Go Vocal

“Mit einem externen Partner zusammenzuarbeiten bedeutet, dass die Kosten der Technologieinvestition geteilt werden und die Plattform von regelmäßigen Updates und Verbesserungen profitiert — etwas, das wir uns allein nicht hätten leisten können.”

“We wanted people to feel like they could engage without having to put their name to it if they really didn't want to. They just had to verify their email because at the same time, we didn't want our regulated facilities to spam the comment section with 'We don't want an ISO', or vice versa.”

“From previous initiatives we learned that folks get really overwhelmed once they have to make a password and they have to do all these different things, like Google Authenticator or whatever. That was really forming a barrier, and we had gotten feedback like ‘Well, you don't want my input on this because you would make it easier if you actually did.’”

“To give an example, we would start conversations like: “Remember, a few months ago we had that hydrogen sulfide leak, and it smelled like rotten eggs in our community for three days? That's what we're talking about.””

“But if you show them that actually, this does directly affect their health, the health of their children or aging parents, you’ll also hear from them.”

“To invite people who have a harder time engaging online, like seniors or those with different abilities, I ensured that in every single message that went out, I included my direct phone number. Seniors are comfortable speaking on the phone, which is an important engagement tool. Inviting them to a physical place to meet and speak with you was huge.”

“Your team deserves a huge thank you for being so incredibly responsive and flexible and working with us to stand this up on such a short timeline. We really appreciate it.”

“This platform is creating a more synchronized approach to the whole team and multiple departments communicating with the population to ensure that the things they are doing are aligned.”

“We have to meet people where they are. We have to invite them in and actively work with them to show even our most vocal critics the benefit of an online platform.”

“Sensemaking could take 100 inputs, identify the key points, and then we could very easily move them into the political material for presenting to the council,” says Christian. “I believe that has both saved us a lot of resources, but also made that part of the process better.”

“Sensemaking has changed our way of working with resident input. Instead of spending our time getting an overview, we can instead spend our time relating to the input itself – the problems and challenges that the residents raise.”

“Go Vocal has been very well received by citizens because not only can they log in and write what they think and send a message to us in the municipal council, but they can also explore opinions from residents in other parts of the municipality. I think that's very valuable, because as a politician it can be difficult to convey that there are many different wishes for how we should develop our municipality.”

““The thing that we all agreed on across all 3 offices was, for our city, these funds have great potential for changing what our city looks like over the next 30 years. If they’re used purposefully and with intention and community buy-in, [the funds] could really have an impact. There was a shared understanding that for something like this, we need to do something different if we’re going to try to truly understand what St. Louis residents want.””

““It’s a lot to ask people to take time out of their day to come to a committee meeting. Something that we really like about the Go Vocal platform is that now we can put the bill directly on the platform and people can read it and annotate in their own time. They can even do it from their phone. It makes what should be a public process even more convenient.””

““If you’re going to consider a digital strategy like this, you need to be sincere about it. It can’t just be a box-checking exercise. If you’re going to ask people to participate, there really needs to be follow-through.””

““I don’t think it’s necessarily fair to expect every resident to have every piece of information at their fingertips. They are just trying to live their lives. So having these things housed in one place that they can check on their own time is really key, so they can engage with it at a level that makes sense for their lifestyle. The onus is on us to update it and keep people informed.””

““We understood going into this that we’re not going to know everything. And there are things that are going to come out through the process that we’ll need help with. So we just wanted to have a true partnership; we didn’t want just to buy a product.””

“One of the Go Vocal's platform core strengths lies in its strong and extensive information-sharing capabilities. Residents can learn about the People Powered Places initiative, access minutes of working group meetings, watch uploaded videos, and see upcoming events.”

“The dedicated participatory budgeting module enables residents to easily allocate funds through a budget simulator and prioritize local projects. In addition, the ability for residents to comment on the ideas and start a discussion has sparked lively conversations and fostered a collaborative spirit.”

“To them it doesn't matter which department it comes from. As soon as they see it from the city, they just think it's a city project.”

“Now when we talk about our platform, it's pretty well known what it is, and now we have teams actively coming to us saying we're ready to put this project into the platform.”

“Taking that time to really listen to them, I think, was the most impactful way for us to be able to implement it as smoothly as possible.”

“Choosing an engagement platform was our vessel by which we could implement these strategies and these standards to help staff do better engagement and have more meaningful connections with our communities.”

“We were very siloed. Teams didn't know what other departments were working on. We ended up having a lot of duplicative projects, over-surveying our community, and not being able to follow up on the information we were receiving from our residents.”

““We are also seeking out those proposals that are actually easy to implement but haven't received enough votes. Because now we have such a large amount of good ideas that are worth implementing.””