This guide provides and overview in what’s involved in hosting an AmericaSpeaks: Our Budget, Our Economy Community Conversation on June 26. It includes information planning a Community Conversation, recruiting participants, and facilitating the event.

If you would like to print this guide, you can download it here.

Update: Download a flyer for your Community Conversation.

Overview

What is an AmericaSpeaks: Our Budget, Our Economy Community Conversation?
How will the Community Conversations work?
What is the Role of a Community Conversation Host?
Dates to Know
Getting help

Before the 26th: Five Simple Steps

Step One: Select a Location and Register It Online
Step Two: Inviting Participant
Step Three: Keeping Participants Informed and Setting Expectations
Step Four: Preparing to Facilitate Your Discussion
Step Five: Setting Up Your Room

Day of the Event: Running Your Conversation

Before the Community Conversation Begins
Preliminary Agenda for the Community Conversation
Facilitating the Discussion

After the Event

Record your Results
Thank Your Participants
Online Budget Excercise

Overview

What is an AmericaSpeaks: Our Budget, Our Economy Community Conversation?

Community Conversations are volunteer led events, where participants use materials provided by AmericaSpeaks to engage in a discussion about our federal budget. Conversations can take place in businesses, schools, libraries, places of worship, community centers, homes, or anywhere else a group chooses to meet. They may be as small as 8 people or as large as several dozens. AmericaSpeaks will provide you with the materials and information you need to bring the national discussion on Our Budget, Our Economy to your community.

How will the Community Conversations work?

While these conversations will take many different shapes and forms, they will all have certain things in common.

• Community Conversations will take place on Saturday, June 26, 2010 as thousands of Americans gather across the country participate in the National Town Meeting on our federal budget.
• Community Conversations will run the same way as each of the meeting sites of the National Town Meeting. Participants will have the same conversations, have access to the same materials, see the same speakers, and watch the same presentations.
• The larger national meetings and some Community Conversations will be 6 hours long, but this guide provides instructions for a 3 hour abridged version. (Let us know if you would like to organize a six hour program, so we can work with you.)
• Community Conversation participants input will be included in the final report to national leaders.

What is the Role of a Community Conversation Host?

A Community Conversation host is responsible for the following:

• Selecting a location for the Conversation
• Inviting people to the event and keeping them updated of any logistical changes
• Ensuring that all necessary materials are available and set up on June 26th
• Participating in training calls and reviewing additional materials before the event
• Facilitating the discussion or making sure someone is assigned to facilitate the discussion

This may seem like a lot, but you don’t have to do it alone! We recommend selecting at least one cohost, and you can coordinate with participants to get help in providing the location, technology, and refreshments.

Coaching and Support from AmericaSpeaks

1. Conference calls: Hosts of Community Conversations will be required to participate in two conference calls. One will be a general orientation call, and the other will provide training in facilitating discussion.

2. Meeting Materials: In addition to this guide, AmericaSpeaks will provide supplementary materials that shed more light on some of the issues and provide more detail on the day-of activities

3. Promotional Materials: You’ll be able to find fliers and other promotional materials on the AmericaSpeaks: Our Budget, Our Economy website (http://usabudgetdiscussion.org).

4. General Support: If you have any questions on hosting a Community Conversation, you can email sam@usabudgetdiscussion.org.

Dates to Know

Orientation Conference Call with Hosts (You only need to attend one)

Saturday, June 5, 2pm EDT

Tuesday, June 8, 7pm EDT

Training Conference Call with Hosts (You only need to attend one)

Thursday, June 17, 7pm EDT

Saturday, June 19, 2pm EDT

Tuesday, June 22, 7pm EDT

AmericaSpeaks: Our Budget, Our Economy Community Conversations

Saturday, June 26, 11:30 EDT

Getting help

For questions about hosting a Community Conversation, email sam@usabudgetdiscussion.org or call 202-775-3939 x1026.

