SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Two Syracuse based non-profit agencies hosted a forum today to promote civil and effective discourse at public meetings. About 80 people joined FOCUS Greater Syracuse and CNY Speaks for a discussion on how public meetings can be better conducted.

The forum comes after a few recent meetings both locally and nationally have led to outbursts.

Today's session included small group discussions facilitated by graduate students in Syracuse University's Maxwell School.

Suggestions included question and answer cards, and equal opportunities to speak.

"We've seen meetings here in town and across the nation arupt in shouting matches, finger pointing, screaming and even violence sometimes. So we want to know how we can structure public meetings to make sure they're productive, constructive, and civil." Tina Nabatchi

For more information about today's session or future forumscnyspeaks.com