Spotlight Conversations will be able to model their events on AmericaSpeaks’ successful 21st Century Town Meeting®.

AmericaSpeaks’ 21st Century Town Meeting® is a unique public forum that links technology with small-group, face-to-face dialogue to allow hundreds or thousands of people to deliberate simultaneously about complex public policy issues and express a shared message to decision-makers.

Through a combination of keypad polling, groupware computers, large screen projection, teleconferencing and other technologies, 21st Century Town Meetings enable people to simultaneously participate in intimate discussions and contribute to the collective wisdom of a very large group.

The 21st Century Town Meeting creates a level playing field on which citizens can be authentically engaged with each other in policy and planning discussions that are directly and transparently linked to decision-makers and real governance processes.

Essential elements of the 21st Century Town Meeting are:

• Diverse Representation is achieved though a collaborative outreach strategy, which recruits participants who reflect the rich diversity of the community
  
• Informed Participation is built by providing participants with accessible materials that frame the issues involved and provide a baseline of data upon which participants may begin their discussions.
  
• Facilitated Deliberation ensures that every person who participates in an AmericaSpeaks town meeting plays an active role in the deliberations. Every voice is heard and no ideas are lost. Skilled facilitators at each small, round discussion table ensure high quality dialogue. Over the course of the program, a lead facilitator gives participants discussion tasks on which to work.
  
• Clear Priorities are developed by fostering consensus among participants and identifying shared priorities. Ideas that are generated through small group discussions are collected through laptop computers at each table. As themes emerge from the discussions, these ideas are reported back to the group on large screens and voted on by each participant, using wireless keypads.
  
• Link to Action is integrated into the program design to produce meaningful action and change. At the end of the day, a preliminary report with discussion themes and polling results is provided to participants, as well as the media and decision makers.

AmericaSpeaks is an international leader in the field of citizen engagement and public deliberation. Over the past 13 years, AmericaSpeaks has convened more than 140,000 citizens in public process to shape planning and decision making for their communities.

Watch a short video describing the 21st Century Town Meeting method:
http://www.americaspeaks.org/resources/video/americaspeaksintroduction