State & Local Newsletter, November 2010

GovDelivery Quarterly Newsletter

Newsletter | November 2010

City of Dallas Launches E-Alerts

With the objective of openly sharing vital city information, the City of Dallas introduced "E-Alerts" in October to keep residents connected with the City, providing them with access to latest news and information affecting their neighborhoods. Residents can learn about a variety of topics including Green Dallas alerts, Council and Committee Agendas and Briefings, and Trinity River Corridor project updates.

"The City of Dallas has made open government a priority," said City Manager Mary K. Shum. "We are excited about this new feature as further example of our ongoing efforts to increase public input and involvement in government," she said.

"The E-Alerts service makes it easier for the public to automatically receive information the city posts on any given topic of interest to them," said Public Information Office Managing Director Frank Librio. "Dallas strives to keep residents informed and build a sense of community, and this is yet another way we are accomplishing that goal."

Librio added that he feels the E-Alerts, using the GovDelivery platform, improve access to city information, reduce use of staff time and resources, and save the city money previously spent on printing and mailing of publications.

Learn how other cities benefit from GovDelivery and view a complete city client list.

Learn how these cities benefit from GovDelivery
San Ramon, California
Bellevue, Washington

To learn more about improving communications while cutting costs, click here.

State CIOs see IT consolidation, budget, cost control, health care as priorities for 2011

State government officials recently learned that a membership survey of the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) identifies IT consolidation, budget, cost control, health care, and cloud computing as the most critical priorities for state CIOs in 2011.

“States CIOs are continuing to be challenged, but they also have opportunities to pursue these innovations,” said Eric Sweden, NASCIO senior enterprise architect.

For example, states such as Indiana and Nebraska are finding that using digital communications to connect with stakeholders is effective for addressing many of the challenges facing state agencies. Increasing online services enhances the ability to not only save government money but improve access to services.

According to Government Technology magazine, IT consolidation came in as the top priority for 2011, having moved up from second in 2010.

Health care IT moved up from ninth for 2010 to third for 2011. Health care moved up due to the passing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, according to NASCIO. Cloud computing wasn’t on 2010’s list but is now the fourth most important priority for 2011. Shared services was third on 2010’s list but dropped down two places to the fifth spot on 2011’s list.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act didn’t make it onto 2011’s list but was fifth for 2010. Sweden said that even though it was not on the list anymore, it’s still a priority because at this point, projects are in place because of the stimulus money.

Additional detailed results of interest can be found in the full Government Technology article.

See how state agencies grow government revenue and save money.

Request a custom, no-obligation cost-savings review with GovDelivery.

Recognizing Communications Excellence in Bloomington, MN

Residents of Bloomington, Minnesota are crazy about their Farmers Market. So it’s no surprise that finding out the latest scoop on the market via the city’s E-Subscribe service is the most popular subscription item with 1,938 people signing up for this topic alone.

With this and 69 more items of interest available for residents to receive emails, text messages and RSS feeds, Bloomington received the Excellence in Communications Award for the third quarter of 2010.

Bloomington was recognized due to its innovative use of the E-Subscribe service to deliver accurate and timely information to residents. The award is presented to government organizations that take an innovative approach to improve communication and service to the public through effective communication channels, collaboration and compelling content.

According to Communications Administrator Janine Hill, Bloomington began offering its email subscription service in April 2009 to provide a new way to reach residents and businesses. Since then, 4,000 users have signed up to receive news and information alerts from the city.

The city has been well recognized for providing residents innovative marketing and communications services for years. Just this fall, Bloomington won three national awards from the City-County Communications and Marketing Association (3CMA) for its newsletter and corporate report. The city also received three awards in 2010 from the Minnesota Association of Government Communicators (MAGC).

Previous winners of the Excellence in Communications Award include the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), State of Indiana, Wyoming Department of Transportation, City of San Ramon, Calif., and the National Science Foundation, among other local, state and federal agencies.

See how Bloomington has successfully promoted and utilized its E-Subscribe service.

Congratulations to the City of Bloomington, Minnesota! Is your organization eligible to win the Excellence in Communications Award?

TriMet's Dedication to Race for the Cure

Agency sends two-billionth message delivered by GovDelivery

When more than 50,000 people recently took to the streets of Portland to participate in the annual Komen Race for the Cure for breast cancer research, it created a logistical challenge for TriMet, the local transit agency. Traditionally the busiest Sunday of the year for TriMet, “race day” requires extra trains and buses not ordinarily in use on weekend mornings.

Knowing the event was meaningful to many Portland-area families, TriMet sent an email message out to subscribers informing them of the added transportation options – a message that was actually GovDelivery’s two-billionth sent in 2010. This added notice was given to ensure as many people as possible felt comfortable making the trek downtown for the annual race.

In addition to offering additional transit opportunities, TriMet’s commitment to the success of the race was demonstrated by having 25 employees volunteer at the event. One of these was Kathy Miller, who serves as manager of eligibility and community relations for the agency’s LIFT Paratransit program.

Miller, who has worked for TriMet for 17 years, has a personal reason for helping at the race for the past three years – her mother lost her battle with breast cancer 36 years ago.

