Improving Citizen Participation and Feedback in Your Bagh: AManual on Town Halls
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comments, feedback and points of view are welcome.
Be prepared for questions and comments, even though
you may not like them, be respectful towards them. You
must always be a good listener and not judge people from
the outside, whether their ethnicity, gender or position. It is
crucial to have a structure for the meeting and to follow it
strictly. If follow up meetings are to be scheduled, try and
attempt to schedule them during the current meeting. If there
are questions that require more lengthy answers, invite inter-
ested constituents to remain after the meeting has conclud-
ed so the information requested can be provided. Should
there be information requested that is not readily available, a
promise to follow-up directly with the constituent should be
made and that constituents’ contact information be recorded.
Room setup
To ensure a successful event, assign volunteers and staff
to different tasks. Depending upon the style of the town hall
meeting, different ways to set up the room are appropriate.
Events that encourage discussion may benefit from round ta-
bles, whereas more presentation-focused events should use
row seating. Tables, chairs, podiums, equipment and visual
displays should be ordered well in advance and confirmed
prior to the event.
Data collection
Knowing how many constituents attend is critical – this
information can help government gauge constituent interest
in issue-specific town hall meetings as well as the success-
fulness of the initiative in the medium term. Having a sign-
in sheet (and reminding participants to sign in periodically
throughout the meeting) will provide this invaluable infor-
mation that can facilitate follow-up activities and plan future
meetings. The sign-in sheet should include contact informa-
