Mayor's Social Media Task Force

Background

In July 2008, Mayor Bill White challenged the Houston chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) to use the new social media technologies to develop a way for the city's Super Neighborhoods and civic clubs to have virtual meetings. The underlying concern is that many residents cannot attend these civic meetings and are disconnected from the community.

Goal

The goal of the Mayor's Social Media Task Force is to develop a set of Web-based tools that allow communities to become better connected and to allow for better communications between citizens and their civic organizations.

Challenges

Many, if not most, of the city's Super Neighborhoods do not have financial or technological resources. There is a wide range of computer skills, access to hardware and software, and even to the Internet itself. There are approximately 40 active Super Neighborhoods and hundreds of civic clubs. Many of the active members of these organizations work full-time and spend a large proportion of their free time on civic activities. In addition, our initiative will not have a funding source.

Options

Since almost all civic clubs belong to Super Neighborhoods, the Task Force will concentrate its efforts on the Super Neighborhoods and large civic groups not served by Super Neighborhoods. We will provide a manual including our recommended avenues for conducting virtual meetings, better community communication, and interaction. This information can be passed down to their member clubs and can also be used for other social and networking organizations.

The Task Force will target the lowest common denominators for our intended audience. Some Super Neighborhoods already have well-designed Web sites and other communication devices. We will build our program for those without these resources. An assumption will be made that everyone will have access to the Internet and will provide information on cost-free options. This will include the City's Digital Inclusion initiative which will provide access points and wifi connections to underserved areas of the city.

Social Media Recommendations

From the many options for bringing communities together and providing a way to include those constituents in their local civic meetings and activities, the Task Force recommends Facebook for connecting the members of the community and allowing for a "push" form of event announcements. We recommend Google Sites as a free, easy-to-use Web site allowing for storage of and access to meeting agendas, minutes, and other information provided at meetings and within organizations.

Facebook provides the opportunity to see and get to know community members. Facebook's Group application allows organizations to place basic organization information as well as to post photos, videos, links, comments and event announcements, and to allow discussions.

What Facebook doesn't provide is a good storage facility for documents, such as minutes. Add-on applications may allow a certain level of document dissemination, but may require every member to download them to see the data. These also may not be easy to use for individuals who are not as technically trained. Facebook does allow links to be posted. Google offers free Web sites which provide a place to store documents, which can be accessed via links posted on Facebook.

The Task Force will also provide information on additional Social Media opportunities that groups may find advantageous as they become more experienced.

The Task Force will work with a couple of groups to test our programs. The City of Houston will then coordinate a training session for the Super Neighborhoods. The need for additional sessions or individual group training will be determined by that time.

For more information or to join the task force, contact Elaine Krause or Sandra Fernandez.