HomeMy WebLinkAbout07 12 16 MinutesCommunications and Technology Advisory Committee
Meeting Minutes
July 12, 2016
1. Call to order/Roll call
CTAC Chair Jessica Weber called the meeting to order.
Roll Call:
Brett Anderson ············· Present
Jim Anderson ················ Absent
Don Breidenbach ·········· Present
Erik Juhl ························ Present
Jessica Weber ··············· Present
Annette Thompson ······· Present
Dave Elbon ···················· Present
2. Approval of minutes
The minutes were approved as read.
3. Old business
A. Increasing Use of Our Current Social Media
i. Parks boosted post
Elbon reported on the results of a post about Camp Fest which was boosted at a cost of
$10. The post received an organic reach of 1400 and a paid reach of 3800. The small cost to
increase the post’s reach suggests that boosting a post is a good strategy for spreading the
word about important information where the City has an interest in reaching a wider
audience.
ii. Technology Village also boosted four posts over a month
Four Technology Village posts also were boosted over the course of the past month. A
typical example had an organic reach of 260 and a paid reach of 3200. Another example of
the potential value of occasionally boosting posts.
iii: LinkedIn or Google+ Snapchat for parks
The City is exploring the possibility of expanding its social media portfolio via these three
services. Elbon mentioned that Snapchat may be a good fit for Parks and Recreation
information because of its skew toward a youthful audience.
iv: City Own Facebook account. Need user name
Elbon and committee members discussed how to best manage the City’s Facebook
account. Elbon wondered about the efficacy of setting up a fake personal account to serve
as the account manager. Juhl noted that most cities give administrative access to staff
personal accounts rather than setting up fake user accounts, to align with Facebook’s page
management requirements.
4. New business
A. Review Social Media Policy
Elbon had asked CTAC members to review the social media policy soon to be presented to
council. Juhl noted that the old policy lists political speech as a prohibited category but the
new one does not. No other comments were made about the content of the draft.
B. WSUM education committee
CTAC discussed the Water Surface Use Management communications plan sent out for
review by Elbon. The plan recommends some ordinance changes for water use, tho ugh
much of the plan reflects rules already in place. Elbon noted that next phase is to set up an
education committee to help make the public more aware about the changes, improve
signage, and so on.
Thompson was on the task force that produced the plan and noted that the education
piece includes increasing awareness of current regulations as well as new regulations.
A suggestion was made to add informational banners at the wagon bridge. Elbon
mentioned that many ideas have come up and the proposed commun ications committee
will review them and come up with a strategy.
Weber mentioned that Nextdoor would be a good way to alert people near the water
about the regulations because messages can be targeted to specific areas within the City.
C. Council Chambers A/V equipment update
Elbon reported that the old A/V equipment in Council Chambers is nearing the end of its
useful life – for example, the Crestron screen/controller used to select video input for
chamber monitors is going blank and will be useless when it fails. Most of the equipment is
10 years old. The cost to do a full replacement will likely be $130 -150K.
The project can be spread out over three years, but doing so adds to the overall cost
because you need extra converters to connect the old equipment to the new and so on.
Elbon is obtaining four bids for the project.
PEG money may be available to help cover the costs. Elbon hopes to start the replacement
project by next year.
5. Announcements/Correspondence
A. New Cable Technician
A new cable technician has been hired. Kristin Thomas, who works at Burnsville as their
social media specialist, is working out really well.
B. Ordered new studio cameras budgeted for replacement
The City had three cameras, one newer HD camera (four years old) and two older SD
cameras. This year’s budget had money to replace the SD cameras, and Elbon has replaced
them with the same model HD camera we already had. By buying a 4-year-old model as
replacements, lots of money was saved, and all the cameras match which is us eful.
C. CGI Communications – Videos for website
Elbon reported on a proposal from CGI Communications to create a series of videos
promoting Prior Lake. The agreement would be for CGI to create the videos and for the City
to post them prominently on the website for a contracted period of time (e.g. 2 years).
CGI then sells ad space around the video where they post business logos with links to the
businesses.
Other governmental agencies who have used them reported that CGI was very aggressive
with local businesses and with the agencies themselves when for example a link wasn’t
working for a time.
Also, the website currently doesn’t include advertising, so that policy would need to
change if this were pursued.
After reviewing the comments by other agencies, Elbon decided not to pursue CGI’s offer
at this time.
D. Lakefront Music Fest by Rotary
Lakefront Music Fest is July 15 and 16. If attendees can provide Elbon with video from the
event, he will post it on the City’s social media.
E. Lakefront Days @lakefrontpark @cityofpriorlake
Lakefront days is August 4 - 6.
The medallion hunt begins July 16. Clues are scheduled for Wednesdays and Saturdays on
the medallion blog site.
Committee member suggested posting clues to Snapchat and/or current social media
accounts.
6. Adjournment
Weber moved to adjourn, Breidenbach seconded, and meeting was adjourned at 6:15 p.m.
Next meeting is scheduled for September 13 at 5:30 p.m.
Minutes were compiled by Erik Juhl.