Community
Town Hall
A moderated conversation between government leaders, community stakeholders, or community members to discuss sensitive issues and process the impact they have on everyone.
Description
The Community Town Hall service includes:
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Design of a proposed outline that takes into consideration time, participation, and key points you would like to address in your Town Hall. We will make recommendations for specific presentation topics to include to address community concerns, recommendations on specific talking points by which government leaders or city officials, and a recommended structure for the public comment to ensure community members have the opportunity to speak within a designated structure to prevent verbal attacks, public shaming, or conversation being derailed.
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Facilitation of the Town Hall Event that includes: welcoming and introduction of the Town Hall, the introduction of speakers or panelists, providing community education on relevant topics where appropriate, moderation of community comment section, use of excellent moderation and communication techniques to ensure that both community members and government leaders have the opportunity to express themselves, feel heard, and not attacked or dismissed throughout the process)
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Management of technology and behind the scenes operations of Zoom before and during the Town Hall
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Review of comments submitted through Nextdoor, emails, or city surveys in preparation for what may come up during the Town Hall
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An Evaluation Report that captures the community’s Town Hall experience.
Additional Town Hall Support Services:
(Not Included, but strongly recommended at additional costs)
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One-on-one or small group coaching with government leaders or city officials to help speakers develop listening skills. prepare talking points, prepare responses to challenging comments, learn tips on how to respond to individuals with opposing views, review do's and don't while listening to sensitive comments on Zoom, learn tools on how to respond to community members to make them feel heard and validated
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Facilitation of a group preparation meeting with all Town Hall panelists to review the outline, make changes, and run through the parts to ensure all panelists understand their roles and the Town Hall runs smoothly
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Written summary of questions, comments, and suggestions that were shared during the Town Hall for City Staff to take back to their teams or City Council to discuss next steps
Issues Addressed
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Your community would like to begin a community conversation about a controversial or sensitive topic that you do not have expertise in facilitating
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You are concerned that a conversation like this could produce unintentional harm, consequences, or unreasonable demands on the community or the city.
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You have been asked to host a Town Hall but you are unsure where to begin planning this event, whom to include, and what components it should include
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You are uncertain how to facilitate a Town Hall virtually or on Zoom that would provide space for community dialogue, city presentation, and comment.
Implementation Details & Timeline
The following is a list of tasks that are included when you purchase this service:
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Conduct a 45-minute assessment on your community and the topic you are addressing
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Our team will conduct a 45-minute assessment to get a full grasp of the topic you are grappling with in your community, potential issues that may arise from addressing this topic, and varying perspectives that community members have on the topic
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We will brainstorm with you components we think will be beneficial for you to include in the Town Hall based on the information you have provided
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Time - 40 minute
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Complete contract or PO
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Our contracts team will work with you to expedite the contract and compliance process so we can start working together as soon as possible
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We accept POs as well. We have our standard service agreement that we use or we can use your organization's if needed
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Time - can happen within a day depending on logistics
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Assign a Training Synergist to support you along your entire journey
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You will be assigned a training synergist (facilitator) who will be your point person to ensure that the implementation of this Town Hall happens smoothly. They will reach out to you and make sure that all of your needs are met
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Time - Automatically happens the moment you reach out to us
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Design Town Hall Outline
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We will develop a detailed Outline for the Town Hall that reflects specific presentation components, important talking points, recommended ground rules and structures, and the amount of time that should be allocated for each section
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Time - 30 minutes
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Review Outline with Staff or Panelists
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We will schedule a meeting with the planning team to review the Town Hall Outline to recommend revisions or solutions based on their feedback and expertise of the community you serve
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We will also work with your communications team to ensure the Zoom webinar is properly set up with the necessary features.
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Time - 50 minutes
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Facilitate Coaching Meetings in Preparation for the Town Hall (if purchased with package)
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Your training synergist will meet with panelists and speakers to help them develop their talking points, listening skills, and review do's and don'ts when hearing stories or comments from the community
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If your Town Hall will include City Council members, we will meet with individuals separately in accordance with the Brown Act.
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Time - 50 minutes per session
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Facilitate the Town Hall Meeting
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Your training synergist will start and end the Town Hall, moderate the dialogue between City officials, staff, stakeholders, and community members, take notes, keep track of time, and navigate the tech logistics during the entire event.
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Time - 1.5 - 3 hours
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Schedule an evaluation and next steps meeting
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Your training synergist will provide you with an Evaluation Report that includes audience feedback and discussion of recommendations, and ideas for follow-up so that you can share this information back with your team or with the City Council to assess the next steps.
Time - 30-minute meeting after all of the coaching services are delivered
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Send Town Hall meeting notes (if purchased with package)
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Your training synergist will provide you with a detailed document that includes a summary of the comments, questions, and suggestions that were shared by the community during the Town Hall
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Time - 1-1.5 week after the Town Hall
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General Training Logistics
Here, you will find general Training logistics that may be customized:
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We can host small training with a minimum of 2 participants and a maximum of 35 people. We also offer larger training sizes of 50+ people with additional cost and logistics required.
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Trainings are between 2.5 and 3.5 hours long on average but can be customized to 1 hour and 90-minute sessions.
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Reducing the time means that the learning objects and outcomes may change as well. This is all worked out during the assessment process
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We will send via email any of the follow-up documents that were included or mentioned in the trainings so participants can access them