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Last Updated: 2/12/2005
Public Meetings are open for anyone to attend. They are useful for disseminating information to the general public and/or local communities and enable them to express and discuss their views in an open forum.
Attendance should be open to any interested member of the public. However, you should be aware that unless the issue being discussed is very contentious, attendance at public meetings can be low. You should also remember that those who do attend often do so because they have very strong views or a vested interest in the topic concerned and may not be representative of the wider community.
When organising a public meeting, you should have clear objectives about what is going to be discussed and set an agenda accordingly. It is useful to publicise your agenda in advance wherever possible, but you should certainly open the meting with an outline of the running order of speakers and discussion topics.
Think about the best time and place to hold your meeting and how to publicise it most effectively. Public meetings are often held in community buildings such as schools or village halls. Arrange the meeting at a time when the maximum number of participants are likely to be able to attend: usually on a weekday evening. If you are going to provide refreshments, ensure that this is organised well in advance. Publicise the event through local media, posters and leaflets. Community networks such as schools, churches and local interest groups are also an effective way of advertising through word of mouth.
Plan the structure of your meeting carefully. Before discussion begins, it is important to inform attendees about:
Public meetings are usually addressed by one or more speakers who are able to inform participants about one or more of the issues under discussion. If you are using speakers, choose them carefully. Try to pick people who are comfortable with public speaking and who have enough subject knowledge to be able to answer any questions that may follow. Ensure that you brief them properly about what is required of them and the likely questions / views they may encounter from their audience. Do not allow your speakers to speak for too long: your audience will lose interest if presentations go on for more than 10 – 15 minutes. Participants can always ask for more detail in later discussion sessions if they require clarification on specific issues.
Think carefully about how you will record and report on the views expressed at the meeting. It is often difficult to do this because of the nature of public meetings. You may want to take votes on specific questions. However, you should be aware that since most public meeting audiences will not be representative of the local community demographic – or of the views of the community as a whole, voting results should only be used as a broad indication of public views. It is useful to use the meeting as a means to disseminate questionnaires and / or your written consultation document for further comment from your attendees.
Organising a conference is in many ways similar to organising a public meeting. You will need to think carefully about the structure of the event, how to publicise it and how to organise other practicalities, such as venue and refreshments.
Conferences differ from public meetings in that they are only open to invited participants. This enables you to select delegates from across your stakeholder base. Remember that conference delegates are usually more informed about the topic under discussion than members of the general public and will therefore be able to engage in group discussions and plenary sessions at a more in-depth level and with less introduction. A mixture of presentations, group discussions and plenary question / answer sessions is usually most effective to both inform your delegates of the relevant issues and policy options available, and obtain information and ideas from them.
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