“I like seeing all the Race for the Cure participants, including cross generations of family members and meeting people who are actually survivors and happy to be alive,” Kathy said during a recent interview with TriMet. “I feel like I’m doing a little bit to make it easier to help others participate and raise the necessary funds to conquer the disease.”

Miller gets personally involved by selling fares, answering questions and helping riders get on the right vehicle and sent in the right direction. Her daily work on behalf of people affected by disabilities and illnesses helps Miller feel she is making a difference since transportation is often a major issue in these individuals’ lives.

“I’ve developed strong compassion for people with ongoing illnesses and people with disabilities,” Kathy said. “While we all have challenges, many people have an even greater level of challenge to cope with just to get through the day. I feel fortunate to get to do what I do every day.”

Learn other ways TriMet has used GovDelivery to engage its customers and increase online services.

Discover how Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) also benefits from using digital communications and review a full list of GovDelivery transit clients.

Giants' playoff run has BART running the bases

When your hometown baseball team makes it to the playoffs, it’s a big deal. So when the newly crowned World Champion San Francisco Giants qualified for the National League Championship Series in October, officials at Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) knew to expect large crowds using trains to and from AT&T Park, the home of the Giants. Thanks to longer trains provided by BART, estimates called for more than 23,000 extra riders to board BART trains during the series and head for games as well as restaurants, bars and assorted parties nearby.

Seizing on an opportunity to raise awareness and build ridership on its service, BART created the “Try BART Week” campaign, offering customers a chance to win numerous prizes daily (such as airline tickets, beverages, theater tickets, and ice cream), with the grand prize of a year of free BART tickets – a $2,500 value. To enter the contest, riders texted the “word of the day” posted on all BART platforms to a designated number during the week of Oct. 18-22. BART described “Try BART Week” as the “biggest and most intense ridership development effort in history.”

And when the Giants headed to the World Series after the promotional week concluded, BART continued to promote its service to baseball fans using its email and SMS messages. BART’s extra emphasis on riding its trains seemed to work, as a near-record total of 375,000 riders used BART in October alone.

How GovDelivery helps BART better connect with riders.

GSA unveils Notifications Dashboard on USA.gov –a valuable resource for agency information

The popularity and success of modern shopping malls and “super” grocery stores (including everything from food to major appliances) demonstrate Americans’ desire to have a wide variety of products all placed in a single, convenient location. Indeed, there’s seldom a need any longer to drive to many different places because it’s all in one place.

In a similar vein, the General Services Administration (GSA) in September launched its Notifications Dashboard, providing quick, comprehensive access to real-time updates and information about most any aspect of the United States federal government – all in one convenient place.

Powered by GovDelivery, the Notifications Dashboard on USA.gov provides a real-time, single entry point to receive messages from hundreds of federal agencies via email, SMS, RSS feed and social media channels. Whether users want the latest hurricane warning updates, tips on avoiding the flu this winter, product recalls, or automobile safety reports, it’s all there.

The Dashboard supplies users with a live stream of content with a Twitter-like search capability, as well as a filterable view of data and subscriptions available across federal government. And because GSA is running the site, any federal agency can add its notifications to the Dashboard, which can be accessed at http://notifications.usa.gov.

“This new service by GovDelivery makes it easier for the public to see what new information government is posting on any given topic in real time and makes it simple for people to register ongoing updates on topics of interest,” said Dave McClure, GSA Associate Administrator of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies.

”USA.gov’s recently upgraded search functionality allows the public to search for information across the entire federal government with ease, and this new capability complements that broad search by allowing the public to see the most-current federal updates on issues ranging from egg recalls and emergency alerts to health reform and foreign policy,” McClure continued.

Simply put, the Notifications Dashboard on USA.gov means obtaining data from government agencies will no longer require an exhaustive search of each agency’s site in the hopes of finding the desired information, or signing up separately for notifications on each individual agency’s website.

By registering on the Dashboard, all one needs to do is log on, enter a keyword in a real-time search box, locate a link from an appropriate agency, click subscribe, and then wait for a flow of information to head their way.

Start exploring the dashboard today at http://notifications.usa.gov.

Learn how Health and Human Services shared messages about H1N1

See a list of federal GovDelivery clients.

GovLoop Spotlight Project of the week: Challenge.gov

Challenge.gov is a platform which allows federal agencies to post challenges, and at the same time, allows the public to find challenges and solutions.

Earlier this year, GSA issued a Request for Information (RFI) for a no-cost solution and selected ChallengePost, which created challenge.gov. ChallengePost has experience working with government clients, having run New York City’s Big Apps and Apps for Healthy Kids with USDA and First Lady Michelle Obama, among over 100 total challenges.

For more details on how Challenge.gov got started, click here.

Go to Challenge.gov (http://challenge.gov) and see for yourself. Also, follow us on Twitter @ChallengeGov to learn when each new challenge is launched.

Want to be inspired? Read all about past Projects of the Week. Are you engaged in an extraordinary project? Tell us about it!

GovLoop reaches 35,000 members – and then some

In October, GovLoop celebrated the addition of its 35,000th member, but it wasn’t done there. By the end of the month, the number of GovLoop members neared 37,000. Hot topics in October included the use of social media by government agencies, employment and recruitment tips, and various aspects of Gov 2.0, among others.

Check out the latest, and join more than 37,000 of your fellow government employees at www.govloop.com.