Zoom Public Meetings Haven’t Saved Democracy

You know how the same handful of ranting cranks monopolize government and community outreach meetings? Moving meetings online was supposed to broaden the base of citizen participation.

Didn’t happen. New research found that moving housing hearings online in Massachusetts ‘did not remedy systemic skews in participation.’

“Relative to all voters in the community, online participants in local hearings in Massachusetts during the pandemic were whiter (by a 13 percent margin), older (22 percent likelier to be over the age of 50) and more likely to be homeowners than renters (a 25 percent gap). These gaps are roughly the same as … co-authors observed with in-person housing meetings pre-pandemic. The only difference is that partisanship went up on Zoom….”

— “Thought Zoom Would Save Local Democracy? It Hasn’t.” Michael Hendrix, Governing

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Shortlink: https://wp.me/p6sb6-y5x

Image (“Public Meeting on Zoom”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Will the Swiss Ban PowerPoint?

PowerPoint. It’s ubiquitous. It’s also evil and makes us stupid. PowerPoint has even played a role in our disastrous military policy. The constraints of its format have shackled our minds, blinkered our perceptions and misdirected our actions.

A new political party in Switzerland seeks a ban on the use of Powerpoint and similar slideware. International response has been so great that this has become a worldwide movement.

Sign up today.  The meeting you save may be your own.

PowerPointless

Let’s take a meeting about meeting presentations. A short one. Here’s the take-away:

A slide show is not a presentation.

Q: Says who?

A: Edward R. Tufte, professor emeritus of political science, computer science and statistics, and graphic design at Yale and Dr. T.X. Hammes (Colonel USMC, retired), among others.

Q. I have another meeting in ten minutes. Can you summarize that for visual learners? 

A. Here’s an evil slide by … Darth Vader. The cognitive style of PowerPoint really messed up Abe Lincoln’s Gettysburg meeting. Engineer-turned-comic Don McMillan explains “How NOT to Use PowerPoint.” And beware of Death By PowerPoint.

Q. Does anyone have rules for using slideware like PowerPoint?

A. Plenty of folks. People who do presentation training often have complex systems, but venture capitalist and author Guy Kawasaki has a good rule of thumb: 10 slides, 20 minutes, 30-point font.

Meeting adjourned.

 

Image (“Portrait with PowerPoint, after Pieter Jansz van Asch”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Rust Belt Recovery Plan?

In times of economic hardship, it looks bad to hold a government convention in Las Vegas, Orlando, or Reno. Government meeting coordinators got the word to pass up resort destinations for less luxurious, low-cost travel travel hubs like Chicago, Denver, Portland, St. Louis, Washington DC, Milwaukee, or Phoenix.

Attention Rust Belt cities. Got big, empty factories, folding chairs, an airport, and no beaches or golf to speak of? Get your Convention and Visitors Bureau on the phone to the Feds now!

 

 Hat tip: OhMyGov!

 Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here.Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.