How to Find and Attend Meetings Using this Site

Open Source Democracy is built to take you from “I want to take part” to standing in the right room at the right time. Here’s how to use it.

Start with the map or a search#

The homepage opens on a map of government meetings and advocacy events near you. You can explore two ways: pan and zoom the map to see what’s happening in any area — the pins mark your government and the advocacy events around it — or search directly by keyword, ZIP code, or place to jump straight to what you’re looking for. Everything shown covers roughly the next 90 days, so you’re always looking at what’s actually coming up.

Narrow to what you care about#

Use the filters to cut down to your slice of civic life: filter by topic (housing, schools, transportation, public safety, and more), by event type (meetings, hearings, rallies, town halls, comment periods), by jurisdiction (city, county, state, federal, tribal, or special district), by category (government, advocacy, or both), by venue (in-person, virtual, or both), and by date range. Filter by what you’d actually show up for, and the map and list update to match.

Open an event for the details#

Click any event to see what we have: the title, date, time, location, the body or group holding it, and a link back to the original source. That source link will direct you to where the event came from and where the most current, complete event details live.

Always confirm with the source before you go#

We gather events from public sources and keep them as current and accurate as we can, but meetings get moved, cancelled, and rescheduled, and not every change reaches us in time. Before you travel to anything, open the source link and confirm the date, time, and location — and check how to take part. Some meetings have a public-comment period with sign-up; some hearings ask you to register; some advocacy events are held at private residences and need an RSVP. The source will tell you.

Show up — and know your role#

What you do once you’re there depends on the event. At most government meetings you can observe, and often comment when there’s a slot. At hearings you may be able to testify. At town halls you can ask questions directly. At advocacy events you can volunteer, learn, or organize. You don’t need an invitation to a public meeting — that’s the whole point.

Two more ways to use the site#

Set up alerts with your area and the topics you’re interested in — we’ll email you when matching events are posted, so the meetings that matter find you. And contribute what’s missing: if an event near you isn’t here, add it, or flag something that looks wrong. Every submission is reviewed before it’s published, and the more people who contribute, the more complete the public’s view of public business becomes.