Make the Most of the Engagement Tools

Two-way dialogue is at the heart of the Vision, and the tools of engagement belong to everyone.

There are a variety of ways to participate on the [what if wetaskiwin] portal —from taking part in simple polls and surveys to playing a larger role as a portal moderator. This document provides an overview of the platform, and a set of recommendations for making the most of its community engagement potential.

Participants can be City staff, community members, or even those outside the City of Wetaskiwin who care about what's going on. No matter who you are or why you're here, you're welcome to use any of the engagement tools to share your perspectives. The only requirement is that you uphold the [what if wetaskiwin] community guidelines.

Open Environment Tools: Participants can engage with each other. Comments, images and ideas are visible to the community.

FORUM: The Forums tool creates a space for discussion, dialogue and debate. People share their experiences with others, ask questions and have conversations in a safe and interactive environment.

IDEAS: Ideas provides “virtual” post it notes for individuals to add their ideas to a collective board. You can like the ideas that inspire you most, helping align priorities with what matters most to the community.

PLACES: Places is a simple way to gather community feedback and ideas directly on a map. Participants drop a “pin” in the area of concern, add photos and then fill in a quick survey.

Mixed Environment Tools: Participants can engage with each other. Comments, images and ideas are visible to the community.

STORIES: When we tell or hear a story, neuroscience tells us that we experience things on a higher and more resonant level. Stories helps our community better understand, empathize and relate to others as well as project goals.

GUESTBOOK: The Guestbook keeps things simple; people are only able to upload comments, which are moderated to manage what appears publicly. No other interaction is enabled.

QUESTIONS: Questions is an issues management and communications risk mitigation tool. It is a managed space for the community to ask questions, and for moderators to respond either publicly or privately.

Closed Environment Tools: Participants cannot engage with each other. Data is stored in the backend and only accessible by administrators.

POLLS: Polls encourage people to give a quick answer on one question, selecting from multiple choice answers. They are able to instantly see the Poll results, piquing their interest and providing real time insight.

SURVEYS: The Surveys tool gives people an opportunity to voice their opinion in a convenient and guided way, which has historically shown higher response rates than other formats.