Neighbors Online: Connecting Communitiesfor All

e-democracy.org/webinars

Connecting Neighbors, Building Communities, and Raising Voices since 1994

Workshop Outline – 10:00 – 11:45WelcomeWhy? Neighbors Online SurfLocal Online Groups and Hurricane

Sandy Introductions - Bay Area Share-a-

thon

Inclusion: Who’s Missing?Our Spin: Neighbors Forums In-Depth: Outreach, Inclusion, and

Engagement in St. Paul and Minneapolis

StorySomeone needed help.

The Wheel of Cheese Frantic online forum request:

“Is anyone flying to Seattle in next 12 hours? I am stuck out of town. Can you take a wheel of cheese to the national competition? Ours went missing. Homeland Security won’t let us overnight replacement.”

Neighbor replies, “I am a former airline employee and I’ve been looking for a reason to go to Seattle. “ Cheese makes it in time.

Read more – on Powderhorn Neighbors Forum – Photo CC jojomelons via Flickr

Welcome

Thank You And the Knight Foundation

Who We Are

E-Democracy.org's mission:

Harness the power of online tools to support participation in public life, strengthen communities, and build democracy.

Creating online spaces for civic engagement since 1994.

Quick History 1 – E-Democracy 1994 –

World’s first election information web site AND Minnesota Politics two-way e-list

1998 – Minneapolis and St. Paul Issues Forums – “online town hall” model

2005 – UK grant to pilot, Bristol and Oxford asked for neighbourhoods in ’07

2008 – Minneapolis neighborhoods get started Mixed classic “neighborhood e-list” with PUBLIC online

town hall with neighborhood watch, Freecycle, Craigslist (non-selling), community news and bulletin board for areas with 5,000 to 15,000 residents

Quick History 2 – E-Democracy Our goal to build civic engagement and

raise diverse voices was NOT being met by all volunteer start-up activity … built on volunteer foundation with:

2010-11 – Ford Foundation - pilot Inclusive Social Media effort – deep engagement in Cedar Riverside, expanding to Frogtown (note 60 page evaluation)

2012-14 – Knight Foundation – scaling to 14+ Neighbors Forums reflecting diversity with outreach and active forum engagement to reach ~10,000 daily participants

Why?Neighbors Online

Connecting Neighbors is GoodSocial connections, family-friendlySafety and crime preventionMutual benefit , sharing stuffGreater voices and civic engagementSocial capital generatorOpenness and inclusion (if done

right)= Stronger communities

Resources: Block Activities, Block Connectors, Locals Online, Soul of the Community

Community Benefits Laundry List Crime Prevention Disaster Preparedness and

Community Recovery Emergency Preparedness

and Response Neighborly Mutual Benefit

and Support Health Care and Long-

term Care Energy Efficiency Environmental

Sustainability Senior Care and Inter-

generational Connections Small Business Promotion Transportation

Local Food Diverse Community

Cohesion Education and Community

Service Recent Immigrant and

Refugee Integration and Support

Sustainable Broadband Adoption

Rural Community Building Youth Employment and

Experience Community Building, Civic

Engagement, and Social Capital

Details on the E-Democracy Blog

Online Neighbor Connecting

Two-way online “groups” at core

Connecting at two primary levels:

Block-level, neighborhood crime watch ▪ Very Private, Covering ~100 households,

typically resident-only, often “cc:” e-mail chains

Neighborhood/Community-wide ▪ Public , Semi-Public (request to join), or

Private - Covering hundreds to thousands of households

Big Numbers 27% of adult Net users (22%

overall) use

“digital tools to talk to their neighbors and keep informed about community issues.”

Source: Neighbors Online study from PewInternet.org, 2010

Numbers – “Joiners”“Joiners” – 10.5% of adult Net

users members of neighborhood e-mail lists, forums, or social network site groups

Includes 7% on e-lists/forums or ~10 million folks across ~20,000 to 40,000 online spaces – DC, Seattle, Mpls, etc. have deep history

Source: Neighbors Online study from PewInternet.org, 2010

Neighbors Online Surf(Seattle Showcase)

PlaceblogsSeattle must have the most placeblogs

per capita!

