View source for Telling the public

Often it is necessary to give the participants some information about an issue, or a proposed policy, before starting a consultation. This has two aspects.
#Awareness raising (publicity to engage consultees)
#Disseminating information on the consultation topic (one-way communication)
==Publicity to engage consultees==
*Advertising (e.g. radio, newspapers, Google Adwords)
*E-mailed newsletters
**[http://www.activelink.ie/ Activelink] keeps civil society up-to-date in Ireland.
**[http://consultation.nsec.info NSEC] uses [http://www.phplist.com/ PHP List] to keep consultees informed.
**Electronic newsletter software: 1-2-ALL Broadcast E-mail Software, AdvoKit, e-Campaign, Interspire SendStudio, PHPList
*Social networking sites (e.g. [http://www.bebo.com/ Bebo], [http://www.myspace.com/ MySpace]),[http://www.facebook.com Facebook], [http://www.friendster.com Friendster] and popular [[blogs]]

==Information on the consultation topic==
*Post out 100-page consultation documents,
**and be surprised if many people read and understand the document and have the time to reply.
*Set up a website 
**[http://www.consultationni.gov.uk/ Consultation NI website]
**[http://www.bristol-city.gov.uk/ccm/content/Council-Democracy/Consultations/consultation-finder.en Bristol City Council consultation finder]
**Is it usable? See how much easier it is to navigate and use the second, which is organised around readers' needs, rather than administrative structures.
*Tell your stories on [[blogs]]
*Use rich media
**Videos (e.g. YouTube)
**Podcasts
**Games
***[http://www.demgames.org/ Demgames]
***Amsterdam City Council has used on-line games to introduce a topic before people got to the e-consultation site.