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A New Kind of ROI: Using Social Media to Identify, Win and Execute City Planning Projects | |
Social media has dramatically altered the news cycle and the way information is shared. This case study demonstrates how social media is redefining the way a local architecture firm does business – from finding and winning a project through community engagement and execution. On April 27, 2011 a tornado struck Tuscaloosa, Alabama as part of a large and violent outbreak of storms that left widespread devastation in their wake. Not long after, a message was directed toward BNIM on Twitter via a fellow user, @AndrewBeckGrace. It said simply: “@BNIM Tuscaloosa, recently hit by a severe tornado, looks to rebuild. Consider the RFP [Request for Proposals] and pass to relevant contacts.”
We responded to Andrew, who would later become a valued contact on the ground, and we did submit a proposal in response to the request. As is often the case when a disaster strikes, the timeframe for responding was very short and the amount of time set aside to craft a vision for how to rebuild was equally tight. We also recognized that the Tuscaloosa RFP needed additional thought and consideration – this was not just about putting a community back together, it was also about helping to craft a vision that would improve vitality and demonstrate a new model for development in Tuscaloosa. In today’s rapid news cycle, Twitter was the ideal vehicle for Tuscaloosa to broadcast the RFP widely and quickly while also targeting specific audiences. Our social media monitoring enabled us to see and react to the post and begin an immediate conversation. From that starting point, the pace of the process only increased. Our response, subsequent selection process, initial visits to Tuscaloosa, evaluation of the conditions and delivery of the draft community rebuilding plan was compressed to a mere 6 weeks, a blistering pace. It went as follows:
When it was time to get down to business, it only seemed appropriate to turn again to social media to create the same rapid-fire interaction and response that would be needed to create community engagement at all levels. It was critical to gather input from the full community. At the beginning of the project, Bob Berkebile told the Tuscaloosa City Council that the process for constructing a plan to rebuild Tuscaloosa will require a “full, robust community dialogue. Allowing the whole community to be a part of the dialogue will contribute greatly to your success.” Mindmixer, a crowdsourcing tool for community planning, was a logical fit to create an interactive environment for feedback and, ultimately, success. BNIM had previously teamed with Mindmixer on the Fargo Comprehensive Plan, Nashville Recovery Plan, and Kansas City Area Plans work, so the planning team knew what to expect and how to launch the site effectively. MindMixer acts as a virtual town hall, allowing community conversations about the vision for the city to happen online 24 hours a day. At the onset, BNIM’s planning team identified themes that are common to livable and vibrant cities. These included infrastructure, housing and neighborhoods, sustainability, vision, economic development, streamline processes, partnerships and collaborations — and more. When you visit the homepage of Tuscaloosa’s MindMixer site you are greeted with a message, “Welcome to the Tuscaloosa Forward MindMixer. Think of this site as an online town hall meeting. We're looking for practical, creative and resourceful ideas that will help rebuild this community”, along with a list of topics that are open for discussion. The topics become portals to facilitate meaningful dialogue and input on topics that are valuable to each resident. As these ideas build on each other, they become cornerstones of the draft community plan. The first draft plan heavily quoted over 50 of the best ideas from the site and used the community’s exact words to support the many strategies being promoted in the plan. Not only did this make a direct connection from community participation to actual endorsed recommendations, it happened at a pace that built trust and transparency in the planning process. The Tuscaloosa MindMixer site got an amazing response:
MindMixer calls for an integrated strategy, where the City and the planning team use a comprehensive media strategy to call attention to the work being done. One of many facets in this comprehensive strategy is a blog called Tuscaloosa Forward, which is used to summarize the process, milestones, progress and draft reports. The real power of how social media was used here is twofold: First, it allowed us to reach a large number of citizens in a short amount of time, effectively speeding up what would have taken much longer under the traditional model; Second, rather than acting as another method of gathering community input in what can be a difficult demographic to reach, the site attracted a much broader spectrum of participants than originally expected. In addition, those participants actually became involved in the physical meetings because of the excitement generated in the online communications. When our team asked the participants gathered in the community meeting how many had participated in the MindMixer site, at least two thirds of the 300 plus attendees raised their hands. The final plan for rebuilding Tuscaloosa was just unanimously passed by City Council. Social media played a vital role in it’s creation and the feedback and dialogue is ongoing and will continue to play a vital role. The path toward the healing vision for this city is very much rooted in where it has been — created from an open, inclusive dialogue that is just as much digital as it is personal. And, perhaps best of all, both. The casual interactions have often come to life when people step out from behind the screen and find new ways to get involved. | |
| A New Kind of ROI: Using Social Media to Identify, Win and Execute City Planning Projects |
Sep 21, 2011 3:44 PM GMT by Erin Gehle |
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Social media has dramatically altered the news cycle and the way information is shared. This case study demonstrates how social media is redefining the way a local architecture firm does business – from finding and winning a project through community engagement and execution. On April 27, 2011 a tornado struck Tuscaloosa, Alabama as part of a large and violent outbreak of storms that left widespread devastation in their wake. Not long after, a message was directed toward BNIM on Twitter via a fellow user, @AndrewBeckGrace. It said simply: “@BNIM Tuscaloosa, recently hit by a severe tornado, looks to rebuild. Consider the RFP [Request for Proposals] and pass to relevant contacts.”
