The document outlines key strategies for successful community engagement projects, emphasizing the importance of knowing your audience, keeping requests simple, and maintaining flexibility. It underscores the value of collaboration and promotion while documenting achievements to enhance participation. Additionally, it introduces lessons learned from previous experiences to navigate the balance between allowing community initiative and recognizing when to pivot.

1. Designing Community
Engagement Projects
That Actually Work
...or learning from failure
PRPD conference | September 13, 2012 | Las Vegas NV

2. Joellen Easton
Public Insight Partners Manager
American Public Media

3. Our own failures
Missing the PIN asked 2,887
community people
Finding the Four responses
community from three people

4. 1. Know your audience
...but if you get it wrong, don't sweat it.
Learn from it.

5. Ticket contests
Arcade Fire video contest
• Received 5 submissions
• Time frame too short (1-2 days)
• Too difficult
LouFest “caption this photo” contest
• Almost 200 submissions
• 1,320 hits on page

6. Recent Facebook post reached 17,596 with 156 shares and 696 likes.

7. 2. Don't ask people to do too much.
...do YOUR job.

8. The pro
Crowdsourcing the price of food ... economic indicators ...
broken traffic signals ... and now, abandoned bikes.
On air, online, on
social media, as
civic service, and
as art.

9. These projects are most effective when "people can do
something easy -- and it's our job to make it easy -- like
snap a photo and send it in. To make them our eyes and
ears. And smart tech management on the back end is so
crucial."
-- Alex Goldmark, Transportation Nation producer

10. 3. Be easy to work with
Be flexible.
It matters...because then you can punch
above your weight.

11. “We were going to consider it a success
if 10 people showed up. The first night,
70 people showed up. So we were
really excited. It proved to us that we
could do it. [It extended] our coverage
beyond what we can do in a four minute
feature story and headline updates.”
-- Rachel Hubbard,
Associate Director & GM

12. Rachel's lessons learned:
• Think about how people socialize
• Find community partner(s)
• People like to eat
• Don't over-politicize
• PROMOTE, PROMOTE, PROMOTE!
• Take suggestions and modify
• Have fun

13. 4. There's no losing in following
If a community grows around your project,
step back!

14. 3rd year running
826 artists
participating
An episode a week
Rules make it work
Annual events

15. "Art Hounds... [has] become part of the life of Minnesota
Public Radio as an institution. And that's all because of you...
Art Hounds comes from your hearts and your minds, so it's
authentic and genuine. That's why it really hits home with
listeners."
-- Art Hounds host Chris Roberts

16. 5. Communicate your value
Punctuate your work. Show it off. And
recognize those who were a part of
making it successful.

17. Listening
Youth Media Project
Party
"Make sure you document your work so it will speak to the
audience you're trying to reach."
- David Brower

18. 6. Know when to hold 'em
...and know when to fold 'em.
(We are in Vegas, after all.)

19. "We underestimated the power of our airwaves to encourage
participation."
– Ian Hill

20. 1. Know your audience.
2. Don't ask people to do too much.
3. Be easy to work with.
4. There's no losing in following.
5. Communicate your value.
6. Know when to hold 'em... and know
when to fold 'em.

21. Thank you!
Joellen Easton
Public Insight Partners Manager
American Public Media
jeaston@americanpublicmedia.org