The question of the opening panel at the Sept. 24  Block by Block conference in Chicago, which is focused on local and community media, is "How do you make community engagement work?"

I am the moderator of this discussion and with my panelists - Tracy Record of The West Seattle Blog, Andre Natta of The Terminal (Birmingham, Alabama) and David Cohn of Spot.us - we'd like to provide some best practices, some stories and some answers.

But we only have 90 minutes and we could all undoubtedly go on about this for hours. As could you (if you have read this far). So, here's the invite to you all:

If you are involved with a local community site, however you choose to define it - but with a serious online publishing component - will you please share some of your experiences with me and this panel so we can add you into the discussion?

Here's what we'd like to know:

What are the questions YOU ask about community engagement you'd like to see others ask as well, and get answers to? Three to five would be ideal.

What is something YOU learned this year about making community engagement work that you'd like to talk about at this session? Something connected to your site/project?

Please send your responses to me - or leave in the comments - and I will add them into our mix.

Oakland is so rich in community media and passionate bloggers, videographers, photographers and social change advocates--please share some of what you've learned with the rest of us.