Help us Improve Remote Participation

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Meredith Stewart

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Aug 14, 2015, 9:24:03 AM8/14/15
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As we discussed at this week's Interagency Open Government Meeting, we want to improve remote participation for those who are unable to attend in person. We are researching possible no-cost solutions and meeting spaces that can fit our needs.  

Let us know your ideas by replying to this thread. And a big thanks to those on this listserv who have already weighed in with thoughtful feedback and ideas. We will look at all of the ideas and determine what we can do to make improvements in the remote participation.  

Thanks!

Meredith Stewart 
Office of Innovation 
National Archives and Records Administration 

Luke Fretwell

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Aug 14, 2015, 9:32:52 AM8/14/15
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Meredith, where is the website/page related to all the activities around this effort?

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Meredith Stewart

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Aug 14, 2015, 9:39:17 AM8/14/15
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Hi Luke, 

We're asking for ideas on this listserv. We aren't managing a separate webpage related to improving remote participation.  More information about the Open Government Working Group can be found here. 

Thanks,
Meredith

Luke Fretwell

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Aug 14, 2015, 10:06:43 AM8/14/15
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Thank you, Meredith.

I'm here in California and am unable to make the in-person activities related to all this. I find that the lack of context via a webpage/site leaves me completely unaware of the workings of this effort. By having a place on the web that highlights historical context and gives visibility into future activities and a better way to subscribe to (and plan for) future activities, I think you'd get more engagement. Right now, all correspondence around this feels very closed.

I'd open up both the communications and feedback channels more.

Great examples of how others are doing this (see feedback/discuss links):

Daniel Schuman

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Aug 14, 2015, 1:12:06 PM8/14/15
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Hi all,

I have not found a great solution for folks connecting to these kinds of discussions remotely. The best practice that I've seen is to have a microphone that whomever is speaking must hold, which can be a bit annoying annoying in practice but can help. I don't think a mobile is a cost free solution, however. (We could set up a skype account to call-in and have someone volunteer their bluetooth mic in the room as a possible workaround.) 

Having an ongoing backchannel for text -- so people who are on the phone can ask a question or indicate they want to speak -- also can be helpful. That could be solved through a Google chat, an IRC room, or even using twitter (and a monitor to see comments).

I see that there are comments re: a website, which I think is separate from a discussion around how to communicate in real time. I think all the emails on this list are available on the Google group, but what more would folks want on a website? (All I can think of is an agenda in advance and a summary of the conversation/minutes afterward.)

Anyway, I'm hoping to focus my comments around the former--how we can help folks hear--and to deal with a website (if necessary) later. We on the civil society society probably have more capacity to stand a website up, anyway, and perhaps less red tape. :)

Daniel

Daniel Schuman
Demand Progress | Policy Director

Luke Fretwell

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Aug 14, 2015, 2:43:35 PM8/14/15
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Thank you, Daniel.

Some type of digital presence (web, online feedback, community) gives this whole effort context and also makes it easier for new voices to join. Focusing on a physical event as a primary form of collaboration is a less holistic approach to engagement, especially these days (especially for a group focused on open government). Building a format that meets people where they are logistically (physical + time) would most likely create more momentum around engagement.

This includes:
  • a way to understand what the group's objective and past workings (videos, meeting notes, accomplishments, timeline, schedule)
  • a way to engage in the conversation anywhere, anytime (open Slack community, GitHub repo)
Honestly, though, having looked at the web page Meredith sent and reading the description, I'm not sure I should even be on this list, so I'm slightly embarrassed for adding my .02. :-)

Gray Brooks

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Aug 19, 2015, 12:45:42 AM8/19/15
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Here's another idea - 

For a number of our projects, 18F has public Slack channels (available at chat.18f.gov).  The same could be set up for events like these.  

