Image
Product
Solutions
Resources
Company
Login
Get in Touch
Image
Image
Donate to Ukraine emergency relief efforts
CUSTOMER STORY

ThoughtExchange helps the City of Oakland connect with its community with ThoughtExchange

Download PDF

When the COVID-19 outbreak reached the United States, the City of Oakland, California, had just started using ThoughtExchange for town halls to address important topics, such as homelessness, within the city’s communities. But the city had to suddenly shift their focus to COVID-19 planning and response. Director of Community Engagement Yvonna Cázares believes the city’s introduction to ThoughtExchange “was perfect timing.”

Before discovering ThoughtExchange, Cázares felt she and her team had hit a ceiling when it came to community engagement, and Cázares knew the city would have to break through that ceiling to face COVID-19. “We didn’t know what people’s needs are right now or their pressing questions and concerns,” Cázares tells us. “ThoughtExchange has saved us so much time by sorting and theming the thoughts and questions, and letting us easily see the most pressing issues—“How do I safely shelter in place?” “What do the health orders mean?” “What is the city doing to protect unsheltered residents?”—which saves us time and money that we would’ve spent uncovering those questions.”

For the city, town halls have historically been a complicated and costly endeavor involving numerous staff members who transcribe and collate questions that come in from citizens via the city’s various social-media channels—Facebook, YouTube, WeChat, Instagram—and then those staff members physically walk the questions up to the facilitator or the mayor. Now that the city uses ThoughtExchange’s platform to handle the town-hall questions and organize them, they feel like they have a better understanding of citizens’ concerns and can focus on what is most critical to them.

Reflecting on the town-hall process before using ThoughtExchange, Cázares didn’t hesitate to tell us how she really felt. “It was insane. Imagine upwards of 20,000 people watching and hundreds of questions pouring in all at once,” she says. “Our 15-person team was scrambling to find the comments and questions coming in across all social media platforms, quickly scribbling down the platform and the topic, and then trying to get these to the mayor in both a timely and orderly fashion. It was a valiant effort...but...” Cázares trails off, before finishing her thought. “ThoughtExchange has simplified that for us.”

Image
"I feel like a pro at online town halls now because ThoughtExchange has made it so easy."

The city’s recipe for a successful virtual town hall is a unique two-step process using ThoughtExchange: Residents are first invited to participate in a “pre-town hall” to share any questions they have before the virtual town hall. The city then gathers the appropriate information and expert input to answer residents’ questions so they are prepared before the virtual event. ThoughtExchange is then used again at the virtual town hall as a live Q&A tool, allowing city officials to see common questions and thoughts that need to be addressed.

Image
“The pre-town hall questions alone used to take at least a full day for the team to collect and theme. ThoughtExchange presents everything in a clean report, which we can hand over to the experts for them to speak to, and our team can now spend their time connecting people to resources rather than sorting questions. It’s been a lifesaver.”

Cázares estimates that ThoughtExchange saves the city tens of thousands of dollars on every town hall they run, resources which the city can then reallocate to vital initiatives and projects.

Making Town Halls a Transparent Process

Common to any webinar or online Q&A is that moment when many participants wonder, “Did anyone see my question?” That unintended opacity is a challenge that, according to Cázares, the city has struggled with in digital town halls. “If you’re watching live, you can’t see if your question is actually being caught by anyone,” she says, before explaining the positive impact of ThoughtExchange. “[With ThoughtExchange], they can see what thoughts are floating to the top [of the list], and whether they’ll be answered later on. It makes everything transparent, that we’re not doing any picking and choosing. ThoughtExchange makes things fair.”

Image
"ThoughtExchange is something I’ve wanted to find for the last two years, because it democratizes the process, which is something Oaklanders have been asking for, for a long time."

And though Cázares credits ThoughtExchange for the city’s ability to respond to COVID-19, she says the value of ThoughtExchange is in more than town halls or reactive crisis response. “We’re now in talks with our entire city staff to get ThoughtExchange on an enterprise, city-wide level,” she says, “because we know its ability to save us money and time, and really use our resources as a city most effectively.”

Cázares ended our conversation by thanking the ThoughtExchange team. “You’ve helped make my life easier, and life easier for even our most vulnerable residents,” she says. “You might even have helped save someone’s house in the city of Oakland. And how powerful is that?” 💜

YouTube video
Download PDF
SHARE THIS STORY!
Image
Image
"ThoughtExchange is something I’ve wanted to find for the last two years, because it democratizes the process, which is something Oaklanders have been asking for, for a long time."
YVONNA CÁZARES, Director of Community Engagement, City of Oakland

Gain clarity, not clutter.
Turn insights into action today.