If you have participants who’d prefer to register by phone, they can reach our Call Center at: 1-866-755-6263

Before the 26th: Five Simple Steps

Step One: Select a Location and Register It Online

All Community Conversations will be held on Saturday, June 26, at 11:30am EDT (10:30am CDT, 9:30am MDT, & 8:30am PDT). You will want to pick a location that is comfortable, quiet and easy to access. The location you use should have room for people to sit in a circle (ideally around a table) and it will need to have a computer set up to display the webcast. If you have a larger group, you may want to connect it to a larger screen or use a projector. You’ll want to make sure your computer has speakers that will be loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.

If your conversation is with an existing group with a set meeting place, you may still have work to do to make their regular location work. For example, inquire about seating in the room to make sure it is conducive to a good conversation.

If you are hosting a group that doesn’t regularly meet together, then you need to think of which location will best meet your needs. Examples of locations that you may wish to use are:

• A conference room or lunch room at a place of work
• A community center
• A meeting room at a local library
• A school or university classroom
• A place of worship
• Your home or that of a friend

We recommend selecting a public location, as people are often more comfortable meeting at public venues, and it may be more convenient for accommodating large groups. Be sure to secure your location well before June 26th at the times appropriate for your time zone.

Once you have selected your location, you should go ahead and register it at www.usabudgetdiscussion.org, so that others can sign up to participate. To register, all you have to do is:

1. Go to the host a Community Conversation page here: http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5874/p/salsa/event/common/public/create.sjs?distributed_event_KEY=127

2. Fill out the fields in the “Your Information” section

3. Add the details for your event, including the description and venue. Make sure the time corresponds with your time zone (11:30 EDT, 10:30a CDT, 9:30am MDT, or 8:30am PDT)

4. Enter in the captcha and click “Save Event”

You’ll receive an email when your Community Conversation is confirmed and on the site from a member of AmericaSpeaks staff.

Step Two: Inviting Participants

Most Community Conversations will have 8-10 people, but you’re welcome to invite as many people as you can reasonably accommodate with your venue. If you plan to have more than 10 people at your event, you should consider selecting co-hosts to assist in facilitating discussions.

You should assume that a significant number of those you invite will not be able to attend–even if they are people you know well and seem likely to be interested. Busy schedules make it hard to find a time when people can get together and you should count on inviting at least twice as many people as you actually hope to have at your conversation. You will probably need to invite an even larger number of people if you are reaching out to those who are outside of your own personal network.

Bringing Diversity into the Conversation

Diverse participation in your conversation will ensure a higher quality dialogue in which people learn from each other and are exposed to different perspectives and experiences. Involving people of different ages, backgrounds and walks of life will add to the richness of the experience for everyone involved.

One way to attract a diverse group is to co-host the session with other individuals or organizations who may know different kinds of people or have different networks than you do. If you tend to know people of a certain age group or ethnic background, think about who you may be able to work with who can bring diversity to the conversation. While your group does not need to represent the diversity of the entire region, try to push your boundaries and do what you can to bring other perspectives in.

Promoting your Community Conversation

You’ll want to start promoting your event as soon as it is confirmed by AmericaSpeaks. Here are some ways you can get the word out:

• Send out invites via email and on social networking platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Myspace.
• There is no substitute for a personal invitation. When you can, give people a face-to-face invitation.
• If you have a co-host or multiple co-hosts, get together and map out your different networks. Set targets about how many people each of you will
• invite and from where. Think about who can reach out to young people or people who live elsewhere in the region. Who can reach people of different ethnic groups or income levels?
• Publicize your conversation on local community calendars, web sites, newsletters or listservs.
• Download sample flyers, newsletter articles, or letters to the editor at the AmericaSpeaks: Our Budget, Our Economy web site.

When you reach out to people, be sure to point out this purpose of the discussion, and that it is one of many. A sample message might be:

Join me on June 26 for a Community Conversation to weigh-in on strategies to ensure a sustainable fiscal future and a strong economic recovery! This event is part of a national discussion to find common ground on tough choices about our federal budget.

