Improving Citizen Participation and Feedback in Your Bagh: AManual on Town Halls
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tions and raise comments unrelated to the meeting topic, the
moderator should ask questions to redirect the conversation
to the topic. This is one of the reasons why the moderator
should be knowledgeable of the discussion topic.
Staff your event
A key step in your town hall meeting planning is to iden-
tify people who will help out on the day of the event. Some-
one should be assigned to handle requests from the media;
to greet and seat members of the audience and panelists; to
distribute materials; to record comments and questions from
the audience; to manage equipment set-up or to handle any
other important logistical matters. This person doesn’t need
to be a paid staff member; it’s a great job for a volunteer!
Record the event’s details
At each meeting it is important to record a list of all at-
tendees, if possible take high quality photographs of the
event and arrange for someone to take the event’s minutes in
order to capture the participants’ ideas and concerns, as well
as the elected officials’ responses and promised outcomes.
It is also helpful to distribute and then collect evaluation
forms among the citizens to gauge their thoughts about the
event. These materials will be needed to compile an accu-
rate, compelling “after action report” on the proceedings of
the event and to help improve future events. (see feedback
survey below)
During the meeting
As a public official, always be cognizant of and thankful
for the participants who have chosen to participate in civ-
ic affairs. The moderator or the ranking government official
should introduce the agenda of the meeting at the beginning
of the meeting and the relevance of this particular town hall
meeting. Participants should be made to understand that all
