Morris A. Enyeart, Ed.D. NJLM Web & Internet Consultant City Connections LLC Enyeart@citiesnj.com

Transcription

1 Morris A. Enyeart, Ed.D. NJLM Web & Internet Consultant City Connections LLC

2 Municipal Websites Current Status State Requirements Best Practices & Features The Technical Stuff Next Steps & 3 rd Party Apps Resources

3 Social Media Current Status Which Ones? Core Characteristics The Set-Up Municipal Successes Resources

4 Current Status 2012 Monmouth University Study of 540 NJ Municipal Websites What does it tell us? Nearly all have names of Mayor, Governing Body, municipal clerk and town hall address /message function. 90% to mayor, clerk and governing body 50% had departmental 20% had a general contact

5 Current Status 2012 Monmouth University Study of 540 NJ Municipal Websites What does it tell us? Financial Information at least 15% + did not have state mandated budget and financial reports Websites for larger towns are not necessarily easier to use

6 Current Status 2012 Monmouth University Study of 540 NJ Municipal Websites What does it tell us? In final ranking of towns, content was counted twice as heavily as ease-of-use Websites designed by 3 rd party vendors with multiple municipal clients tended to have better content and ease-of-use scores than those designed by staff, volunteers or single-client firms. Size did not matter Get the report Practices-Best-Municipal-Websites.pdf

7 Municipal Websites What are the State of NJ Requirements?

8 State of NJ Website Requirements Website requirements are identified in Best Practices Worksheet distributed by the State Current Year Proposed Budget and 3 years past budgets Most recent Financial Statements (AFS, ADS) and Audits Public Bids/RFPs Ordinances code book and approved, but not in code book

9 State of NJ Website Requirements Website requirements are identified in Best Practices Worksheet distributed by the State Contact information for the following - elected and appointed officials - manager/administrator, clerk, court administrator - all department heads including Police Chief - meeting dates, agendas, minutes for governing body planning board, BOA and all commissions - Website posting or on-site review of current salaries with 3 year history

10 POLL QUESTION

11 Municipal Websites Best Practices & Features

12 Core Characteristics for Best Websites In addition to State of NJ Requirements Locate important features in the same location on all pages, e.g. search box, social media, contact form Trash and Recycling: schedules with holiday changes and special storm changes Secure Forms and non-secure forms: make payments, background checks vs report a pothole, reserve a park pavilion

13 Core Characteristics for Best Websites In addition to State of NJ Requirements Online forms & applications at least top three for every department (PDF, not Word or Excel) Fillable vs nonfillable Community demographics, history, special characteristics, new resident information, links to community organizations, parks and facilities, video tour Public Records Request procedures and form

14 Core Characteristics for Best Websites In addition to State of NJ Requirements News and Resident Alerts/Advisories Listserv Resident Notifications for normal business and emergencies Boards, Commissions, Committees descriptions and online volunteer form

15 Core Characteristics for Best Websites In addition to State of NJ Requirements Pending and Approved Ordinances ~ 6 months Audio/video for governing body, planning board and BOA, tours, economic development Election Information Online Surveys, e.g. vendor performance, recreation, parks improvement budget, seniors, storm recovery

16 Core Characteristics for Best Websites In addition to State of NJ Requirements A multi-function calendar with Social Media integration Social Media official account links Handicapped Accessibility

17 Municipal Websites The Technical Stuff

18 The Technical Stuff Website Hosting in-house is not advised unless you have specialized IT staff with an in-house data center Use a large hosting company for a dedicated server, Virtual Private Server or Shared Hosting In the appearance and delivery of pages, there is no difference between a content management system and non- CMS websites. If you want a company to build the site and turn it over to you to do all updates, use an open standard Content Management System (Joomla, Drupal, etc.) and budget for unknown costs. Hire a company with municipal design experience & clients.

19 Municipal Websites Next Steps & 3 rd Party Apps

20 Next Steps & 3 rd Party Apps Do a review of your website annually, what are you missing? Create a 3 year plan for what functions/content you will add each year instead of trying to do it all at once. Change and Cost management Online payment applications Use a 3 rd party with demonstrated experience in PCI standards check to see who has responsibility in case of a breach Resident Notification systems Emergency Nixle, Global Connect, Code Red (make sure you can download the list data when you want it)

21 Municipal Websites Resources

22 Online Payment standards PCI Resident Notification systems icontact Constant Contact Calendaring systems MH Software Google Calendar

23 What Do the Best Municipal Websites Have to Offer? New Jersey Municipalities Magazine Dec Best Municipal Web Sites.pdf Monmouth University 2012 Best Municipal Websites Practices-Best-Municipal-Websites.pdf The Secrets to a Winning Website June 2013 New Jersey Municipalities Magazine Municipal Website Articles and Publications Municipal Web Site Articles