Step Three: Keeping Participants Informed and Setting Expectations

Make sure to instruct participants to sign up on the website. You’ll have the email addresses of those who sign up, so you’ll want to send to be sure that list is aware of the location, time, and date of the event. Make sure they know how to get there, and where specifically the meeting space is located. Shortly before June 26, you may want to send out reminder emails reminding them of the logistics of the event.

As soon as the discussion guide for the event is up on our web site in June, send out an email encouraging participants to download it and read it.

If any changes are made to the location of the event, be sure to contact your participants, and update that information on the website as quickly as possible.

We strongly encourage you to attend a general orientation call to give you a general overview of the day. Orientations will be held at the following times (you only need to attend one):

Saturday, June 5, 2pm EDT

Tuesday, June 8, 7pm EDT

To join the call, dial 1-212-812-2800 and enter the passcode 8269 3513.

Step Four: Preparing to Facilitate Your Discussion

You or someone you designate will play a key role in facilitating the discussion itself. Your group’s facilitator will play a critical role in keeping the group on track and making sure everyone is heard. AmericaSpeaks will provide your facilitator with a facilitator guide that walks him or her through each step of the discussion. We will also encourage every facilitator to participate in an orientation prior to the event. Orientations will be held at the following times (you only need to attend one):

Thursday, June 17, 7pm EDT

Saturday, June 19, 2pm EDT

Tuesday, June 22, 7pm EDT

In order to prepare you may also want to familiarize yourself with some of the background information that is currently at usabudgetdiscussion.org and you should definitely read the discussion guide that will be available online in mid-June.

Step Five: Setting Up Your Room

On the day of your Community Conversation, you should be sure to have the following:

• Meeting Materials: In addition to this guide, you will need to print out a facilitator guide for yourself and participant guides for each of your participants. Be sure to review the materials beforehand, and, if possible, share them with your group
• A Computer and Internet Access: Since the Webcast will guide the event, make sure you have a computer that can play it while you’re holding your Community Conversation. You will need a fast Internet connection to ensure that the webcast does not skip or stall during the event. Preferably, you should have a high speed broadband internet with a minimum of 500k download bandwidth.
• A Projector or Larger Monitor: If you’re group is smaller, you may be able to gather around a computer, but ideally, the Webcast should be projected or displayed in a way that it can be easily and comfortably viewed by all participants.
• Speakers: If you have a larger group, you may also need to amplify the sound from your computer to ensure that everyone can hear. A simple set of speakers should do the job.
• Table materials: Pens, pads, and name tags may prove useful to members during discussions.
• Refreshments: The Community Conversation will be about 3 hours long, so there should be beverages and light snacks provided. If you’d like, you can coordinate with participants to contribute refreshments.

Day of the Event: Running Your Conversation

Before the Community Conversation Begins

Be sure to arrive at your meeting space with enough time to get set up. Make sure that your computer and/or projector is working, and that you have food and refreshments available.

To set up the webcast:

1. If you’re using an LCD projector & screen, place it at the front of the room in an optimal location. If the event size is small and an external monitor is being used, it can be placed on a stand or at the edge of the table, so that everyone has a clear view of the screen.

2. Connect the webcast computer to the projector or external monitor, start the computer and connect it to a high speed internet connection (500 kbps minimum.)

3. Open a web browser and go to the webcast URL

4. Once the presentation screen has loaded, click to open the window up to full screen.

5. Connect the external audio system to the computer.

6. Test audio and video

You should put someone in charge of the technology in the event of any equipment failure. If you have any problems with the webcast, just let us know by emailing sam@usabudgetdiscussion.org.

Since the Community Conversation will rely heavily on the webcast and it will begin promptly at 11:30 EDT, you should ask your guests to arrive at least 15 minutes early. If the location is in a larger building, you may want to post signs that direct participants to the appropriate meeting room. The webcast should be up and running by the time your guests begive to arrive.

