WORKSHOP ITEM Ben Hayle, Communications Manager
Title
FACEBOOK LIVE TOWN HALL
Background
As staff have continued to look for ways to increase communication efforts with the community, one potential new method is live video interactions. Staff was approached by a councilmember about conducting a town hall meeting via Facebook Live. Staff has researched the idea and is supportive. Staff wants to engage the entire council regarding next steps to implement this program.
Facebook Live is a live video feed that is broadcast through a Facebook page. We would broadcast the feed through the city’s Facebook page and users who have enabled notifications for the page would receive an alert when we go live. In addition the live video feed can be shared into other Facebook groups. The live video is also archived and remains on our Facebook page so that it can be watched at a later date.
The Facebook town halls would also be open to the public to attend in person in to allow individuals that do not have a Facebook account or computer access to participate and to fulfill open meeting law requirements.
Questions for council.
1. Do you want the town hall events to focus on a specific topic area or be open for any questions?
2. Do you want the city manager or other staff to be available to also answer questions as a part of the town hall or only councilmembers?
3. Do all councilmembers want to participate?
4. How do you want to schedule the town hall meetings and how often do you want to hold them?
The communications staff have identified a few potential dates for the first Facebook Live Town Hall. Please provide feedback on the following dates.
March 5
April 1
April 15
April 16
Recommendation
Discuss next steps and answer the questions above.