eParticipation

eParticipation is a broad term used to cover online consultations, online conference activities and eDemocracy.

Greater participatory opportunities online can provide an important extra dimension to communicating with your stakeholders, clients, members and supporters.

eParticipation can be used to:

• provide online opportunities to comment on an issue, any time and from any place with an internet link. You can solicit comments about public issues and plans, as well as inquiries or complaints.
• allow people to participate in meetings online. These might be ‘virtual’ meetings with online participants only (a bit like telephone conferencing, but often cheaper), or a ‘real world’ event where you allow people to watch or listen to speakers via the internet, and sometimes interact with the speakers as well.
• improve the post-event experience, for example written or taped records of an event, opportunities for ongoing discussion or reporting.

Techniques to consider are:

• Webcasting
• Discussion forums
• Podcasting
• See also Building online communities