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Democracy in Action - OptionFinder®
Interactive Keypads Give Citizens a Voice at Historic
World Trade Center Redevelopment Meeting
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 July
20, 2002 - 5,000 citizens gathered in New York City’s
Jacob Javits Convention Center to provide input on the
future development of the World Trade Center Site. As part
of “Listening to the City”, one of the largest interactive
town hall meetings ever produced, participants used
OptionFinder keypad technology to quickly express their
opinions about six redevelopment concept designs currently
being proposed.
The OptionFinder System, a combination of audience
participation software and wireless response keypads, made
it possible for every individual to instantly respond to
interactive questions about the designs. This immediate
feedback was used to gauge public perception, gather
important demographic information, and to stimulate
discussion about the proposals.
Michael Smith of Option Technologies was the technical
producer working behind the scenes to coordinate the
technical components of the program. Smith has worked on
many citizen engagement activities including everything
from Social Security reform to regional planning all
across the US. “This was the largest and most exciting
meeting I have been involved with both from a professional
and personal perspective,” Smith said. “There are many
people that come together to make this type of meeting
successful and we had them all here today.”
Led by a facilitator at each table, participants discussed
the merits and drawbacks of each plan before using
OptionFinder keypads to rate each aspect of the potential
designs as excellent, good, adequate, or poor. They were
also able to rank the issues that they liked and disliked
about the six plans.
OptionFinder also allowed participants to provide
demographic information to meeting organizers. This helped
them determine if the attendees were a representative
sample of the New York population. The audience also used
the keypads to give their feedback about various aspects
of the rebuilding process and participate in an
‘electronic’ evaluation at the end.
The public input gathered in this meeting will be used to
re-examine the quality of the proposed plans and address
other pertinent issues, such as the impact of the Port
Authorirty’s Lease on the redevelopment efforts.
This 21st Century Town MeetingTM
was facilitated by AmericaSpeaks and sponsored by the
Civic Alliance, a group of nearly 100 organizations
aligned to develop strategies for WTC rebuilding process.
It was the latest in a series of public forums that elicit
citizen feedback on Ground Zero rebuilding efforts.
For more information about the outcome of this meeting,
please visit www.listentingtothecity.org,
www.americaspeaks.org, www.rpa.org, or www.renewnyc.com.
Option Technologies is the world’s largest provider of
interactive meeting technology. Since 1985, OTI has been
providing meeting design services and interactive
technology solutions to organizations ranging from Fortune
1000 companies to small consulting firms. Option
Technologies is an Orlando, Florida company with U.S.
offices in Utah, Texas, Tennessee, Georgia, Detroit, and
Puerto Rico. OTI also has International Affiliates in
Australia, Brazil, Canada, The United Kingdom and
Singapore.
For more information about OptionFinder or Option
Technologies, please contact Enrique Cabrero at
787-250-6986 or e-mail to ecabrero@pmrusa.net.
Other Press Coverage:
Standard-Examiner
CNN Article 1
CNN Article 2
CNN Article 3
USA Today
MSNBC
CBS News
ABC News
New York Times
New York Daily News
The Philadelphia Enquirer
The Washington Post
The Miami Herald
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