Lots of cities are transforming their websites into mobile-ready versions or going with an app that makes it easier for citizens to get key information faster. I learned about Charlotte, North Carolina’s myCharlotte Mobile App a few weeks ago and wanted to learn more about it. So I reached out to GovLooper Shawn Proffitt toRead… Read more »
About 10 years ago, I helped a colleague build a case that managing government websites is “inherently governmental.” A-76 (OMB Circular A-76: Performance of Commercial Activities) was rearing its head again, and some agencies were asking the question: could web management be done more efficiently and effectively by the private sector? A few agency webRead… Read more »
A couple of weeks ago, after I’d cut loose with some ideas for the government web community (and witnessed the weary and wary looks on my web colleagues’ faces), my good friend Bev Godwin bailed me out by saying, “as long as I’ve known Candi, she’s always asked ‘what’s next?’ We need to keep askingRead… Read more »
Notes From NAGW Do you want to start using social media but don’t know how to get started? Have you seen other cities and counties doing really cool stuff and wonder how they do it? Do you want to make your site accessible to everyone but aren’t sure how? Do you know that pretty soonRead… Read more »
Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, government webmasters would buy up every domain name extension available for their websites. It was reasoned that this would avoid Cybersquatting and would ensure that people typing in your URL would find your site no matter what extension they put in. Flash forward to 2010.Read… Read more »
This past weekend I was listening to Government 2.0 Radio and the guest was Carol Spencer, Web Manager for Morris County, New Jersey. Carol brings some truly unique insights to this role based upon her past roles as an elected official and multiple years spent in Marketing at IBM. I followed up with Carol afterRead… Read more »
Last week, a county government communications director in Oregon asked me to help her put together a session for their annual state meeting. We agreed that a “show and tell” hour, where attendees volunteer to show their county’s website and let their colleagues tell them what they think, could work well. I offered to doRead… Read more »
When citizens come to your website, what’s the first message they get? Is it, “we care about YOU, and we’re going to make sure you can do what you want?” Or is it, “first let me tell you about me?” I read two interesting articles this week about how important it is to show yourRead… Read more »
Yesterday, the State of Michigan rolled out a major update to the Michigan.gov portal. CIO Ken Theis, quoted in Government Technology magazine, suggests, “Visitors to the site can [now] access five times the amount of information without leaving the home page. It’s a more useful and pleasing site and it positions Michigan with one ofRead… Read more »
I was talking to a co-worker about our office’s reconfiguration plans, which involve merging divisions and training employees to handle a wider variety of customer needs. It’s a nice plan, and it is likely to benefit our customers by removing the layers they have to dig through to get to the services they need. InRead… Read more »