Information Services Advisory Board
MINUTES
June 4, 2008
Town Hall Campus
Council Large Conference Room #10035
316 N. Academy Street, Cary, North Carolina
Call to Order
Mr. Evangelista called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.
Present: Lee Douglas, Thomas Eck, Mark Evangelista, Helen Hutchings, John Nolander (6:30 p.m.), Vijay Raghavendran, Council Liaison Julie Robison, and Staff Liaisons Susan Moran and Teri Peralta
Absent: Mary Margaret Barnes, Bruce Brown, Terra Brown-Shelton and John Fitzpatrick
Approval of Minutes
Mr. Douglas moved to approve the minutes from the May 7, 2008 meeting. Ms. Hutchings provided a second and the motion passed unanimously.
Watch List: Web Site Overhaul
Mr. Raghavendran observed that some financial Web sites offer a way link a number of accounts into one portal. He asked if that was something that had been considered with the Town’s Web site overhaul. Ms. Moran replied that it had not been discussed but was an excellent idea that she would share with staff.
Watch List: Traffic Management System
There was no discussion of this item.
Ms. Robison left the room at 6:32 p.m.
Watch List: Dynamic Message Signs
In answer to the question raised by Mr. Fitzpatrick at the May meeting, Ms. Moran stated that all but one of the dynamic message signs are working, noting that the sign on Highway 55 is waiting for the power to be hooked up by Progress Energy.
Watch List: RSS Technology
Ms. Moran informed the board that software has been purchased and staff is holding weekly meetings with the vendor to coordinate the Web site overhaul with that software coming online. Mr. Nolander asked about the use of the term RSS technology, and Ms. Moran indicated that from a public information perspective the idea is to get information to citizens the way they want to receive it. The board agreed to change the watch list item to “push technology”.
Watch List: Open Meetings Legislative Action
Mr. Nolander noted that this was put on the watch list because we wanted to eventually talk about virtual meetings and the public information act. Ms. Moran noted that council has a request for clarification on their legislative agenda, and the General Assembly is still in session.
Old/New Business: Biennial Survey
Prior to the discussion of the survey, Ms. Moran stated that staff has sent invitations to a number of colleges to speak to the board about observation training. She noted that while a couple professors have responded, when more information was provided they were not heard from them again.
Ms. Moran indicated that she hoped everyone had an opportunity to look at the biennial survey results online, and offered a hard copy of the statistics that most directly related to the board’s activities. The board reviewed some of the overall responses to questions concerning how well citizens feel they are being informed, how satisfied they are with the information they are receiving, the kind of broad issues that tend to drive this board. She also provided detail on how the information vehicle usage is changing and data on Internet penetration, which currently is at 96%.
Ms. Hutchings observed that traditional media still shows consistently higher scores than other media, adding that these numbers may change when use of handheld devices increases. Mr. Evangelista noted that someone may say they get their news from WRAL, but the response does not specify if they are going to the television station, the radio station or the Web site.
Mr. Eck noted that there is an important distinction between voluntary vs. involuntary information viewing. Someone may be reading the News and Observer and there happens to be a story about Cary, they will get the information, whereas the individual would have to go to the Internet and make a conscious effort to find information. He added that this may underscore push technology the board has discussed recently, noting that the individual can decide what is received. The group looked at word of mouth scores and discussed the various methods of communication that might be involved—such as water cooler discussions and blogs.
The board discussed how the survey results might be used in following through on their mission statement. Ms. Moran also asked that the group consider a future discussion about the pros and cons of push technology in the future, specifically the idea of how narrow the field of information requested may become.
Ms. Robison returned to the room at 6:53 p.m.
Ms. Moran reminded the board that it was important for them to see the survey results because it will likely have a bearing on the goal setting discussion. She noted that the information in the survey helps staff decide what resources and media would best be used to get information to the public. Mr. Raghavendran noted the distinction between a newspaper, which people have to pay for, and other sources which are free.
Ms. Moran noted that this is a relevant discussion to what’s happening in government right now. She explained that the Town of Cary has gone before the General Assembly asking for legislative authority to replace newspaper advertising of public notices with Web advertising, noting that several other communities already have this authority. She went on to say that the press association does not support it because the Town spends about $20,000 annually to place advertising in newspapers that only 75% of the citizens receive, and at a cost of $150 a year. On the other hand, she stated that 96% of Cary citizens have access to the Internet.
Ms. Moran also explained that the General Assembly has given this authority to communities who have no idea what the internet access of their citizens is because they don’t do regular research. She noted that Cary has been doing this research for more than ten years, which is why the Council feels comfortable asking for these options at this time.
Ms. Hutchings expressed a desire to use these figures to shape the goal setting for the board, and Mr. Evangelista encouraged the group to look at the complete survey online again to prepare for the next meeting.
Old/New Business: ISAB Goal Setting
The board agreed to consider goal setting at the July meeting and Ms. Moran agreed to come prepared to facilitate a discussion as the board directs.
Statement of Findings
The board took a look at the Citizen Satisfaction Survey and agreed to come back with a better understanding of citizen concerns and use that to prompt their setting of goals.
Citizen Comments
Ms. Robison said that a comment was made to her the other day by someone who watches the council meetings live every other Thursdays. She explained that because of changes to the schedule in May, this individual looked for the meeting on the wrong week and asked if the council meetings could be shown every Thursday night at the same time.
Ms. Moran replied that while staff would explore this, the channel’s programming lineup is relatively full and set, so something might have to be moved. Additionally, there are regular Council Committee meetings that occur on alternating Thursday nights, and cablecasting these live meetings must come first.
Member Comments
There were no member comments.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 7:17 p.m.