Editor in center with “news” models vs. groups

Web ForumsWest Seattle

Blog’s Forums Most successful

media-sponsored local online forums

in the world??

Local web-based “forums” in U.S. rare, popular in UK

Simple Concept

Imagine a shared e-mail box for your neighborhood:

neighbors@inyourarea.org

E-mail Lists YahooGroups

mostly, “forum host” is crucial

Few are “public” - hard to “see” the awesomeness your area is missing

Talk2 Seattle.Gov Dozens! Mostly

nhood assoc work??? Can’t tell how active

From our directory: Admiral - 123

members Alki Beach- 185 Ballard - 110 Beacon Hill  Hillman City - 192 Georgetown - 557 Greenwood - 420 Montlake - 946 North Ravenna Squire Park - 330 South Park- 759

E-mail ListsMoms/Parents E-

Lists Seattle has a massive

network ~20

MUST live in a certain area

Biggest – Ballard 1705, N Beacon 1876, Madrona 2785, Magnolia 903 … Seattle “Dads” 1

Facebook GroupsHillman

Brighton moved from YahooGroups

Host likes pictures in Member Directory

Few FB Groups for Seattle Nhoods?

Facebook Groups (SF)We Grew Up

in San Francisco Chinatown (1232, Open)

San Francisco Chinatown Just for Fun 2 (1522, Private)

Example Topics One Week in

Seattle Missing bike Chickens Gunshots Free stuff City council Folk club Food forest Strawberry

plants Nhood meeting

Free trees School walk “foro de discusión”

– Seeking Spanish-speaking folks

Voter registration Nickelsville Bikes for books Suicide prevention Spanish lesson guy Neighbor needed

for school project

EveryBlockGreen Lake

blog moved to EveryBlock

Everyblock serves ~20 major cities, started as local data to map site, added community

NextDoorPrivate residents-

only “social network for your neighborhood”

Venture funded, partnering with some governments

Mostly small groups, but can cover thousands of residents (no access for non-resident local businesses, community orgs, elected officials by design)

Twitter Hashtag

#bainbridge

Very social

“Organic”

Tags launchedduring crisises

Hurricane Sandy Local Online Groups

Official vs. Community Response

Official: Broadcast – FEMA.Gov, etc.

Community: Many to many “Like” a Facebook Page to express

support “Share” photos, news, Tweets “Gather” data and put on a map, etc. “Join” an Online Group to get involved “Volunteer” via OccupySandy, etc. “Needs and Offers” via Recovers.org,

etc.

Local for ResultsHurricane Sandy – Facebook

Groups Galore More local groups with

leadership have sustained activity

Lesson: Have a local online group before you really need it▪ http://bitly.com/sandygroups - Guide linked

here too▪ Examples:▪ Rockaways, Staten Island Strong, Union Beach NJ,

Black Rock CT

Who’s Here

Introductions break the virtual

ice.

IntroductionsEveryone

Name Neighborhood/

Place Top question?

Diverse Voices Social Media Which

community(ies) Current online

efforts

Neighbors Online Group Members Which one Which tech

platform How long a

member Most recent

example Important or

useful example

Inclusion

Who’s Missing?(w/neighbor connecting online)

Numbers – Inclusion Matters

Neighborhood E-Lists/Forums – 7% Overall 15% of online households over $75K – 5

times higher! 3% of online households under $50K 3% Latino 2% Rural … 8% Blacks and Whites 9% Women, 5% Men

Of 22% of ALL adults who “talk digitally with neighbors”: Only 12% under 30K, Over 75K 39%

Source: Neighbors Online study from PewInternet.org, 2010

Design for “Inclusion”

Public (vs. private groups)Open access (vs. invite only)Publicly searchable archive

(vs. member only access)Local scope Encourage strong civilityMust use real names, accountability

Digital Inclusion Digital inclusion for community engagement

leverages other key efforts

Technology and Broadband Access

Online and Computer Skills

Engagement

Digital Literacy

Bay Area Racial/Ethnic Map

Series by Eric Fisher

Red is White, Blue is Black, Green is Asian, Orange is Hispanic, Yellow is Other, and each dot is 25 residents.