Gray 



------------------------------

{
  "title": "Sr. API Strategist",
  "team": "18F",
  "company": "GSA",
  "cell": "205.541.2245",
  "links": [{
    "name": "/Developer Program",
    "url": "https://pages.18f.gov/API-All-the-X"
  }, {
    "name": "US Government API listserve",
    "url": "https://bit.ly/apilistservedc"
  }]
}

Cerniuk, Bill

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Aug 19, 2015, 10:32:05 AM8/19/15
to gray.brooks@gsa.gov ???, Luke Fretwell, Daniel Schuman, Meredith Stewart, us-open-g...@googlegroups.com
we want to improve remote participation for those who are unable to attend in person

We have a technology at the VA in the Innovation program called Fuze. It is similar to GoTo Meeting, WebEx and others in that it performs similar activities. Where it differs is that it is full HD and requires no client side load to be a basic attendee and works across HTTPS so it goes through most all firewalls.  It also runs on all platforms including Windows, Mac, iPad, iPhone, iPod, Android. Presenters can use any mobile tablet or desktop/laptop.  For those who do load the app, there is 12 way “one click” video teleconferencing which is very useful for presenters (one or more) to have a “physical” presence. The Premium account handles 250 simultaneous attendees.  All attendees have text chat, either ad-hoc groups they form during a presentation or with all attendees.

who are on the phone can ask a question or indicate they want to speak -- also can be helpful.
Has a “raise the flag” feature to alert the host that someone wants a word.

I use this with my VA Mobile program constantly to reach out across the VA enterprise (Hawaii to Maine).  We find this tech to be “the next best thing to being there”.

From the micro-blogging perspective, we use Yammer in the VA.  This is a no-cost private twitter like system that frankly does twittering much better than twitter.  It fosters threaded communications and conversations, markup on most common documents when uploaded, etc.  This is where we do our near-line work and try to avoid email by using Yammer.  Yammers user seat count is unlimited and we can create a special private network for our collaboration easily.

I can make both or either available.  Interest?

-- 
Very Respectfully,
Wm. Cerniuk
Co-Director, VA Mobile Provider Program
VHA Technology Director / GS-15
VA Central Office
Dept. of Veterans Affairs

 
Time is Short, and the Water Rises
 

Lucas Cioffi

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Aug 25, 2015, 8:30:55 AM8/25/15
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Hello Everyone,

Bill Cerniuk's suggestion (to use the technology they use at the VA) looks very promising.  I'd like to take this conversation a step farther and suggest that the quarterly working group meetings which are open to civil society should be entirely virtual with no in-person attendees.  I recognize that this is counter-intuitive, but I think it takes us all down the road towards being more open.  I welcome everyone's feedback on this idea.  Advantages and disadvantages are listed below.

ADVANTAGES
1. Productivity: With everyone in front of a computer, it is much easier to share links, share screens, and have multiple authors of collaborative notes/minutes.  Collaborative notes where everyone can type (ie a Google Doc / Hackpad / Etherpad) can be a powerful way to solve problems on the spot.  For example, this enables a backchannel of written communication (brainstorming, Q&A, etc) which enables everyone to get a lot of ideas out on the table without interrupting the speaker.  Having collaborative notes will benefit everyone, even the people who would have otherwise traveled to be there in-person.

2. Saving Time: This would save most people 30-60 minutes in travel time.

3. Saving Money: This would save paper for handouts and transportation costs.

4. Openness and Access: The current setup with some people remote and some people coming in remotely does not give equal access and opportunity to each participant.  For example, when people call-in by phone there's no way to indicate when they'd like to speak.  On the platform that Bill mentioned, this problem would be solved; everyone would be able to see the queue of speakers who would like to speak next, making it much easier for the people running the meeting to ensure ensure they hear everyone's input.  Finally, with a more robust option for remote participation (it was very hard to hear many speakers during the last meeting), we'll get more interest from opengov activists across the country and tap some of that collective wisdom that the President alluded to on his first full day in office in the original opengov memo.

5. Frequency: If we settle on a great platform for remote participation, we could also have more frequent and more informal opportunities to connect with each other.  For example, there could be a standing meeting once per month where there's no agenda and people can get together in smaller groups and discuss the challenges they're working on where they can use others' input.  This will move us a great distance farther towards becoming an active and collaborative community of practice.

