Startup, Nonprofit Team Up on Hybrid Public Meeting Software

A new tool for hosting public meetings is the result of an integration between the nonprofit Open.Media and the public engagement platform People Speak, itself a product of a private-public partnership.

“The goal of this, and the result of this, was an online platform where the council hearings are now days long in Lakewood. During that time, you can see the presentations, ask questions, leave your comment, any time day or night for several days,” Parker said. “We pre-record presentations, we put materials out there, we put decision-making criteria, we allow asking questions, and then during the hearing we livestream from Zoom.”

A blog post last month on People Speak’s website announced the integrated platform is available to the broader public. Speaking for the city of Lakewood, Parker said hybrid-style remote meetings are the future for them and possibly every city in a matter of years.

Giving people money turns out to be an incredibly effective tool in ending homelessness

“There’s a narrative that you can’t give people living in poverty money and they can’t be trusted to make wise financial choices,” Williams says. “We just thought it was time to disrupt those excuses.”