Jan. 19, 2006
Location
Mid-America Regional Council (MARC), 600 Broadway, Kansas City , MO
Attendance
Susan Waters, City of Overland Park
Chris Audano, City of Overland Park
Karen Sorensen, Johnson County Wastewater
Barbara Hensley, Mid-America Regional Council (MARC)
Julie Wittman, Mid-America Regional Council (MARC)
Jim Clarke, City of Smithville
Kelli Behr, City of Gladstone
Anthony Oropeza, Johnson County Parks & Rec
Bradley Hook, Kansas School of the Blind
Angela Her, Wyandotte County Unified Government
Jennifer Wagner, Wyandotte County Unified Government
Nina Betts, Wyandotte County Unified Government
Paul Christos, Kansas City, MO Police Department
Sonya Fendorf, City of Shawnee
Rich Lovett, City of Kansas City, MO
Daniel Davis, Jackson County
Tom Erickson, Johnson County Sheriff’s Office
New Business
The group discussed the difficulties of maintaining a high attendance
at MAGWeb’s
meetings. The consensus was that changing the date or time of meetings would
only exacerbate the problem. The real key is to have good topics to attract
members to the meetings. Several people including Nina Betts, Rich Lovett and
Susan Waters volunteered to select topics for the upcoming year. Susan will
lead this group effort.
Sonya Fendorf inquired about the group's use of Visio. Members shared ways she can make an accessible image map for use on her Shawnee site. Sonya also asked for opinions about the name of her resident complaint page as it relates to marketing. The group suggested she market the name of the Web site overall rather than the individual pages.
Sonya then shared something interesting she learned through her studies at Johnson County Community College: when soliciting the approval of a Web site page layout, removing the color will lessen the emotion brought out when people view the design. Viewing colors brings forward feelings that may interrupt a person’s ability to judge the layout overall.
MAIN TOPIC – Promotional Items for Marketing Web Sites
The
members shared the various tools they use for promoting. Among the options
were: printed Frisbees, hacky-sacks, pens, document clips, banners, vehicle
labeling, magnets, magazine advertisements and cups. It is also important to
be sure that all regular correspondence includes the Web site address, such
as on email signatures, business cards, press releases, utility billing, letterhead
and phone greetings.
Other methods the members have used to drive traffic to the Web site include using the site to display job recruitment information, results of surveys or contests and event photos. Anthony Oropreza said his department has a style guide that mandates which items shall display the Web address and how, so that consistency is maintained throughout the organization.
Old Business
MAGWeb Chair Vacancy
After discussion of assigning members the task of selecting
and arranging topics and speakers for the upcoming year, Rich Lovett stated
that the majority of work involved in the chair's position is covered. He
asked Chris Audano if she would serve as chair to process meeting agendas
and run the meetings. Chris graciously agreed to fill the role.
NAGW Update
Chris and Rich displayed the new National Association of Government Webmasters
site and explained its features. The new pages will soon show conference
information for 2006. The site is still being finished, but the group
plans to launch it prior to sending out the first marketing email for the
conference.
Chris reminded the group that membership is free until Aug. 31. After that time, there will be a fee for annual membership, the amount yet to be determined. Some of the members suggested that the fees be based on organization size. Rich said that the benefits of membership include having input into the conference topics and having access to resources which will be available on the Web site. Because NAGW only has $1,200 in its coffers, which will likely be spent on legal fees for incorporation, the membership fees will be important to collect.
Peer Reviews
The group viewed the newly redesigned Web sites for the cities
of Merriam, Mission, North Kansas City, Olathe and Sugar Creek. Sugar Creek's
site was designed by a professional
design firm rather than city staff.
Kansas Legislation
Tom Erickson said that the Kansas Supreme Court recently
and unexpectedly ruled that it is unconstitutional for
agencies to provide access to public records via the internet. The supposed
argument is that it is unfair for residents of counties such as Johnson County
to have access to these records if other rural areas in the state do not have
the same access available. Tom said that Johnson County is gathering
other agencies to support the effort to challenge this Supreme Court action.
Next Meeting
Thursday, February 16, 2006, 10 a.m. at the Overland Park Police Department,
8500 Antioch Road. The topic will be designing Web style sheets
for display on handheld devices. Karen Sorensen suggested that the group
take a look at Opera.com because there are tutorials for creating handheld-accessible
pages.
Meeting minutes: Kelli L. Behr, City of Gladstone, MO