24 Municipal Use of Social Media Current Status Which Ones? The Set-Up Municipal Successes Resources

25 Is the municipal government use of Social Media Over the Top

26 There are more than 290 social media applications and the number changes every day Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+, Myspace, LinkedIn, Blogger, Friend Feed, Baidu, Baang, Instagram, Pinterest, Flicker, Cloudstorm, Socializer, Socialthing, Slideshare, YouTube, Orkut,VK, tagged, Meetup, MeetMe, Classmates, Reddit

27 In % of NJ municipal websites used social media (City Connections Survey of 200 websites) In % used Facebook & 14% used Twitter (Monmouth University Municipal Website Study) In % used Social Media (City Connections 540 websites)

28 What are the municipalities doing? Encouraging social interaction Putting up Road Signs on the Internet Highway Not sure, but we are jumping in with both feet

29 0f 540 municipal websites reviewed in 2013 Facebook 31% Twitter 21% Google+ 1% The rest of the Social Media Apps barely register

30 Of 169 NJ municipalities that used Facebook, 150 allowed the public to post comments and the world did not end!

31 What departments in the municipality are using Social Media? Facebook - Municipal - Recreation - Police/OEM Twitter - Police/OEM - Recreation - Mayor

32 Who is creating the social media sites? Elected Officials on their own inform constituents Police Departments emergency and outreach Recreation Staff targeting teens Municipal staff member, might be any department Outsourced to Vendors - Rarely

33 There is clearly no current general agreement on the value or best practice relating to the use of social media by a municipality.

34 Does that mean municipalities should not use social media? No they just need to decide WHY? WHAT ARE THE MUNICIPAL GOALS? WHO DO WE WANT TO REACH? WHICH SOCIAL MEDIA ARE THE BEST FOR US?

35 Social Media Which Social Media should we use?

36 It depends on the audience you want to reach and what you want to share. The easy answer is Facebook and Twitter because so many municipalities and people already use it. That doesn t make it the right answer, but it is the easy answer.

37 Use Facebook if You Want To: Highlight the social aspect of your municipality and foster a sense of community Reach more people in times of emergency Reach out to teens Not so quick here, the average Facebook user in the US is now 41 years old (Feb 18, 2014 CNN), but PEW Research (2012) says it is year old women Post municipal government information for comment and feedback or billboard style

38 Use Twitter if You Want to Blast Out: Emergency Notices Traffic Remind residents about events Display the twitter feed on your home page

39 Social Media The Set-Up

40 STEP 1: Set up the BASE Facebook account 1. Go to Facebook.com and sign up for a new account 2. For the name, not your actual name - try First Name: Michael Last Name: your town name 3. Create a specific real municipal address for the contact . It must be able to receive Birthday Pick something that is representative of the age group you want to attract. 5. Click on the Sign Up Button (Skip the steps for Find Friends, Fill out info, Choose Interests, Add Profile Pic ) 6. Click on Save and your base Facebook account is set up.

41 Remember - Do not create the base account in an individual s name it then belongs to them, not the municipality.

42 STEP 2: Create the Municipal Facebook Page(s) This will be your municipal Facebook page, not the base Facebook account you just set up. This makes it always available to the general public. 1. Log into the Base Account and in the browser address window (not the Facebook search field) go to 2. Select the graphic for Company, Organization or Institution 3. Select in the drop-down Government Organization 4. For Company Name type the Municipality name

43 STEP 2: Create the Municipal Facebook Page (continued) 5. In the About Section you will enter three items: Brief description Official Facebook page for the Town of your town, County, New Jersey, Zip, Phone Number, address. Add Another site Link to your municipal website Unique Facebook web address for your page e.g. WestWindsorTownshipNJGovernment or OceanTwpgovOceanCountyNJ

44 STEP 2: Create the Facebook Page (continued) Set Up (Municipality Name) 6. Check Yes for both questions. Is Cities Hosting a real organization, school or government? Will Cities Hosting be the authorized and official representation of this organization, school or government on Facebook? Municipalities must have the word Government in their Facebook address

45 STEP 3: Create the Municipal Facebook Page (continued) Profile Picture Use the Town seal size should be 180px square Cover Photo Large photo at the top of the page size is 851px by 315px jpg or png small photo will get stretched change the cover photo periodically if you want Click on Settings select Security Who can Follow Select Everybody Comments Set to everyone or Friends. You can track who is posting, be notified

46 Need to set up another Page for your Facebook Municipal Account for a Department or function, 1. Go back to STEP 1 (Create a page process) and create the new page 2. Add the department, change the contact information in the description 3. Add the first Facebook page to the Favorites 4. When finished, go to the first Page you set up and add it as a Favorite to people can get to it easily within your Facebook site

47 POLL QUESTION

48 Social Media Municipal Successes & Resources

49 Shore Community Manasquan West Windsor Township - Social with a side of government Jersey City Page/ Hoboken

50 Municipal Social Media Policy Metuchen Social Media & Municipal Government ment% pdf Social Media in New Jersey Municipalities

51 The New Jersey League of Municipalities Web and Internet Consulting Service can help answer your questions It is a FREE benefit of your municipality s membership Morris A. Enyeart, Ed.D. NJLM Web & Internet Consultant City Connections LLC Enyeart@citiesnj.com