FAQ
About SpeakUpVB.com
The City of Virginia Beach uses SpeakUpVB.com as its official public engagement portal to educate the community on important issues facing the city and to capture the public’s opinions, suggestions and comments. SpeakUpVB.com is owned by the City, but the software platform is provided by the company Go Vocal through a contract with the City of Virginia Beach. This portal is used because it offers more resources and abilities to capture and report resident input and information than is currently possible with the City of Virginia Beach website, VirginiaBeach.gov.
How are the results of surveys used?
The Public Engagement unit of the Communications Office in the City of Virginia Beach gathers and analyzes the data from engagement projects on SpeakUpVB.com as well as input from community meetings and events, then provides it to City leaders. City leaders use public input — in addition to other information sources and factors — to help make decisions and form policies on important issues. In addition to completing surveys and providing comments on SpeakUpVB.com, residents can provide their ideas by contacting their City councilmember; speaking at City Council meetings; and attending community and district meetings. Learn more about Virginia Beach surveys.
You can learn about the results of resident input on specific issues at SpeakUpVB.com and through resources on the City Council webpage, including agendas, documents and live-streamed and archived videos of the meetings.
Accounts and Profiles
What information can people see about me?
Your name, photo and bio, if you’ve added one, are visible. You can always change these in your Settings.
Why am I asked to answer demographic questions? How are the results of demographic questions used?
Engagement projects on SpeakUpVB.com (and the printed versions) request voluntary demographic information to ensure that input is coming from all segments of the Virginia Beach population. Staff members analyze this information and make adjustments in outreach as needed. For example, if results are showing that residents in a specific district are participating at a lower rate than other districts, new tactics may be added, such as a community event in that district, to attempt to provide more residents with the opportunity to participate.
How do I delete my account?
In your Settings there is the option to delete your account. Input that you’ve posted will remain published, but your name will be removed from the post and replaced with ‘unknown author.’ If you’d like to delete all of your input, please do so before deleting your account.
Surveys and Resident Input
How do I participate?
You can always browse public projects, but you’ll need to sign up in order to take an action. This helps to maintain a community feel and ensure the legitimacy of the input.
How do I edit or delete my input?
If you’ve posted your input but want to make edits or delete it, you can find this option by clicking on the three small dots on the top right of the post.
Why can’t I post my input or submit a comment?
Posting, commenting and voting may be enabled only during certain times or phases of a project.
If posting is currently enabled for a project, you’ll see a button that prompts you to submit a post. Alternatively, you can browse other active projects for additional engagement opportunities.
What about those who do not have access to a computer or internet or simply prefer to complete surveys on paper?
Anyone who would prefer to complete SpeakUp VB engagement projects on paper or who needs assistance in completing surveys is encouraged to enlist the help of Virginia Beach Public Library staff members to access information and complete the survey. Each library can provide printed versions of the survey to be completed while in the library and returned to library staff to be sent through interoffice mail to the Communications Office. Alternatively, surveys may be taken home to be completed and mailed to the Communications Office. The address is listed on the printed survey.
Are survey results on SpeakUpVB.com generalizable to the whole population?
In order for survey results to be generalizable to a whole population, each person in that population must have a known chance to participate in the survey. Survey results available on SpeakUpVB.com represent only the opinions of those who go to the portal and choose to participate in each survey on their own. While the City of Virginia Beach uses many resources to help ensure that all members of the community have the opportunity to provide input, respondents are not chosen by random sample. This means that the results are not representative of the total population. They are, however, valuable and appreciated. Learn more about surveys.
Community Guidelines and Moderation
What are the community guidelines and moderation policies?
Our community guidelines are here to help ensure that the platform is a safe space for everyone to participate. Please ensure your posts are free of:
- Personal attacks, insults, abusive or discriminatory comments
- Offensive language including profanity
- Marketing or advertising material
- Personal information about other individuals
- Copyrighted material such as images
Any posts or comments that do not adhere to these guidelines may be edited or deleted, or in extreme instances, prevented from being posted. Please review our Terms & Conditions for more information.
How do I report an offensive post?
Click on the three small dots on the top right corner of the post to report it. Please indicate the reason you are reporting the content. This will send a notification for the post to be reviewed.
Login and Technical Support
Why am I having difficulty signing up or logging in?
If you’re unable to sign up, it may be because you’ve already registered with the same email address or previously received an invitation to join the platform. If you see a message that your email address is taken by a pending invite, please check your email and follow the link in the invitation to register your account. If you can’t find the invite, try looking in your spam box or request a new invitation.
What if I have a problem using SpeakUpVB.com or a question about a survey?
If there is a point of contact for a specific survey, the contact name and telephone number will be listed in the project. Questions about survey issues may emailed to SpeakUp@vbgov.com.
How do I reset my password?
You can always request to reset your password from the log in page. If you reset your password, a link will be sent to your email address - follow the instructions to change your password. For security reasons, the link is valid for one hour. If the link has expired, you can simply click on ‘Forgot password?’ in the log in page again to generate a new reset link.
If you didn’t receive the email, check to make sure that it’s not in your spam and that you’re sending the link to the same email address that you signed up with.
Privacy, Data, and Notifications
What will you do with my data?
Review our privacy policy for more information on data collection and usage. In short, we will never use your data for advertising, marketing or other types of spam.
The City of Virginia Beach follows a policy for the use of personal information, including information that is gathered from SpeakUpVB.com. Learn how the City of Virginia Beach uses information on the website.
What emails will I receive?
You may receive emails related to your account and your activity on the platform, for instance, when someone responds to one of your posts. You can control which emails you receive in your Settings. There is a section called “Notifications” where you can turn email notifications on and off.