From amazing metaphors involving adorable puppies to reflections about how data can transform generalities into actions, I was fortunate to attend the first CityCamp held in Minneapolis, Minnesota on 11/12/2011. This un-conference is designed to be more of an open exchange of ideas than the traditional professional conference that most of us are use toRead… Read more »
If you’ve followed my blog or my tweets, or even come across them randomly, you would know I’m a big proponent of Gov 2.0, particularly in online communication between and among government and citizens. Going back to earlier years prior to Web 2.0, I was speaking and arguing for the need to replicate government online,Read… Read more »
While serving as Communications Director at a city, I witnessed a city council meeting that lasted until 3:15 a.m. At around midnight, the mayor led the council in stretching and calisthenics. Have you ever witnessed or participated in a marathon meeting (of an elected or appointed body)? Would love to hear your stories!
When you invest in something, you want to know how well your investment is paying off – your ROI. Well, citizens “invest” in government (and their community), so they want easy access to useful information about it. They want to see a return on their investment. But open government is not just beneficial for citizens;Read… Read more »
It’s that time of the week where we let you know about some of the stories going on in the open government and technology space! Have any that should have been included? Share them in the comments! “White House unveils tax calculator designed to give taxpayers a receipt” (Nextgov) Here’s the White House’s blog postRead… Read more »
Change to the Law As of Friday (April 1, 2011), the following is now part of the Open Meetings Law [Public Officers Law, Article 7, Section 103, subdivision (d)]: “1. Any meeting of a public body that is open to the public shall be open to being photographed, broadcast, webcast, or otherwise recorded and/or transmittedRead… Read more »
Woah…useful alert here! Ever go to a town meeting in person or virtually only to witness exploding emotion, frustration, and basically pandemonium? Turning these forums around into useful, productive, and encouraging experiences is the goal of the National Coalition for Dialog and Deliberation. In October of this year, NCDD published a sweet Resource Guide onRead… Read more »
We attended the National League of Cities conference last week and got a lot of questions about streaming council meetings online to increase transparency. There were some concerns raised about pricing and complexity, we wanted to address these in a blog post to give people some key things to consider when deciding what type ofRead… Read more »
Your email inbox is overflowing, your phone is ringing constantly, and your assistant is on vacation. Requests are pouring in for more detailed information about the council meeting, and you haven’t even turned on your computer yet. If only you could check-off the most important post-meeting task, “Finish Minutes,” within an hour of arriving intoRead… Read more »
Local, state, and federal Freedom of Information and Open Meeting laws govern the public’s right to know what’s going on in their government. These statutes don’t often make mainstream media headlines; however, the effects of them are far-reaching. As technology advances, governments need to keep their websites up-to-date with the latest tools for transparency, thisRead… Read more »