I wanted to use my Weeknotes this week to reflect on the logistics and operations of supporting a public participation practice. At CONNECTED BY DATA we’ve run two such processes in the last 18 months that were different and similar and I’ve learnt some stuff that I want to record (to remind myself) but also in case it helps others too.
Three day intensive deliberation in person
Firstly, the People’s Panel on AI was a three day deliberative process based around the AI Summit in London. It was pulled together in only six weeks (after a colleague had a great “what if…?” idea and we decided to make it happen) and at the start of that six weeks we had no funding to deliver it.
When it is a rapid turnaround, connected with a sizable event, the generosity of partners and collaborative working was essential. In logistics terms this means calling out for favours (donations of room hire for the Panel to meet etc) and going cap in hand to people for cash to cover accommodation, food, travel, room hire costs. This can result in a lack of control around certain elements (someone donating a room but it is only available during specific times on a specific day means needing to adjust the timetable) and can mean missing out on better offers that come in a week or so later.
With limited planning time there is a need to be decisive to get some fixed points that can be planned around. There’s a balance here of whose planning takes priority - the content/deliberation or logistics. Obviously it is the delivery but it’s a challenge for the logistics to remain flexible as the delivery planning is still changing with only a week to go and suddenly deciding “actually let’s go to this session” meaning a meeting room booked is no longer needed, or lunch time needs to change.
Swallow your dislikes. I’m a millennial and true to form I do not enjoy the telephone. But in such a short planning period the only way to sort most of the bookings like for example the organisation that would run the deliberation - I simply had to pick up the phone and get immediate answers.
Face to face events are always slightly beholden to external factors. We had a big booking with a venue that then realised they had another group already booked that couldn’t be in the building with other groups, so with only a few days to go I was scrambling for meeting space. Availability isn’t a challenge in central London but cost is (elsewhere availability would be a challenge too). It meant I ended up with the Panel doing their deliberation sessions in a different venue almost every session (four sessions). For some Panel members this was a bonus as it gave them a chance to move about outside getting fresh air (and some photo taking) and a different four walls to look at throughout the exercise.
Let’s talk about money. Short run-ins also mean that suppliers (meeting rooms, food, hotels etc) want full payment quicker and if the funding isn’t in place yet you need to be able to bear the cost for a while. This is true even if the funding is agreed in principle but the organisation giving you the money (e.g. a University) has to go through a process to release funds (including things like adding you to their finance systems). It should be unsurprising that the preferred method for being funded for this work is unrestricted direct payment in advance. Reimbursement and restrictions all add overhead time and effort (but don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t turn it down!). Finally on money…meeting room hire is expensive (anywhere but I guess particularly central London and we needed to be within striking distance of the British Library at St Pancras all the time). There is a massive reduction in required budget if you’re doing an in person participatory practice with an organisation that has its own meeting room space.
Six two hour online advisory sessions over six months with a face to face final half day
Secondly, this month we’ve wrapped up the Public Voices in AI People’s Advisory Panel, commissioned by the ESRC Digital Good Network as a sounding board for the delivery of their (multi methodology) programme.
No-one is fully in control. In the People’s Panel on AI we convened and hosted and did the logistics but contracted a specialist deliberation organisation (Hopkins Van Mil) to hit the ground running and they did. With the Public Voices in AI commission we were delivering the sessions, the preparation and the write ups. It highlighted the challenges of a logistics process when you’re not in control of the wider project timelines. For example we wanted to share pre-reads ahead of each session at least a week in advance. Often this just didn’t fit with when materials were available or when decisions were being made within the project. It was a big research programme and the more people involved the more people there is to check with, to respond to, that wants time with the Panel. Commissioning delivery (we found in both examples having been on both sides of that coin) doesn’t mean handing everything over.
Understanding the context for the participation. There was a slightly meta feel about this project which at times was challenging for the Panel. They were, in essence, being asked what they thought about how to talk to the public about AI through different research methodologies. On reflection, ensuring we’d had some ‘learning’ time with the Panel at the start of the process about what research projects are like and what their input would be sought on may have helped the Panel’s experience feel more structured. The project may not think that time/effort (and money) is necessary - ensure you can articulate why it is and there will be better outputs as a result. On a related note, even when you’re being commissioned to deliver the participatory practice the chances are you’re doing it for a reason (to contribute to your own strategic goal) beyond just getting paid. Make sure you keep an eye on what you’re being paid to output and what you want to output. Both are fine but only the former is essential.
