Photo: Civic Commons ideastream

Mike Shafarenko is the director of Civic Commons at ideastream. From February 2011 to August 2013, he was the president and co-founder of the Civic Commons, a Knight Foundation grantee in Northeast Ohio. In August he wrote about the Civic Commons’ integration into ideastream, a multiple media public service organization that includes northeast Ohio’s public broadcasting stations WVIZ/PBS, 90.3 WCPN and WCLV Classical 104.9 and other educational and public service media services.

As with any transition, the first few months after our merger consisted of basic but important functions, such as recruiting new staff, upgrading the Civic Commons online platform and telling community members about the changes. But even in the middle of integrating operations, we saw early evidence of our collective strengths and the impact we can have.

In November, we held an online forum on the Civic Commons platform about the development of an entertainment district in a Cleveland neighborhood and whether these types of districts, generally, can produce equitable economic outcomes for their communities. We promoted the forum through spots on 90.3 WCPN and WVIZ/PBS and through the social media accounts of the two stations and Civic Commons. That broad outreach attracted a balanced mix of perspectives from diverse individuals in the community and an audience of nearly 500 unique visitors – the second-highest attended online forum in our history.

In December, we conducted our first online forum connected to 90.3 WCPN’s award-winning daily community issues radio series, “The Sound of Ideas.” The show was about the Horseshoe Casino in downtown Cleveland and its effects on the community. While the show featured experts (e.g. casino representative, downtown alliance representative, policy academic) the Civic Commons forum sought insights from everyday people on how the casino affected their lives. From the downtown dweller to the community development professional, participants engaged in a civil and productive discussion. Cleveland Councilman Joe Cimperman, whose district includes downtown, acknowledged as much.

On top of that, our business development efforts continue to advance. The Council of Smaller Enterprises, the region’s largest small business support organization with nearly 14,000 members, signed a contract for an amount larger and a duration longer than any prior client. Kent State University, one of our best engagement clients to date, signed on for a second project to engage its faculty on the reorganization of the faculty professional development center.

These examples are just the beginning of how we plan to strengthen our communities by using the multiple media assets of ideastream. Civic Commons is integrating its engagement platform and activities into ideastream’s annual Listening Project, an annual effort by WVIZ/PBS & 90.3 WCPN ideastream to identify “the things that matter most” to residents of Northeast Ohio. Civic Commons is also adding engagement elements to radio and television content, and hosting community meetings on important issues and opportunities. By being a part of a larger organization, particularly one that utilizes public media to inform and engage our community, Civic Commons has the ability to focus on maximizing its community engagement efforts.