Inclusion:Neighbor ForumsOutreach In-Depth

St. Paul’s Inclusive Community Engagement Online “Be Neighbors” initiative

Our Spin:Neighbors Forums

What are Neighbors Forums?“Local” online public places to: share information, events, ideas discuss neighborhood issues gather diverse people in an open place

take action and promote solutions

E-Democracy.org’s neighborhood-level Issues Forums are powered by two-way group communication

We host over 50 neighbors/community forums in 17 communities across 3 countries today

Who participates? Everyone welcome

Residents, local workers, business owners

People who “serve” the community Local governments, non-profits, etc.

Outreach essential: Diverse communities:

http://e-democracy.org/inclusion

100 members for strong opening 1070 members on largest forum today, ~25%

households

You

One Forum, Many Channels

E-mail Web Facebook Twitter

Online public space in “real” community

City Hall

In-personConversations Shared on

Facebook

YourNetworks

Local MediaCoverage

School, Library

Reporte

r

Com

mun

ity O

rgCity Councilor

Candidate

Local Biz

Nei

ghbo

r #1

Park Staff

Neighborhood Leader

Mayor

Forum M

anager

Neighb

or #

500

Polic

e

NEIGHBORS

NeighborsForumOnlineJoin the

Forum

New Resident

Design for “Inclusion”Public (vs. private groups)

Open access (vs. invite only)

Publicly searchable archive (vs. member only access)

Local scope

Encourage strong civility

Must use real names, accountability

How different? ApproachVolunteer-driven, Non-

profit (Pictures of some of our awesome volunteer Forum Managers

and contractors )

Local scope key

“Public life” openness not “virtual gated communities”

Government can access us Unlike Facebook which is blocked by many

organizations

Open source technology, sharing We use GroupServer.org GPL tech out of New

Zealand

How different? OnlineOnline advantages

24 x 7 – Anytime, anywhere convenience

Engage people unable to attend meetings, with limited mobility, two jobs, children

Less intimidating for some – open and accessible “ice breaker” into public life

Local approach coupled with in-person activities increases value and trust – Online only would be a major disadvantage

How different? RulesCivility matters

Real names build trust No name calling Post just 2 times a day (on most forums) spreads participation, retains audience

Facilitated by local volunteer “Forum Manager,” rules are enforced

Major contrast with often anonymous, nasty online news comments

Example TopicsAction

Discussion

Announcements

Connecting for actionBeing local means we can

easily meet and act together

Community garden effort launched

“It’s cold” discussion results in winter wear drive to help recent immigrants

Sexual assault response by “Mom” and 400+ rally on a cold winter night, community brainstorming

Community garden

anyone?

Photos from Jeff Wheeler, Star Tribune.

Community Rally Organized via Forum in Response to Sexual Assault

Connecting neighbors leads to dialogue and discussion Topics like:

Community news Crime and safety Crisis response Schools and

parks Service provider

recommendations – home repairs, child care, etc.

• Helping neighbors • Local history• New small

businesses• Landlord issues• Local

environment/recycling

• Questions of every kind – “What was that noise?”

Announcements - Free Flow of Information Community/cultural eventsNeighborhood meetingsLocal news, photos, videoFree stuff (selling is rare/not promoted)

Elected official updatesLost or found pets

In any languageBi-lingual announcements encouraged

How to join?Via the web:

e-democracy.org

Or beneighbors.org▪ Directory starting in Twin Cities▪ Join via Facebook Option Available

Or Paper!Via simple paper sign-up sheets

Sign up at local events, by neighbors, or when doorknocked.