Get in touch
Image Image Image Image
Popular Topics
  • Collective Intelligence Platform
  • Team Intelligence
  • Hybrid Work Management
  • New Leader Onboarding
  • Organizational Alignment
  • Employee Retention Software
  • Staff Shortages in Schools
Product
  • Overview
  • How it Works
Resources
  • Blog
  • Resources Library
  • Events & Webinars
  • Customer Stories
  • Scaling Conversations
  • Help Center
Company
  • About
  • Leadership Team
  • News
  • Careers & Culture
  • ADEI
  • Social Impact
  • Contact Us
Security
Privacy
Terms
Security
Privacy
Terms
Copyright ©2022 Fulcrum Management Solutions Ltd. ThoughtExchange® is a registered trademark in Canada and the United States of Fulcrum Management Solutions Ltd. The ThoughtExchange logo is a trademark of Fulcrum Management Solutions Ltd in the United States and/or all other countries.
  • Overview
  • How it Works

Solutions for Enterprise

Enterprise leaders use ThoughtExchange to solve complex business problems, quickly. Include more people in less time—without getting lost in the data.
Learn More
Popular Resources
Story:
WestJet Optimizes Performance
Management Process
Story:
Stakeholder Engagement During a Pandemic
Guide:
Onboarding Leaders During the Hybrid Era
Blog:
41 Percent of Leaders Want To Resign:
How To Keep Them

Solutions for Education

Education leaders use ThoughtExchange to solve complex problems and consult communities, quickly—and without getting lost in the data.
Learn More
Popular Resources
Guide:
How to Win at Educational Leadership
Story:
Woodland D50 Shapes Learning
with ThoughtExchange
Story:
U46 Students Shape Critical African
American Studies Curriculum
Blog:
Strategic Planning in Education

Solutions for
Public & Nonprofit

Public & Nonprofit leaders use ThoughtExchange to solve complex problems and consult communities, quickly—and without getting lost in the data.
Learn More
Popular Resources
Story:
How City of Oakland connects with
its Community Management Process

Solutions for
Talent Leaders

Get out of the retention rat race with the world’s number one anti-bias Enterprise Discussion Management Platform.
Learn More
Popular Resources
Story:
WestJet Optimizes Performance Management Process
Story:
Stakeholder Engagement During a Pandemic
Blog:
Accelerating the Speed of Change
Webinar:
Building Leadership Momentum on Day One

Solutions for Revenue Leaders

Connect the dots from C-suite to frontline by asking your people to help address your most pressing challenges, so they’re invested in your outcomes.
Learn More
Popular Resources
Guide:
5 Remote Selling Challenges Solved
Blog:
Charting a New Course for Revenue Growth
Webinar:
Winning Revenue Strategies to Finish Ahead
Webinar:
Accelerating Performance Remotely

Solutions for Superintendents

Solve complex problems and consult your communities, quickly. Include more people in less time—without getting lost in the data.
Learn More
Popular Resources
Story:
Woodland D50 Shapes Learning
with ThoughtExchange
Paper:
Passing Your Bond Referendum
Blog:
Strategic Planning in Education
Blog:
Enhancing the Budgeting Process

Solutions for
Field Intelligence

Nothing could replace the insights from sales connects, field visits, and market tours—until now. ThoughtExchange is next-generation field intelligence for leaders.
Learn More
Popular Resources
Guide:
Gathering Effective Field Intelligence
in the Digital World
Blog:
How to Avoid Proximity Bias
Blog:
Achieving Team Alignment in
Your Organization
Blog:
How to Crowdsource

Solutions for
New Leaders

On day one, give your new leaders hidden insights into team dynamics and action items their people support—all in just minutes.
Learn More
Popular Resources
Guide:
Onboarding Leaders in the Hybrid Era
Blog:
Making Onboarding Effective
for New Leaders
Blog:
Leadership Churn: How to Avoid It
Webinar:
New Leader Momentum: Going Live
at 120 Days

Solutions for the Hybrid Workplace

ThoughtExchange provides solutions that can make your hybrid workplace effective, inclusive, and flexible.
Learn More
Popular Resources
Guide:
Managing a Hybrid Remote Workforce
Story:
Stakeholder Engagement During a Pandemic
Blog:
Hybrid Leadership in a Remote and
Hybrid Environment
Blog:
The Future of Work: A Quick-Start Guide to Hybrid Remote Teams

Solutions for
Talent & Culture

Build a company culture that puts the competition to shame. Have the top talent banging down your door with ThoughtExchange.
Learn More
Popular Resources
Story:
Stakeholder Engagement During a Pandemic
Blog:
How to Manage Transformational Change in Your Organization
Blog:
Improving Leadership Alignment
Blog:
Leverage and Speed Up Culture Change
  • Blog
  • Resource Library
  • Events & Webinars
  • Customer Stories
  • Scaling Conversations
  • Help Center
  • About
  • Leadership Team
  • News
  • Careers & Culture
  • ADEI
  • Social Impact
  • Contact Us
  • Product
    • Overview
    • How it Works
  • Solutions
    • Industry
      • Enterprise
      • Education
      • Public & Nonprofit
    • Role
      • Talent & HR Leaders
      • Revenue
      • Superintendent
    • Use Cases
      • Field Intelligence
      • Hybrid Workplace
      • New Leader Acceleration
      • Talent & Culture Insights
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • Resource Library
    • Events & Webinars
    • Customer Stories
    • Scaling Conversations
    • Help Center
  • Company
    • About
    • Leadership Team
    • News
    • Careers & Culture
    • ADEI
    • Social Impact
    • Contact Us
  • Login
  • Get in Touch