DISADVANTAGES
1. There will be less of an in-person feeling, but that can be mitigated by sharing video through Bill's platform.

2. There would be no opportunity for 1-on-1 conversations and relationship building as everyone is getting seated or as everyone is on their way out after the meeting, but it looks like Bill's solution at least allows text chat between individuals or in ad hoc groups.

Bottom line: I think a completely online event is worth considering.  What advantages and disadvantages did I miss?  What do you think?

I come at this from the perspective of someone who builds tools for remote meetings.  If Bill's tool is not satisfactory, then QiqoChat might be useful since it allows for generally the same functionality plus the ability to move into breakout groups.  However the important matter at hand is that we move to some robust option for remote participation, and what Bill suggested seems to be the right fit.

Lucas Cioffi
Founder, QiqoChat.com
Charlottesville, VA
Mobile: 917-528-1831

Sara Cope

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Aug 26, 2015, 2:44:58 PM8/26/15
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I agree with the comments from Lucas. I work on a remote team where some folks are co-located and some folks are distributed, but we have all of our meetings virtually with everyone connecting online. I found that when there are people gathered in a room they often (unintentionally) treat those calling in as second-class citizens. 

We use tools like Slack and Yammer (both of which support 1-on-1 convos) with great success.
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Meredith Stewart

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Aug 30, 2015, 12:15:53 PM8/30/15
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Thank you for your suggestions and comments and keep them coming!

There's a small team of us that have been busy tracking down suggestions. That team includes myself (NARA), Danielle Gervalis (NASA), and Jarell Williams (DOJ). 

So far, we've investigated meeting spaces at NASA, DOJ, GSA, NARA and NIH. We have not yet located a better meeting space than what is available to us at the National Archives Building. If you have suggestions for agency meeting spaces (and offers to host), please let us know. The AV staff from the National Archives are going to set up table microphones for our next meeting, so this should give us an improvement in audio quality.   

We are also tracking down suggestions (and offers!) for use of remote tools during the meeting. In order for us to use the tool for the interagency meetings, it has to be sponsored by an agency that is already using the tool.  So far we've had tools suggested, including: Slack, Fuze, Yammer, Zoom, Microsoft Lync, and Skype. 

We need the agency sponsor of the tool to determine that it is an approved tool for the agency and can be used for the interagency meeting and with the public. We need the agency sponsor to attend meetings in person to help set up the use of the tool on the computer in the physical meeting space, if needed. It would be great to start off with adding screen-sharing capability, if there's an agency that has the software and is willing to help us set it up and make it happen. Video tools seem less feasible at this point since the conference rooms at the National Archives aren't yet set up for this and we haven't found a meeting space alternative with this capability that will work.  

In terms of remote-only quarterly meetings with civil society, please take a moment to weigh in with your thoughts. We've heard in person from several agencies that this would not be preferable, but please weigh in with a response to this email thread.  In the event of a remote-only meeting, we would still need an agency to sponsor the use of a remote tool if we're doing more than a straight teleconference. 
  
Thanks!

Meredith Stewart 
Office of Innovation
National Archives and Records Administration 

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Ted Ritzer

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Oct 9, 2015, 3:12:21 PM10/9/15
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Hi Meredith
Lucas is doing some programming for an MIT Alberta ULAB group, and has already built in programming into this technology for the world's only WebRTC compatible multiparty open source server in the world Jitsi, the following slideshare was my attempt at looking at mobile social innovation based around the innovative use of open source technology:http://www.slideshare.net/TedRitzer1/v2-the-world-speaks-web-rtcmobile-social-innovation-manifesto-by-ted-ritzer-august-28-2015

Ted Ritzer
Greening Alberta Governments Speaker Series

Meredith Stewart

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Oct 14, 2015, 4:45:48 PM10/14/15
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Hi Ted, 

We'll take a look at the presentation.  Thanks for sharing! 

Meredith Stewart
Office of Innovation 
National Archives and Records Administration

    

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