An elaborate setup allowed Frisco residents the opportunity learn about important issues facing the community during the Oct. 7 Town Hall meeting.

Both in person at City Hall and by telephone, residents heard presentations and asked questions about issues ranging from Stage 3 water restrictions to Brazos Electric's proposal to run power lines across west Frisco.

The meetings generally take place about three times a year, according to Dana Baird, the city's director of media and communications.

Behind the scenes, Baird orchestrated an elaborate setup that allowed thousands of callers to participate from their own homes, while making sure city staff video presentations went smoothly and questions from the council chamber and over the phone were answered.

A few minutes before the 7 p.m. meeting, calls to 21,255 registered voters in Frisco were "pushed out," welcoming them to join. Residents could join the call through that invitation, or call in independently to a toll free number.

Baird said there were 2,595 who participated on the call throughout the hour, and up to 753 people on the call at one time. Twenty questions were posed by phone callers.

At any given time, hundreds of residents listened to the staff presentations, questions and answers.

When residents called in with a question, they were first screened by representatives from an offsite company. The caller's question subject was then relayed to Baird through a computer program. She viewed the questions and worked with a representative from the call service to organize them according to subject matter so the flow of the meeting remained smooth.

Deputy City Manager Henry Hill worked with Baird on the timing of the meeting. Through instant messaging, he communicated with Mayor Maher Maso, who guided the meeting process, as well as with city staff members about upcoming phone questions so they were prepared to give an answer.

Tom Kraemer, the city's AV manager, was responsible for making sure all the sound and video equipment was working, and helped troubleshoot ssues with the computer system that tracks and organizes the calls.

Baird said with such a large and complicated system, occasionally there are issues with the and residents are unable to connect or get a question through. In those cases, she said she contacts each person individually to follow up with them about their issue or question.