Outreach In-depth

2012 Outreach Team

Forums for Today’s St. Paul46%

People of Color

17% Foreign Born

Lower income areas, renters, etc.

Launched BeNeighbors Outreach

Goal:10,000 Neighbors

Big Picture Goals1. Online spaces for neighbors to

connect with each other in the ways that they want

2. Spaces as representative as possible of the neighborhoods, 10%+ of households

3. More people having a voice, who often do not have a voice in their neighborhood

4. Engagement that builds trust, bridges, and social capital

2010-11

Building on Inclusive Pilots

60 Page Report and Webinar

e-democracy.org/evaluation

Funding from Ford Foundation 2010-11, Minneapolis Base

65

Diverse Community Outreach 2011

Pilot expansion methods across three neighborhood/forums

Special outreach to diverse communities in Minneapolis and St. Paul:▪ Latino, Native American, East African, African American, Hmong/SE Asian

67

Inclusive Social Media Lessons 10-11Face-to-face outreach, paper signup

sheets, and a personal approach most successful

Building trust is essential. Knowing that “someone like me” is on the forum helps

Personal invitations and direct support help people get started with posting.

Inclusive Social Media Lessons 10-11

Work with community event organizers to bring forum members out “IRL” to their community events, sign up new people too

Understand people’s interests and needs, then find ways to address them through the forum to encourage sustained participation

Ford Foundation funded, 2010-2011

Ford Eval: Forum Member Feedback

Members: Forum provides new information and alternative viewpoints

Elected officials pay attention to forum posts

Community organizations who actively participated found it relevant and rewarding

Range and depth of conversations dependent on forum members’ willingness to share opinions, ask questions, and seek input

2012

BeNeighbors – Going Big in St. PaulSummer Outreach 2012

2012-14 – BeNeighbors.orgGoal: Recruit and engage 10,000+

Saint Paulites by end of 2014

Focus outreach on highly diverse, immigrant and low-income communities

Knight Foundation funded, 625K 3 year grant (through end of 2014)

Applied Ford lessons

The PlanUtilize grassroots community

organizing techniques to bring a diversity of neighbors onto the forums.

Bring in around 3000 new members over the summer and begin building relationships in Saint Paul communities.

Hire ~10 multi-lingual outreach team members working 15 hours a week

74

What we did...

1. Research and set goals2. Intensive recruitment and training3. Utilized open access tools to

manage logistics increasing mobility and capacity of team (GDocs, Dropbox, etc.)

4. Major on the ground outreach!5. Remembering to think long term

about empowerment and voice

75

Mapping Census Data for Targeting

Courtesy of University of Minnesota: Center for Urban and Regional Affairs

76

Racial/Ethnic Goals by Area, Time

77

Intensive Recruitment and Training

79

Tracking Outreach Locations

80

Photos from the field

Handout in Hmong

85

86

More pictures in our slide show.

Field Outreach Numbers ~3,000 memberships in-person in

2012, 800 online

129 Tracked Summer Outreach Events: 917 via door-knocking in 20 targeted areas 692 via 39 different community events 340 via 28 community locations (libraries,

etc.) 182 via 10 National Night Out sites 89 via 4 ethnic soccer matches 76 via 12 community members

After ~12% error rate in e-mail addresses, opt-outs

Field Outreach Diversity

Over 50% of paper form survey responses were from people of color

Surname analysis shows 30%+ of targeted forums appear to be from racial/ethnic communities (Asian, Latino, East African)

Demographic profile being built into tech, quarterly participant survey planned

Forums Launched, Numbers All 17 St. Paul neighborhoods

(District Councils) covered with online neighborhood spaces, 3 outside our network

6,000 Forum Memberships, up from 3200 = +266% in St. Paul, 1,000+ more on original city-wide St. Paul Issues Forum

Minneapolis 0ver 9200 memberships

Detailed Blog Post, Insider Google Doc

Twin Cities Growth 266% increase in St. Paul

(blue) memberships in 2012

Mpls (red) all volunteer “organic” word of mouth growth

Outreach Team Celebration

5 Things That Didn’t Work as Expected

Utilization of volunteers Partnerships need to grow

beyond links Forum engagement staffing

delayed to ‘13 Light guidance for contractors,

more hands on needed Logistics of hand processing

3,000 paper sign-ups

2013

95

So, what’s next?

