Information Services Advisory Board
MINUTES
April 5, 2007, 6:00 p.m.
Town Hall Campus
Council Large Conference Room #10035
316 N. Academy Street, Cary, North Carolina
www.townofcary.org
Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 6:07 p.m.
Present
Lee Douglas, Mark Evangelista, John Fitzpatrick, Tangie Hofer, Helen Hutchings, Nazi Kite, Todd McGee, Guest Staff members Mike Mull, Neil Ghodke and Deanna Boone, and Staff Liaisons April Little and Teri Peralta
Absent
Terra Brown-Shelton, John Nolander, Vijay Raghavendran and Council Member Julie Robison
Proclamation
Mr. Evangelista introduced Ms. Little who read a proclamation from Mayor McAlister declaring the month of April to be Volunteer Appreciation Month and thanking members for taking the time to serve on the Information Services Advisory Board.
Approval of Minutes
Mr. Douglas moved to approve the minutes from the March 1, 2007 meeting with a correction to the Statement of Findings. Ms. Hofer provided the second and the minutes were approved unanimously.
Watch List
Mr. Evangelista asked if anyone had updated information on the Watch List items.
Mr. Fitzpatrick shared a document discussing the Web site overhaul and indicated that it could be discussed further after the discussion of RSS technology.
Ms. Little updated the board on the 11 dynamic message signs installed throughout the Town. She stated that two of the signs are not yet up and running – the one located on Carpenter Fire Station Road is waiting to be hooked up to power, and the overhead sign on US 1/64 is being installed by NCDOT as part of their project to improve US 1/64. She then explained that of the nine signs that are up and running, seven are fully integrated with the Traffic Management Center, while two signs on Highway 55 do not yet have communication with the Traffic Management Center. She noted that NCDOT is responsible to run fiber to these two signs as well. Ms. Little also informed the board that the 911 connection is just finishing up design and it is estimated it will be fully operational in the spring of 2008.
Mr. Evangelista indicated that he has been working on the 2007 Annual Report preparation and that he will incorporate this meetings statement of findings and e-mail the document to the board members.
Old/New Business
New Item
Mr. Evangelista added a discussion of Web site issues brought to him by members of the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Advisory Board to the agenda.
Old/New Business
RSS / Push Technology
Mr. Evangelista introduced Town staff who made themselves available to answer any questions board members might have concerning RSS and push technology: Mike Mull, Applications Manager, Neil Ghodke, Internet Applications Analyst and Deanna Boone, Public Information Specialist–Writer.
Mr. Mull stated that they would be happy to answer any questions members might have on the subject and suggested that they consider their objectives and what they hoped to accomplish with this technology.
Mr. Evangelista explained that the Web tends to be a passive information search tool and the board was wondering if this technology could be used effectively as an information exchange tool. Mr. Fitzpatrick added that with RSS could give people a way to be notified if new information has been provided on a particular topic or project. He felt that this kind of technology would be helpful to citizens would like updates on specific projects such as zoning cases.
Mr. Ghodke stated that RSS technology allows information to be delivered to a number of devices including email, cell phones and iPods, by using subscribing to an RSS feed. RSS aggregators automatically access the RSS feeds of Web sites an individual chooses and organizes the results. He explained that this allows new information to find the individual any time the Web sites have been updated.
Mr. Evangelista asked if using this technology could be integrated without staff involvement or if it would add to staff workload. Mr. Ghodke replied that ultimately it is an automated technology, but initial set up would require additional staff time.
Mr. Fitzpatrick added that when setting up RSS the Web administrator has to determine which topics to include, and it may be difficult to assess what will interest Web users, suggesting that perhaps site traffic could be analyzed to this end.
Mr. Ghodke also explained that there are third-party sites searching other sites for RSS updates on certain topics, and these are often referred to as “scrapers”. A disadvantage to the existence of scrapers is that there would be no way to track how many people are subscribing to a particular topic, noting that it doesn’t hurt the Town but a certain amount of control is lost.
Mr. Fitzpatrick reminded the board that this is the time to come to a decision on whether or not to make a recommendation on this subject while a Web site upgrade is underway. Ms. Hutchings reminded that for people to subscribe the information has to be of value to them, and added that these scrapers may be creating a value and then selling to a particular audience. She wondered if there was a real market for RSS on the Town’s site.
Ms. Boone pointed out that much of the information on the Town’s Web site does not change but serves as a point of reference. She added that
Mr. McGee added that the RSS just informs you of a change or update which still requires that you go to the source to see what change was made.
Ms. Hofer shared her research stating that the California government uses this technology, gearing toward personal regulation, requests for documents, legislative schedules and so on, noting that perhaps building on that concept would be helpful. Mr. Evangelista added that there might be specific topics that would be good to test within.
Mr. Evangelista ask board members to be more specific, noting that many are suggesting it s a good technology but not stating how they feel it should be used. Ms. Hofer acknowledged that there is an audience for segmented e-mail distribution and suggested developing a survey and polling the current electronic mailing list subscribers.
Ms. Boone reminded the board to be practical in their decision, explaining that because a technology is useful does not necessarily make it useful in all situations. She added that statistics are helpful, but they don’t always tell you the changing information that people want. Ms. Boone suggested first that the board members hold their own focus group among their peers. She explained that technology can be made available, but there has to be a distinction made between a need and a novelty.
Mr. Evangelista thanked the staff very much for being available to answer questions, stating that it was very eye-opening. He also thanked Ms. Little for coming in Ms. Moran’s absence.
Old/New Business
Web Site Concerns
Mr. Evangelista noted that Dennis Hoadley who chairs the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Advisory Board informed him that members of that committee and members of the Greenways Committee have some concerns about the Web site that they would like to speak with the ISAB about to see if working together could affect some changes.
Statement of Findings
Mr. Evangelista summed up by stating that the board listened to RSS as a portion of push technologies, were interested in its capabilities, discussed its limitations and content and feel we need to look at it further before going to council or staff with recommendations.
Citizen comments
Mr. Fitzpatrick noted that at the last meeting he asked about the new garbage trucks and coincidently he recently noticed they are being used on his route.
Member comments
Mr. Fitzpatrick briefly outlined some of his suggested guidelines for Web site redesign.
Mr. Evangelista reminded the board that Town Council meetings are available on video on the Web site.
Administrative
Mr. Evangelista noted that the next topic is the Annual Communications Plan, reminding them that because this is a rather lengthy document they should set aside time to review it before the next meeting.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 7:30 p.m.