‘Participation and Collaboration – Let’s Make it Work’

Let’s
learn from the mistakes a bunch of us made back in the 90’s when we put
up online “discussion” rooms and held online “town halls.” If you want
the pay-off – if you want good ideas and positive outcomes – you have to
invest the resources and plan strategically.

One more
tip. Advocates and lobbyists will be all over opportunities for public
participation and collaboration. But will average citizens come to the
table…citizens across the political spectrum, across generations, across
the country? You need to prime the pump. Create some quick success.

I’d love
to see the federal government, as a whole, start with a handful of
topics for public discussion. Throw the best resources at the efforts.
Establish models for public participation and collaboration, before the
agencies start doing this willy-nilly. Pick issues that don’t need
legislation and can be resolved in less than 6 months. Pick issues that
have broad public interest, don’t require extensive research or prior
knowledge, and won’t be especially contentious. Pick problems that have a
good shot at being solved.