HomeMy Public PortalAboutFinal TC Technology Comm minutes 1 27_201603011132557032Meeting Minutes
Technology and Communication Town Council Committee
Wednesday, January 27, 2016 at 6:00 PM
Council Office, 2nd Floor Town Hall
Present: Councillors Kenneth Woodland, chair; Susan Falkoff, vice chair; Lisa Feltner, secretary
Also Present: Joseph Mahoney, Watertown IT Manager 617-972-6463;
David Stokes 617-839-4970 david.m.stokes@gmail.com;
Bob Erickson BobErickson@rcn.com; Councillor Vincent Piccirilli
Approval of Minutes: none, as this was the first meeting of the 2016-18 Technology &
Communication ad -hoc committee.
AGENDA: Review of Watertown's website, and how the Community receives information.
Old Business:
• Roundtable of previous "CIT" Committee discussions, convened January 2013.
• Discussion of See -Click -Fix and current use.
• Two main issues are (1) content and (2) management of content. Currently each town
department has the responsibility of adding their own content using templates, but they
are —7yrs old.
• CivicPlus is our current website provider; they offer custom designs, built-in features,
and now have a mobile application.
New Business:
• Review other municipal websites, including recent MMA award winners.
• Focus on website features and identify what we want (content).
• Explore 2 -way communication opportunities with the Community.
• Explore expanding See -Click -Fix capabilities. At the MMA Annual Meeting, the panel
emphasized the importance of having a "champion" (doesn't have to be IT personnel)
and a designated community rollout to make it more successful in awareness and users.
It is designed to empower, engage and increase efficiency; it is the platform that powers
Commonwealth Connect, in which Watertown participates.
Joe mentioned that "Virtual Town Hall" is still available. He is the designated webmaster but that is
not his expertise; we can request a redesign from CivicPlus. Positive aspects of CivicPlus are (1)
Support (2) Ability to change content and add features (3) Ease of use, without having to program
(4) Functionality (5) Understanding of local government needs. Action: The Committee will focus
on content needs for next meeting, before discussing specific web design or management, and
reach out to Schools, and other departments, about what they like.
Next Meeting: TBD
Adjourned: 7:05PM
Respectfully submitted, Lisa Feltner
Date Approved