Build volunteer capacity in forum engagement to developing deeper relationships in community - goal:

Forums that better reflect the diversity of

neighbors in the “virtual room.”

Ensure partnerships are mutually beneficial

Execute an intense forum engagement plan

Final Story

Unleashing the power neighbors helping neighbors for ALL communities.

Neighbor uses forum organize an awesome birthday party and holiday gifts for their immigrant neighbors daughter after the family’s money was stolen.

Get Connected

Public outreachhttp://beneighbors.org

Webinars, training:http://e-democracy.org/learn

http://e-democracy.org/practice

98

Thank you!

We’d love to connect with you more!

Steven Clift - clift@e-democracy.org

Corrine.bruning@e-democracy.org612-229-4471

On Twitter @edemo More: e-democracy.org/contact

QuestionsDiscussionConnections

END

Additional SlidesGo in-depth if you like

102

How does this apply to your work?

Do you work with minority/low income/ immigrant populations?

Are you interested in building up a network that allows more neighbors to connect with each other?

5 Things That Worked for Us

1. Doorknocking, Clipboards, and Sneakers2. Careful Recruitment, Hiring, and Training

of “outreach team”3. Team vs. Individual4. Mobile & Open Access to Logistics5. Thinking Long Term about Empowerment

5 Things That Didn’t Work as Expected:

1. Utilization of volunteers

5 Things That Didn’t Work as Expected:

1. Utilization of volunteers 2. Partnerships (Not yet anyway!)

5 Things That Didn’t Work as Expected:

1. Utilization of volunteers 2. Partnerships3. Forum Engagement (Short Term)

5 Things That Didn’t Work as Expected:

1. Utilization of volunteers 2. Partnerships3. Forum Engagement (Short Term)4. Light Guidance

Some Results (so far)………1. Surname analysis shows 30%+ of

targeted forums appear to be from racial/ethnic diverse communities.

2. We launched neighbors forums in 16 of 17 Saint Paul neighborhoods

3. The Saint Paul Neighbors Forums virtually doubled from 2,863 on June 4 to 5,609 on September 11.

Twin Cities Growth 200% increase in St. Paul

(blue) memberships since Jan 1.

Mpls (red) all volunteer “organic” word of mouth growth

So what’s next?Develop and launch Volunteer

Engagement PlanUtilize a set of local engaged

volunteers on EACH Saint Paul forum for deep forum engagement

Build up and maintain partnershipsMore outreach; lesson sharingConvene in-person meetings of forum

members

Reflection and Sharing

Want to hear from youFirst write down your initial thoughtsSmall groups, discuss, and share“Harvest” pieces of your

conversation that caught your attention.

Engaging Diverse Communities in Online Neighborhood ForumsE-Democracy.org is in the process of building the largest online civic network in the nation serving a single community.

We hope to engage 10,000 people in St. Paul in online neighbors forums. Critical to the success of our project, is reaching out and engaging diverse, immigrant and low income communities using low-tech strategies such as door-knocking and paper sign-up sheets.The process has been thoroughly documented with both photos and video. We are eager to share what worked for us as well as what didn’t work, highlight stories from the field, and hear about similar projects in other communities.

Ford EvaluationAll kinds of neighbors can be connected online

60 Pages: e-democracy.org/eval

uation

Free in-depth webinar

Examples - Discussion“Community life” exchange

builds audience for inclusive civic discussions “Little Mekong” branding for Asian

business promotion on University Ave

Triple homicide - Who can we trust to keep us safe after a tragedy in East African grocery? Police? More guns? Led to off-line discussions with local teens. Vigil proposed, hundreds gather.

Also: Cats indoors or outdoors?, Airplane noise, etc.

