Off-the-Shelf E-Participation?
Five Recent Examples
Tim Bonnemann, Founder and CEO, Intellitics, Inc.
IAP2 Mini-Symposium “The Future of Public Participation”
June 22, 2009 in San Francisco, CA

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Agenda
• A few terms and definitions
• Research methodology
• Today’s key take-aways
• Five recent examples of public participation efforts
using off-the-shelf social media and web 2.0 tools
• Q&A

Terms and Definitions
• Public participation is the process by which an
organization consults with... individuals,
organizations, and government entities before
making a decision.
• Social media is user-generated content plus social
infrastructure plus tools for sharing (e.g. blogs,
wikis, Flickr, Youtube, many social networks etc.).
• Web 2.0 is about the internet as platform and
applications that can harness collective intelligence.

Research Methodology
• Based on observations from over a dozen recent
projects and initiatives in the US
• Mostly manual tracking of project performance
metrics over time
• Both quantitative and qualitative data
• User feedback regarding tools and processes
• Convener involvement and follow-up
• Impact analysis

Key Take-Aways
• A lot of web 2.0 tools are available today that can
be useful for web-based public participation.
• However, these tools were not designed specifically
for the purpose of public participation and may
lack critical features and necessary process
support which can often cause issues.
• Addressing these issues would not always require
changing the technology. Good facilitation and a
commitment to impact will go a long way.

Rebuild the Party
Host A group of 40 GOP operatives
Collect grassroots input to expand on “10-
Objective
point action plan for the next RNC Chairman”
Duration November 7, 2008 through January 31, 2009
Type Idea collection and discussion
Tool UserVoice
1,000s of participants
Key participation
1,000s of ideas and comments
metrics
10,000s of votes
Information cascades
Challenges
Content overload
Impact Unclear

Change.gov: “Join the
Discussion: Healthcare”
Host Barack Obama transition team
Objective Collect citizens’ feedback about top priorities
Duration November 26 through December 2, 2008
Type Discussion forum
Tool IntenseDebate
Key participation Comments: 3,701
metrics Words: ~485,000
Content overload
Challenges 25+ types of participant input
Poor site navigation
Impact Unclear

Change.gov: “Open for
Questions”
Host Barack Obama transition team
Objective Allow citizens to ask any question
Duration December 10-12, 2008
Type Question collection
Tool Google Moderator
Participants: 20,468
Key participation Questions: 10,303
metrics Votes: 978,947
Words: ~300,000 (approx.)
Information cascades
Challenges
Lobbying (marijuana legalization)
Impact Select questions were answered

Open Government
Dialogue (Phase I)
Host White House Office for Public Engagement
Objective Solicit ideas for Open Government Directive
Duration May 21-28, 2009
Type Idea collection and discussion
Tool IdeaScale
Participants: 3,543
Key participation Ideas: 1,040
metrics Comments: 1,945
Votes: 41,378
Spam/vandalism (Obama birth certificate)
Challenges
Too little convener involvement, guidance
Impact Input informed phase 2 + 3

MyIdea4CA
Host Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
Objectives Solicit ideas for balancing CA budget
Duration Started June 9, 2009 (ongoing)
Type Idea collection
Tool Twitter
Key participation
100s of ideas
metrics
Decentralized content
Challenges
No follow-up so far
Impact To be determined

Bonus Example
This just in...

Open Government
Dialogue (Phase 3)
Host White House Office for Public Engagement
Objective Collaboratively draft policy document
Duration Started June 22, 2009 (ongoing)
Type Wiki
Tool MixedInk
Key participation
n/a
metrics
Challenges n/a
Impact n/a

Thank You!
http://www.intellitics.com
http://twitter.com/intellitics
info@intellitics.com

References
• Public participation definition by James L. Creighton
• Social media definition adapted from “Putting the Fun in
Functional” by Amy Jo Kim
http://www.slideshare.net/amyjokim/fun-in-functional-2009-
presentation
• Web 2.0 definition, see "Web 2.0 Compact Definition:
Trying Again" by Tim O’Reilly
http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2006/12/web-20-
compact.html

Images
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/planspark/3016169233/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/planspark/3060802471/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/planspark/3098292591/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/planspark/3587811106/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/planspark/3650218978/

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