Preliminary Agenda for the Community Conversation

Prior to June 26th, we will provide you with a detailed facilitator guide and agenda to walk your through the program and show you everything you will need to do during the event itself. Below is a preliminary agenda to give you a sense of what it may look like.

Part 1: Welcome and Context Webcast

Part 2: Introductory Exercise

Part 3: Overview of the Issues and Challenges

Part 4: Values Discussion

Part 5: Presentation and Discussion of Options

Part 6: Closing and Next Steps

Facilitating the Discussion

In addition to the lead facilitator who will provide instructions over the webcast, one person will need to serve as a discussion facilitator for the group (it could be one of the conversation hosts or a participant.) The facilitator’s job will be to help the group stay on task, make sure that everyone’s voice is heard, and foster group agreements. Each facilitator will be responsible for participating in the orientation described above and paying special attention to the facilitator guide that will be made available in a few weeks.

If you have more than 10-12 people, the room will need to be broken up into smaller groups with one facilitator for each small group. Small group facilitators at larger conversations should be selected beforehand and have time to prepare, but additional volunteer facilitators may be solicited at the beginning of a conversation if needed.

Facilitators should keep the following tips in mind:

1. Serve as a Neutral Guide

Your role is to help support the discussion. The best way to do that is to maintain a neutral position and to hold back on voicing your own opinions. Instead, focus on keeping the discussion going and making sure everyone has a voice.

2. Establish Ground Rules for the Group

Your discussion will proceed better if you and the group agree on clear ground rules. For example:

• Listen respectfully
• Hear from everyone
• One person talks at a time
• Stay on task

3. You Do Not Have to be an Expert

Don’t feel that you must be an expert on the issues. Before your discussion, read the various materials you’ve been provided. If questions come up in your discussion, we’ll provide you with an easy way to ask questions online, by phone or by email. You may also consider assigning someone to do more research.

4. Ask Probing Questions

You may find that in order to get the best from your group, you’ll need to prod them a bit; sometimes pushing participants to be clearer, sometimes inviting conversation about a point that you think merits more discussion, sometimes seeking to find a measure of common ground. Some useful questions you may want to ask at the right moment:

• What is the key point here?
• Does anyone want to support or challenge that point?
• Could you give an example to illustrate the point?
• Are there any points on which most of us agree?

5. Reflect Back Themes from the Discussions

As you begin to hear common themes or areas of agreement, it will be useful to reflect back to the group what you are hearing and check in to see if everyone agrees. You might say: “So, it sounds like several of you are saying…” Or: “What I hear the group saying is … Is that right?”

6. Be Mindful of Time and Take Notes

You will want to pay attention to the time of each task to ensure that you are able to complete each step of the conversation. Some facilitators find it useful to ask a volunteer from the group to keep time and/or to take notes.

After the Event

Record your Results

If you weren’t able to enter in all the information from your Discussion during the event, be sure to enter them in on the website.

Thank Your Participants

Be sure to email the participants of your event thanking them for their contributions. In this note, remind them to take the Online Budget Exercise, and provide a link to it. A sample email might read:

I wanted to thank everyone for contributing in the AmericaSpeaks: Our Budget, Our Economy Community Conversation on the 26th. I hope everyone found it to be an insightful experience.

As a follow up to our meeting, I’d like you all to perform this Budget Exercise on the AmericaSpeaks: Our Budget, Our Economy website:

<<link>>

Your contributions will be included in the final report, so please take part! Thanks again for coming!

Online Budget Excercise

Following the event, all of the participants should perform the Online Budget exercise. In it, participants will be asked: We need to reduce our deficit between now and 2025. How are you going to close that budget gap using the options available? Hosts should ensure that all guests are provided with the URL for this exercise. The results will be included as part of AmericaSpeaks‘ final report.