Public Meetings

Public meetings

Advantages

Provides local opportunities for people to comment on matters that affect them directly or indirectly.
Offers a convenient and transparent way to demonstrate public consultation and build up good relations.
Can be used to tell people about plans or proposals at same time.

Disadvantages

Public meetings in their own right are often unsuccessful. Where they do succeed it is usually because one or both of the following factors are involved: A major, contentious issues e.g. the closure of a hospital; or removal of a service; ongoing community development in an area which helps people have a voice and raises interest in the subject matter.
People who attend are unlikely to representative of the local population.
Attendee’s ability to contribute may be limited by lack of knowledge about service-wide or strategic priorities people will only be interested in the ‘ME’ perspective. Hence contributions are most likely to be about local, topical or personal concerns.
Public meetings can lead to conflict, especially if the subject is emotive (e.g. closure of a service, building a new facility on people’s doorstep etc.) needs careful mangement!

When to use

A public meeting will be worth considering for an issue that is known to be generating public concern, but will need to be carefully planned to avoid confrontation. Where ongoing community development is taking place in an area, workers and volunteers can enthuse and empower local people enough to want to take part in a meeting.

Hours of planning and preparation can be spent on a public meeting, but you should ask yourself if this is the best way to consult with people about your project or work. No amount of leaflet-drops will attract people out of their homes if they are uninterested in your subject or do not have enough information about it to make it ‘real’ to their lives! It may be worth considering other consultation techniques (group work or Planning For Real type activity) or have an event that will attract people along and where you can then undertake your consultation.

If you go ahead with a public meeting think about ways to make it less formal in format - see "Informal and fun ways to engage people" button.

What to consider in putting on a public meeting

The Venue

Accessible by public transport and close to a bus or train stop;
Enough car parking spaces close by for car users;
Well lit and secure especially for winter evenings!
Accessible for wheelchair users and people with other mobility problems
Has a hearing loop for people with hearing problems
Is friendly and welcoming in appearance or made to be as welcoming as is possible.

The Time

It is impossible to please all of the people all of the time so try to target your possible audience by choosing an appropriate time for your meeting;
Evenings will be best for working people and people who have busy lives such as some volunteers or carers
Day time meeting will suit some older people and parents;
Weekends are good for family events and can bring in a different audience altogether.
Linking your meeting with a regular activity can help e.g. just before or after a coffee morning, Mums & Toddlers session, Parent & Teacher meeting, parent’s evening, line dancing class etc. Use your imagination.

Your Subject and Publicity

Try to link in with local workers who meet people in the day to day work to help promote the subject of the meeting;
Put up posters around the area promoting the meeting and giving some basic information about the subject;
Place and advert in local papers;
Give out easy to understand information to local people before the event and on the day of the meeting;
Keep your meeting simple in format, do not use jargon or technical language during the meeting;
Have an independent facilitator or chairperson for the meeting who can try to ensure people have their say and manage questions and answers.

Giving Feedback

Ask people to give their names and addresses so that you can send them feedback about how their views are going to be used;
Try to keep people informed about the progress of your project or scheme as it develops, this will lead to good relationships in the future and gives people a sense that their views have been respected.
Be honest, sometimes things don’t go as planned, changes have to be made etc. Tell people why things have happened the way they have happened.
Give people the opportunity for ongoing dialogue if they want it, an e-mail address, office address or telephone number for comments is helpful.
Take a look at our other information on giving feedback (click on link on left hand side).

Other issues

Do you need to provide a crèche to attract your target audience?
Do you need to provide childcare or carer’s expenses to attract your target group?
Do you need a signer for people who are deaf?
Do you need interpreters for people who’s first language is not English?
Do you need someone to take care of any guide dogs (especially if it is a long meeting, dogs will need to be walked)?