Surveys – the good, the bad and the ugly
Surveys are the bed rock of any consultation activity. They’re a cost-effective way to get information that can be easily analysed providing valuable data to decision makers. The good High representation Surveys can gather a lot of feedback from a lot of …
150,000 people engaged – Community insight #3 Data and tech
Over the past four years, we’ve engaged more than 150,000 across Australia and New Zealand to address the big issues facing our communities and organisations. That’s 150,000 people who’ve made an active contribution, mostly positive, and not just 150,000 clicks, views or …
150,000 people engaged – Community insight #2 Environment
Over the past four years, we’ve engaged more than 150,000 across Australia and New Zealand to address the big issues facing our communities and organisations. In the second part of our Insights series, we unpack the many shades of green. Aside from …
150,000 people engaged – Community insight #1 Change is not always scary
There’s a terrible myth that people don’t want change. That’s just not true. What people are actually afraid of is change when there’s no sense of control. Or when change is forced upon them and there are no options. Most people, when …
Our top 9 predictions for engagement in 2019
1. Civic Innovation powers ahead – The Smart Cities Council launched the Guidance Note for Civic Innovation which defines civic innovation for the first time, and defines 5 principles for good practice. 2. Measuring up – Evaluation and measurement will continue to grow, as our profession gets …
Think you know gaming? Drop that stereotype right now
You might think a typical gamer is a teen or 20 something male who spends hours on end in their room, not seeing the light of day. This stereotype is not accurate, not even slightly. Around 60% of everyday Australians play video …
School holidays. To engage or not? When it’s appropriate and why it’s usually not.
As a general rule the school holidays are best avoided when planning community engagement activities because people are generally harder to reach and disengaged from reality during holiday periods. This is especially so at Christmas when everything tends to get that little …
Engagement tools: paper vs digital. Which is better?
In recent years digital engagement has really taken off with people experimenting with new technologies that make engagement activities more accessible and sustainable. As leaders in the digital engagement sector, Articulous is often called upon to help clients who want to be …
Beware of this four letter word when analysing community responses
You may have heard that online surveys are dead. Even though you’re constantly being bombarded with emails and website pop ups requesting your valuable input in the form of an online survey. How many of them do you simply ignore? …
Are online surveys dead?
You may have heard that online surveys are dead. Even though you’re constantly being bombarded with emails and website pop ups requesting your valuable input in the form of an online survey. How many of them do you simply ignore? …
Why everyday people turn up to solve community problems
It was a Saturday morning. The first day in a four-month process for members of a citizen engagement process to tackle a very tricky issue. …
Asking the right questions – it’s all in the framing
For some people the tricky part of engagement can be actually making the decision to engage and working out how to go about it. While it’s vital to have a strategy that informs engagement, it’s equally as important not to skip past …
The truth about common ground and community engagement
Common ground is something that people agree about even if they disagree about other things (Merriam-Webster, 2018). It can be an important objective of community engagement where there is strong disagreement or conflict between groups. However, reaching common ground is not always an …
IoT Conference
Humans, technology and data in focus at the IoT conference Drones, self drive miniature smart cars, and smart data were highlights of the National IoT (Internet of Things) Conference in Melbourne on 4 June. Amongst the smart gadgets, it was the human aspect of technology that was brought …
Engaging on Transport Infrastructure
“I’ve been yelled at. Threatened. Spat at. Cried at. I’ve felt in danger. I’ve felt frightened. I’ve felt exhausted.” That’s how one colleague has described her life as an engagement manager on a major road construction job. But it’s her perfect job. “I …
UQ Sport Engage
Almost 1,500 people took part in UQ Sport Engage, initiated to better understand the role of UQ Sport in the community, the needs of stakeholders, and to help guide future strategic planning. UQ Sport Engage set a benchmark for future engagement to …
Community Engagement Toolkit for Planning
In 2017, the Minister’s Guidelines and Rules under the new Planning Act 2016 came into effect. These changes prescribe a higher level of engagement and for earlier engagement to be done by local governments. They also require that the communications plan (comprising …
Five things every community engagement person should stop doing
Every day and in every industry we are continually adding ideas or processes. But so often we forget to delete. When we review or audit community and stakeholder engagement within organisations, we see how passionate our engagement colleagues are. Their passion for …