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On Friday, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission held a roundtable discussion throughout the day on “Voting Goes Viral. Using New Media to Manage an Election and Communicate with Voters“. The archived video of the webcast is available here.

An Introduction

Their premise going into the day?

There are a multitude of social media sources for information about elections and voting. In this rapidly moving, multi-source environment it is more important than ever that there are official resources about voting that the public can rely upon. (source [PDF])

Here’s some interesting statements that are made in the Agenda and Meeting Information [PDF]

There is more information about the event at the bottom of this post…

• The voting public increasingly relies on information that is generated and exchanged amongst themselves, about elections, including the basics of how, where and when to vote. Candidates, parties and voting activists have their own strategic uses of social media. Social media outlets are the platforms in which information about elections is being shared and repeated.
• Journalists and election officials share a common goal of informing the public about election procedures and election outcomes, and both groups are using social media to inform the public.
• An important point to make about social media is that it is not a technology; it is a culture. And, yes, it can be scary and unfamiliar to some of us. However, we have to remember our goal – serving voters. They are on Twitter. They use Facebook. And we have a responsibility to go where they are and make sure they have reliable, credible information about exercising their right to vote. Remember, using social media is not about getting a return on your investment; it’s about having conversations with the people you work for. It’s about collaboration, interaction and it is the way business is being done.
• In an era of dynamic changes in voting technologies, increased voter expectations and reduced budgets, journalists and election officials need to find common ground and explore ways to improve the efficiency and effectives of communicating critical election information to the public. A natural tension between these two groups has been speed versus accuracy regarding unofficial election results.
• The social media environment is fast-paced, unforgiving and can be cruel. If you enter it, you will make mistakes, big and small. It’s important to develop a strategy, but also be confident enough to experiment. At the end of the day, election officials should always remember that these efforts are being undertaken on behalf of the public. You want to make sure they have accurate information about how to successfully cast a ballot. Get ahead of rumors and take advantage of this built in early warning system. Get unfiltered feedback, which all true leaders want. It may get weird out there, and it is normal to be scared, confused and excited. But you are helping more people and you are accomplishing your mission.

Insights

The archived video of the webcast is viewable here.

Here are some Tweeted insights from the @EACgov Twitter account from throughout the day …

More Information About the Event

Their Agenda included the following sessions:

• Social Media: What Is It?
• Social Media: Who Uses It?
• Journalism and Social Media
• Strategies & Stories from Election Officials

Participants included:

• Chuck Todd — NBC News political director
• Lee Rainie — Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life project director
• Chris Chambless—Clay County, Florida, supervisor of elections
• Alysoun McLaughlin — District of Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics public affairs manager
• Brian Newby — Johnson County, Kansas, election commissioner
• Dana Chisnell — the Usability in Civic Life Project

Also, see techPresident’s post about the event.

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Gov't & Technology, Local Government, Open Government, Tech Tips

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“NJ court: High costs is denial of access; awards atty’s fees” (The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press)

(HT Virginia Coalition for Open Government email)

“[Quincy] Massachusetts Turns on Camera for Court Proceedings” (GovTech.com)

• “The initiative, called “OpenCourt,” incorporates digital technology such as video streams and live broadcasts and makes the media available on the OpenCourt website. The Quincy District Court has set up a Wi-Fi network and a designated area for bloggers and citizen journalists to Tweet and use Facebook and other social media during court proceedings.”

“States Lead the Way on Contract Disclosure” (OMB Watch)

• See how the Federal Gov’t did in the article…

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“Seeking Osama: Anatomy of a News Firestorm in a Cross-Platform Environment” (comScore)

“Here at comScore, we were curious to understand how others may have experienced this news, so we decided to do a little digging. Our analysis looks at the 24-hour period beginning at 7:00 PM ET on Sunday, May 1, and ending at 7:00 PM ET Monday, May 2. To understand Americans’ news consumption patterns in the aftermath of the news, we’re going to begin by gaining some overall perspective into how Osama Bin Laden (OBL) news coverage was consumed across various media, then we’ll examine some of the consumption patterns in relative terms.”

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“Effectively Engaging the Public” (Governing)

• “The first step, of course, is finding out what the public really wants from its government. For years, we’ve talked to government officials who yearn to hear more from their citizens. Open hearings, though, are not necessarily the answer. They tend to draw small numbers, and those small numbers are often made up by the same people, with the same vested interests, regardless of what topic is being discussed.”
• Ah, but what if citizens were able to see only the portions of the meeting that mattered to them? A reason that people might not attend could be that they’re busy and meetings are long/not all about what they’re interested in. What if they had on-demand video of government meetings where you could watch (and search) by Agenda item?

A Week to Celebrate: Public Servants & Municipal Clerks

Oklahoma, where the tech comes sweepin’ down the plain…

• There is a conference going on in Oklahoma related to government and technology…

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Open Gov Links of the Week

#gov20a, accessibility, citizen participation, clerks, FOIA, government transparency, local government, Open Data, open government, public servants, social media, stats

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This week is celebrating two large groups of government employees: Municipal Clerks and all of those in Public Service. So thanks for the service that many of you provide that goes unnoticed!

Public Service Recognition Week

About: Public Service Recognition Week (PSRW) is hosted annually by the Partnership for Public Service and the Public Employees Roundtable.

Their website has a “Celebration Toolkit” and an “Events” page to help you celebrate the week.



Municipal Clerks Week

“This event features a weeklong series of activities aimed at increasing the public’s awareness of Municipal Clerks and the vital services they provide for local government and the community.” (source, PDF)

“The true worth of the Municipal and Deputy Clerk is often not realized,” said IIMC President Sharon K. Cassler, MMC, Clerk of Council in the City of Cambridge, Ohio. “But Clerks perform some of the principal functions of the democratic process.” (source, PDF)

Here’s a “Fact Sheet” (PDF) on the week.



*Also, May 3rd is World Press Freedom Day.

Information on their Webcast Series can be found here.


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HT to GovLoop for the reminder about PSRW, to the NC Clerks Listserv for the heads up about Municipal Clerks Week, and to this Tweet on Twitter from @digiphile / this search for multiple Tweets the on #WPFD Twitter hashtag on Twitter.

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