We responded to Andrew, who would later become a valued contact on the ground, and we did submit a proposal in response to the request. As is often the case when a disaster strikes, the timeframe for responding was very short and the amount of time set aside to craft a vision for how to rebuild was equally tight. We also recognized that the Tuscaloosa RFP needed additional thought and consideration – this was not just about putting a community back together, it was also about helping to craft a vision that would improve vitality and demonstrate a new model for development in Tuscaloosa. In today’s rapid news cycle, Twitter was the ideal vehicle for Tuscaloosa to broadcast the RFP widely and quickly while also targeting specific audiences. Our social media monitoring enabled us to see and react to the post and begin an immediate conversation. From that starting point, the pace of the process only increased. Our response, subsequent selection process, initial visits to Tuscaloosa, evaluation of the conditions and delivery of the draft community rebuilding plan was compressed to a mere 6 weeks, a blistering pace. It went as follows:
When it was time to get down to business, it only seemed appropriate to turn again to social media to create the same rapid-fire interaction and response that would be needed to create community engagement at all levels. It was critical to gather input from the full community. At the beginning of the project, Bob Berkebile told the Tuscaloosa City Council that the process for constructing a plan to rebuild Tuscaloosa will require a “full, robust community dialogue. Allowing the whole community to be a part of the dialogue will contribute greatly to your success.” Mindmixer, a crowdsourcing tool for community planning, was a logical fit to create an interactive environment for feedback and, ultimately, success. BNIM had previously teamed with Mindmixer on the Fargo Comprehensive Plan, Nashville Recovery Plan, and Kansas City Area Plans work, so the planning team knew what to expect and how to launch the site effectively. MindMixer acts as a virtual town hall, allowing community conversations about the vision for the city to happen online 24 hours a day. At the onset, BNIM’s planning team identified themes that are common to livable and vibrant cities. These included infrastructure, housing and neighborhoods, sustainability, vision, economic development, streamline processes, partnerships and collaborations — and more. When you visit the homepage of Tuscaloosa’s MindMixer site you are greeted with a message, “Welcome to the Tuscaloosa Forward MindMixer. Think of this site as an online town hall meeting. We're looking for practical, creative and resourceful ideas that will help rebuild this community”, along with a list of topics that are open for discussion. The topics become portals to facilitate meaningful dialogue and input on topics that are valuable to each resident. As these ideas build on each other, they become cornerstones of the draft community plan. The first draft plan heavily quoted over 50 of the best ideas from the site and used the community’s exact words to support the many strategies being promoted in the plan. Not only did this make a direct connection from community participation to actual endorsed recommendations, it happened at a pace that built trust and transparency in the planning process. The Tuscaloosa MindMixer site got an amazing response:
MindMixer calls for an integrated strategy, where the City and the planning team use a comprehensive media strategy to call attention to the work being done. One of many facets in this comprehensive strategy is a blog called Tuscaloosa Forward, which is used to summarize the process, milestones, progress and draft reports. The real power of how social media was used here is twofold: First, it allowed us to reach a large number of citizens in a short amount of time, effectively speeding up what would have taken much longer under the traditional model; Second, rather than acting as another method of gathering community input in what can be a difficult demographic to reach, the site attracted a much broader spectrum of participants than originally expected. In addition, those participants actually became involved in the physical meetings because of the excitement generated in the online communications. When our team asked the participants gathered in the community meeting how many had participated in the MindMixer site, at least two thirds of the 300 plus attendees raised their hands. The final plan for rebuilding Tuscaloosa was just unanimously passed by City Council. Social media played a vital role in it’s creation and the feedback and dialogue is ongoing and will continue to play a vital role. The path toward the healing vision for this city is very much rooted in where it has been — created from an open, inclusive dialogue that is just as much digital as it is personal. And, perhaps best of all, both. The casual interactions have often come to life when people step out from behind the screen and find new ways to get involved. |
