The low cost of content delivery made possible by the internet has made organizing and messaging by small and large groups very accessible. The level of sophisticated messaging technology available can quickly grow unmanageable for some organizations and the level of transparency created by internet history has the potential of getting groups into trouble.

The group I’m going to look at has chosen the name Change in UA. This name choice is interesting because every action they’ve taken has been an attempt to not change the community, but to keep it stagnant. There is one positive request they are after however; to use technology to build greater transparency into city government.

Transparency in government is a hot topic right now and thanks to the Obama administration we are seeing a lot of transparency through technology in action. I couldn’t agree more that we all have the opportunity to do better at this and to benefit from it. I spend a great deal of my time volunteering to teach non-profits and government organizations how to approach this very thing.

I believe this sort of transparency needs to occur in private industry as well but that’s another blog post.

So what I want to talk about is how organizations such as Change in UA have to keep in mind what their tactics say about the organization and how those tactics effect outcomes.

The background on this group which has grown out of the UA Trash issue originally is that they have not yet had a successful campaign. With that in mind let’s look at some of the tactics that have led to these results.

• Starting with a moniker that suggests you are looking for change yet focusing all of your efforts on stopping change takes credibility away right off the bat and confuses even your strongest supporters.
• When asking for greater transparency don’t turn a blind eye to how your organization itself treats transparency. Using tactics such as redirecting a domain similar to your opposition’s (i.e. opposition.COM instead of opposition.ORG) so that users who mistakenly typed in the wrong domain type are taken to your website is highly unethical. Then to not tell the person why they have been taken somewhere else is the exact opposite of transparency.
• When arguing that a development levy shouldn’t be approved because it will negatively impact local business you shouldn’t then hold all of your meetings at a business outside of the community. Your concern for local businesses rings pretty hollow when you do that.
• As information comes out that discredits one of your arguments then it is best to acquiesce, remove that issue and move on. By leaving those issues up and not resolving them in any way it becomes one more thing that takes away from the groups overall credibility. Making such changes can also provide you with a an opportunity for positive engagement, instead of negative messaging.
• If you have a central unifying goal, such as greater transparency through technology, then work towards that goal instead of getting yourself caught up in issues that don’t have anything to do with your core mission. Getting one win that everyone in your mailing list can get behind is more important than making a stand on a mixed bag of issues.
• Finally, when you are working towards your core mission it is best if you can come forward with a well thought out plan for implementation, funding and sustainability of that mission. Taking this sort of positive, pro-active initiative is much easier for the community at large to get behind. When you approach every issue re-actively with a negative message you turn off much of the audience you are trying to reach.

Above all else remember positive engagement. Local community issues offer the opportunity to get engaged and involved right from the very beginning. There’s no exclusive club or anything else, just people interested in being involved. I’m a relative new comer to my community (less than a decade here) and yet I’ve been able to have an affect on many issues just by being engaged and pro-active.

Watch the newspaper, volunteer in the community and talk with your neighbors – this type of positive engagement can lead to the type of community you desire. These are the sorts of tactics that you can use no matter what your community is; give it a try!

I’ve got several friends who are either librarians, work in support of librarians or are hoping to do either of those functions in the near future. I personally am a huge fan of libraries and thus have a bit of a weird obsession with the topic even though I have no professional connection. My friends over at Coudal.com posted up a link today to some great design finds at the NYPL which got me thinking. So how could we use this type of idea to increase circulation of older materials?

Why not create a submission feature either online or in a physical drop box at the library where patrons and staff are given missions to find certain pictures, designs or typography. Those visuals are then scanned/photographed and posted as sets online. Hyperlinks back to the original material location would then lead patrons back to those materials.

Get those cool archives circulating again! I <3 Libraries…

I think it is wonderful how many opportunities there are within the city of Columbus and greater Central Ohio area to share what knowledge we all have on a variety of subjects for free (or very little expense) with interested individuals. Over the weekend I had the opportunity to participate in a first time scooter buyer workshop hosted by from friend Jeff and the Columbus Metropolitan Library, Northwest Branch.

While workshops are nothing new the thing that makes this event noteable, as with so many recent events, is the way it was organized and how quickly it went from idea to fruitful action. A mere two weeks ago Jeff put out a call for participants on the local online community Columbus Underground. With a few other mentions on Twitter he managed to get several of us from the scootering community to help host the event. Using those same tools, along with some more traditional advertising through the library branch bulletin board, he managed to attract about 30 individuals to the event, which is the type of turnout he was prepared for. This was additionally exceptional due to the other online organized event Art v Art going on at Junctionview at the same time as well as the traditional events of the OSU football game and the Clintonville Arts Festival. I’m sure many other events were happening as well.

The presentation was fantastic – direct and well organized allowing for plenty of crowd participation. A couple of local shops provided scooters for the interested crowd to examine. With the help of mother nature the weather was perfect for this outdoor event. While this event itself was a success and well received by its participants I think it is important to understand how it came together. Using online social media tools with minimal traditional advertising any individual or group interested in educating the public about an issue now has the opportunity to do so at very little to zero cost.

This is the revolution we are living through and we have much to learn as the turn around occurs. Keep watching and keep participating. Thanks for putting this event on Jeff!