Hosting Virtual Citizen Engagement Events
Adapting to the “new normal” requires agility and creativity, but also comes with some advantages. We have conducted a few virtual citizen engagement sessions since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and have found this new medium to be an overall success for communities wanting to get the public voice.
The advantages include the ability to reach people who can’t/won’t leave their homes, the ability to collect data in real-time from a focused group, easy recording for sharing post-event and offering the convenience of joining from home.
The major disadvantages include the lack of in-person participation, the multi-tasking distractions and the inaccessibility for people without connectivity stable enough to support a video conference connection.
Overall, with goals of offering education on a project and engaging the public voice for feedback, a virtual citizen engagement event can still be successful.
Aransas County, TX
Aransas County experienced a communications blackout during Hurricane Harvey as a result of downed telephone poles and broken aerial cables. The County realized that communication was critical in successfully and quickly beginning recovery operations.
Hurricane Harvey aftermath of lines down, ultimately cutting critically needed communications.
The project grew and the County started looking at how it could benefit not just the government entities, but the citizens in the community who were also without communications capabilities after Harvey. The terms, “Digital Equality” and “Digital Divide” kept coming up as the team discussed this project to peers around the state. Aransas County gained traction and began partnering with neighboring counties. With the lack of broadband infrastructure across the United States and Texas, combined with the initial momentum, a grant from Texas General Land Office (GLO) was awarded to Aransas County to conduct a Fiber Optic Loop Feasibility Study funded by CDBG-DR resources.
The study is headed by CobbFendley, a professional engineering firm selected through a rigorous Request for Qualification process, who developed a plan and public report for the feasibility of making Aransas County a broadband-ready community into a reality. Pioneer Partners joined the CobbFendley team to conduct this study and hosted the virtual public engagement event. Read more about the project and see the public engagement recording on the Aransas County Long-Term Diaster Recovery website.
Previously Recorded Public Engagement Workshop Held on March 04, 2021