Exclusive Content: Communications & Engagement

Four Tips to Make Meeting Minutes Less of a Time Drain

Posted on April 23, 2021

This article was written by Dana Healy, Executive Director of NineNorth. Connect with Dana by email or LinkedIn. I was speaking to a client yesterday about increasing communications for his city. “It’s difficult,” he said, “My City Clerk is also the Head of Communications.” Oh dear. Once again, the City Clerk gets more responsibilities attached...

Why Should Your City Leverage the Local Community Media Center?

Posted on April 8, 2021

This article was written by Dana Healy, Executive Director of NineNorth. Connect with Dana by email or LinkedIn. Long ago, community media centers were synonymous with sci-fi talk shows, grainy green screen, and cheesy special effects. These communication hubs have come a long way since the 1980’s. Equipped with professional-grade cameras, editing suites, and fully-lit...

Public Government Meetings and Barriers for Participation

Posted on March 25, 2021

This article was written by Dana Healy, Executive Director of NineNorth. Connect with Dana by email or LinkedIn. I was quoted in the Star Tribune about increased civic engagement around public government meetings. Its true, NineNorth saw a 20% increase in overall viewership throughout 2020. Some zoom-based meetings had to be held twice to accommodate...

Building a Multi-message and Multi-channel Campaign to Overcome Vaccine Resistance

Posted on March 12, 2021

Patrick Armitage and Dane Grashuis of Whispir write about creating a more robust and frequent communication plan involving equity and distinct messaging for different audiences and how that is crucial for success. “Community engagement is key to overcoming mistrust and building confidence through actions like using many channels of communication.” - CDC The recent pledge...

An African American woman stands in front of a board covered in multi-colored sticky nots, speaking to an audience

Setting Your Engagement Up for Success

Posted on March 11, 2021

This guest blog post is by Meghan Ruble, Head of Client Services - North America, Bang the Table There is a lot of fear that swirls around online engagement work, and reasonably so. Whether you’re accustomed to running public meetings or managing your organization’s communication channels, you can always count on receiving more than your...

How Savvy Local Governments are Instantly Connecting to More Citizens

Posted on March 10, 2021

Moses McCall, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Effct.co writes about how flash briefings can help local governments instantly connect to more citizens. See all of our articles on data and technology. As we have learned in 2020, important things in our world are constantly changing and people expect to have instant access to updated information...

How Can Cities Build Community Media Center Partnerships?

Posted on March 1, 2021

This article was written by Dana Healy, Executive Director of NineNorth. Connect with Dana by email or LinkedIn. As city staff, the last thing we want to hear it to “pivot” or “expand” our job functions, especially around communication. There are other ways to expand your communication efforts without overtaxing staff. Community Media Centers in...

When was Community Engagement the Defining Factor in the Outcome?

Posted on February 12, 2021

By Jeremy Shackett, Engagement Manager, Bang the Table Of all the community engagement misconceptions I have heard, one stands out for its cynicism: Engagement isn’t even worth it in the first place. Many organizations sleepwalk through the community engagement journey. They do things the way they have always done them and get the same results....