your engagement work.

In this practically oriented program, you'll learn:

   •  The similarities and differences between various social media platforms

   •  When to choose an off-the-shelf tool (such as Facebook) and when a platform designed for engagement work makes sense

   •  Tips for best integrating these tools into your overall stakeholder engagement strategy

   •  Strategies for designing an effective deliberative process for online dialogues

   •  Moderation and facilitation techniques that are particularly effective when using social media

   •  Suggested questions to ask when evaluating a potential social media tool

Following presentations by our guest panelists, there'll be time for Q&A/discussion.

All registrants receive the slide deck from this program and post-event access to the webinar recording.

Guest panelists Crispin Butteriss, Ph.D., founding partner of BangTheTable, and Ellis Westwood, Senior Consultant with Ascentum, will provide important insights and practical pointers for evaluating and using social media tools in your work with stakeholders. Moderated by Beth Offenbacker of PublicDecisions.

Guest Panelists

• Ellis Westwood

Ellis is a Senior Consultant with Ascentum, a leading public involvement firm in Canada. As a project lead, Ellis has designed and delivered over 20 public engagement projects across Canada. He is a project lead with both Ascentum's online involvement and social media services. Ellis was the external lead for the North West LHIN's Share Your Story, Shape Your Care engagement project, which received the International Association for Public Participation's (IAP2's) inaugural “Innovation of the Year Award” for 2009. Ellis has moderated online dialogue and trained volunteer moderators for a series of online inititives, most recently on health care reform in the US, on behalf of Kettering Foundation and National Issues Forums Institute (NIFI). Ellis is a graduate of the graduate certificate in Dialogue, Deliberation and Public Engagement, offered jointly by the University of Sydney and Fielding Graduate University. You can track down Ellis on twitter, @elliswestwood.

• Crispin Butteriss, Ph.D.

Crispin co-founded BangTheTable in 2007 after a successful public sector career using his policy development and stakeholder relationship management skills in the fields of environmental protection, land use planning and economic development. He was an award winning undergraduate student and went on to complete a doctorate in the application of adult and organisational learning to community and stakeholder engagement processes. Crispin helped establish the International Association for Public Participation in Australia in 1999 and remains an active committee member today. He currently devotes his time to developing the theory and practice of online community engagement through his client support, training, public speaking and blogging.

• Beth Offenbacker

Beth Offenbacker is Chief Learning Officer at PublicDecisions.com. She is a strategic public involvement practitioner with more than 20 years experience working with public agencies, private firms and nonprofits/NGOs on a broad variety of stakeholder processes, projects and issues. A talented university instructor with more than eight years of practice-oriented teaching experience at the undergraduate and graduate levels, Beth's work at PublicDecisions marries a passion for skill building with an interest in enhancing individual and organizational effectiveness. She is a Life Member of the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) and a member of the American Planning Association and the American Society for Training and Development. Beth presently is leading a multi -year, twelve-country study funded by IAP2 and the Kettering Foundation that explores the cultural context of public participation and deliberation.

 

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