Representation. The People’s Panel on AI was recruited through the Sortition Foundation. We provided parameters to ensure a representative English sample (slightly overrepresenting on historically underrepresented ethnicities) and they provided the list. For the Public Voices in AI commission we went out to our list of previous participants and asked partner organisations to advertise the opportunity to their previous participants too (part of the brief was to have a group of people that had been involved in a previous participatory process). Although we reached out across the United Kingdom we only ended up with England and Northern Ireland. And we didn’t have anyone younger than the 25-34 age band. In-house recruitment is limited by your reach. That may matter, it may not. (And with more time you can of course expand your reach which we’re ready to work on if we have another participatory exercise to run).
Different but similar, from a logistics perspective
Dietary requirements are a big deal for people. Of course allergies but also personal preferences. Ensuring people can eat, and eat in a way that makes them happy, shows that you care but will also mean you get the best out of them.
Be proactive and curious to ensure genuine inclusivity. As part of onboarding I sought to understand what we could do to make each individual’s experience as meaningful as possible. This included help accessing Zoom, being chaperoned when they arrived in London, having certain seats on trains booked, having pre-read information in certain formats (including via printed hardcopy posted to them), payments for time being made in vouchers rather than BACS, providing background information in advance to read and consider in slow time, having screen breaks, and heaps more. Allow anyone to ask for anything they need. Think of it as extreme customer service.
Watch out for Ramadan. Ideally avoid it if you want a lot of engagement at that time but if you can’t, ensure that you understand what your individual Muslim participant needs, how they’ll be approaching it and what you can do in order to make them feel as respected as possible (this may include access to a prayer room, providing - or not - water, asking people to not eat in front of them - or not).
And remember not everyone knows what they need, or they may feel like they can’t ask, or don’t know how to ask. So keep that door open, keep offering support and remain flexible and responsive for the previously unsaid needs that will crop up.
Treat everyone as an individual and do everything in your power to meet their needs (and let’s face it, far more is in your power than you may think. It’s not all convenient to you, but it is in your power).
This kind of logistics is a masterclass in dependencies. If people need physical train tickets you need to book those sooner and get them posted out, e-tickets can wait until nearer the time. If you book a hotel with food on site, don’t commit yourself until you understand the dietary requirements. You need to book meeting rooms to ensure you’ve got the space you need at the time you need but you need to know audience sizes before confirming bookings - you may need bigger rooms (maybe even a different venue) or more/less food. Sometimes as the logistics lead you’ll get to a point where you can chat about it with the delivery team but then a decision needs to be made. Make it, commit and communicate the goalposts to everyone.
Let’s talk about money…again. If you aren’t paying for food as part of a meeting room or hotel booking (perhaps it isn’t an option or you want to be able to offer better food choices) then think about how you’ll be able to pay and reclaim the food (you need to keep the amount you ask Panel members to pay and claim to a minimum otherwise it becomes a barrier to participation). In our recent example part of the reason I attended was to have my credit card to be able to smooth the food logistics and a colleague did the same for the People’s Panel on AI. Also you want to make sure you’re paying Panel members for their time in a timely manner but I’d caution against advance payments. In both examples we had (for different reasons) Panel members drop out after onboarding so staggering payments meant we were never in an awkward position of having overpaid.
Make yourself available. Treat the participants like VIPs and be available in all manner of ways to “hold” them and their experience and be responsive to questions. For me this included 90 minute phone calls every few months with one Panel member who had questions but also just wanted to talk about what they were learning and experiencing. It meant texting back and forth with a Panel member nervous of going into London. It meant trying to be slightly “overstaffed” to ensure we had capacity for someone to be solely focused on Panel members’ wellbeing and needs. It meant anticipating needs and being on-the-spot responsive.
Unsurprisingly public participation is about people. And people are individuals and deserve care and respect. I guess it is ultimately that simple.