Tips for organizations Post announcements and events –

reach hundreds for free

Monitor the community agenda, advocate and organize locally

Answer questions, share info

Connect people to your programs

Encourage your members/clients/etc. to join us

What results?Neighbors Forums promote: Community building Neighbors helping neighbors Sharing/reusing things very locally

Engagement with government and accountability

And much more

Join Us, Join Your Neighbors

Join your local Neighbors Forum today!

Every community needs a vibrant local online place that makes your part of the world a better .

The lowest cost model for effectively building real community and civic participation available today(?)

Start a forum. You can make this happen in your neighborhood. If you don’t who will?

Contact us: http://e-democracy.org/contact team@e-democracy.org @edemo - Twitter Tel/Text: +1-651-400-0880

Mostly text

Pictures too

Across 50+ forums

Follow on Facebook?Yes, we reach people “where

they are” via many channels and technologies

Our “unified” integrated public forums Facebook Page – Forum excerpts

Twitter – Topic headlines

“Blog” style Web Feed – Full-text

E-mail and web options – Most accessible, required to post

E-mail key to active “bridge building” and mobile use – old-fashioned but EFFECTIVE

Future PresentationsStat tuned for more

knowledge sharing Inclusive Social Media Lessons,

Evaluation How to Start a Forum - Detailed Forum Manager How-to Webinar

Follow our blog for updates: http://blog.e-democracy.org

Key existing resources http://e-democracy.org/if - Guidebook and

more http://e-democracy.org/webinars

Where are they?Our neighborhood-level

“Issues Forum”: 24 forums across St. Paul and Minneapolis ▪ Many new forums - join our funded start-up

campaign now 25 start-up forums in Christchurch, New

Zealand ▪ Created for post-quake recovery by two

volunteers 5 in the United Kingdom▪ Where our “neighbourhood” level work started

11 “city-wide” online town hall “Issues Forums” ▪ Extensive details: http://e-democracy.org/if ▪ City-level forums provide place for city-wide

issues and politics▪ Includes five Greater Minnesota towns

Start a new forum?Request one:

http://e-democracy.org

http://tcneighbors.org

We technically set it up

Outreach essential

10+ forums in start-up mode

Lessons/training from: http://e-democracy

.org/if

Recipe 100 start-up

members 1 local volunteer

“Forum Manager” – You?

Paper sign-ups at community events

E-mail outreach, e-letter signed by initial members

Friendly round of virtual introductions with real people using real names to build trust

Hosting a Healthy Forum Strong “critical mass” launch is key to

success Need mix of local institutions – parks,

officials, places of worship, community groups AND everyday residents

Forum Manager plays crucial role – needed to “seed” forum with announcements until community groups begin to do it themselves

~10% of households across forum area is a magic threshold for “self-generative” community life

Forum facilitation prevents difficult topics from turning into “flame wars” – one blow out can kill a forum

How to post?Post via web

Login at http://e-democracy.org

Click on desired forum New Topic :▪ “post a new topic” -

“Topics” tab ▪ Fill in text box, press “Start”▪ Add files (PDF, Word, etc.)

Existing Topic:▪ Login, read topics▪ Text box at bottom

Do you want to … Connect your neighbors and

neighborhood?

Make your community better? Improve civic engagement?

Raise diverse voices? Share local information?

Do all this cost-effectively leveraging volunteers?

If yes, here is an introduction on Neighbors Issues Forums from E-Democracy.org

How to read?Read via e-mail or web Daily e-digest option - topics with direct links

Text, files, photos, YouTube videos

How to post?Post via e-mail

“place”@forums.e-democracy.org e.g. mpls-phillips@forums.e-democracy.org

Post via web Login at http://e-democracy.org Visit desired forum and post

Post/attach files easily (Photos, PDF, Word, etc.)

More Options, Start-upsDozens of companies are getting

into the neighbor connecting business

Visit the local social media directory

Join the Locals Online community of practice to join people from .org, .coms, and many independent free spirits