Social Media, New Orleans, and the 2010 Mayor’s race

With the 2010 New Orleans Mayor’s race heating up, we decided to reach out to some of the potential candidates and see how they are using social media.   To clarify for our readers, wikipedia defines social media as:

primarily Internet- and mobile-based tools for sharing and discussing information among human beings. The term most often refers to activities that integrate technology, telecommunications and social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio. Businesses also refer to social media as user-generated content (UGC) or consumer-generated media (CGM).  Social media comes in many different forms, including  blogs, wikis, podcasts, pictures and video. Examples include Wikipedia, MySpace, Facebook , YouTube, Second Life, Flickr, and Twitter.

Beyond a candidate’s typical use of social media for getting themselves elected, we wanted to find out how they intend to use social media once they are elected to increase direct democracy,  improve transparency, and help rebuild New Orleans.  James Perry, the Executive Director of the Greater New Orleans Housing Association, is the first mayoral hopeful to discuss social media.

How are you currently using social media to promote your campaign?   Do you have any additional plans to increase your usage of social media as the campaign moves forward?

If there is a web 2.0 application, we are using it. Facebook is such an incredible tool now for organizing. It allows people to see our activity, see pictures of events, and invite their friends to be our friends.  The best part is that it’s all free. Our “Convince James Perry to run for Mayor” Facebook page shut down for more than five hours, because so many people invited their friends to the group. Last I checked, over 4000 people had been invited. We also have a political fan page that gets feeds from our blog on our website, which is done through Word Press.  We also use Twitter extensively. The more updates you do, the more “followers” you get. Through google analytics (we also integrate google on our site with the maps and calednar feature), we are able to track where our traffic comes from. And it turns out that we get thousands of hits from twitter and facebook. Since bloggers are a crucial part of a 21st century campaign, we also add photos to our Flickr page, so that writers can use photos for their postings about the campaign.  We routinely provide bloggers with ideas for posting that relate to the campaign. The key to any successful website is constant activity. We are very busy on the campaign trying to reach as many people as possible and we want that to be reflected on these social media tools.

How do you think social media is changing the way politicians can govern (as opposed to merely campaigning)?

The Obama administration, as usual, is on the forefront of this approach.  He used and is using change.gov and recovery.gov to rally citizens in support of the stimulus package and to make sure citizens understand it.  We see a comparable approach to engaging citizens.  We’ve discussed using a Facebook style web 2.0 application to allow citizens across New Orleans and the country to share information and learn about important matters affecting the City.  The ability to instantly share documents, video and photos can allow people at home and the office to be part of government.

How do you intend to use social media if you are elected?

A key component to a more efficient city government is access to public records. New Orleanians should be able to access as much data as they want. A transparent goverment starts with good, hard data. We also will use new social media concepts to transform the city contracting process. A major part of our campaign is to implement the “blind” contracting process. If elected, we will have the Inspector General dedact the names of the contractor and a committee will be created to judge a proposal based on its merits rather than how much they donated to an elected official’s campaign. Citizens will be able to see online the names of all the contract proposals and will have the opportunity to judge the best one as well.

What are top two biggest problems facing our city’s recovery?  Do you see any opportunity solve those problems through an increase in civic engagement through social media?

I’d like to bend the rules a bit and offer three problems not necessarily in order of priority:  crime, housing and transparency.  Each area relies on availability of data to properly understand the problem, gain the trust of citizens and ultimately solve the problem.  Social media allows a community to do this instantly.  Housing recovery is a great example.  It is extremely difficult to find out what is happening in neighborhoods from a housing perspective.  But a Facebook style application that listed all properties that were blighted, had permits, had liens, water service and power service would make it easier for a Katrina evacuee to determine what was happening in his or her neighborhood and a make an informed decision about returning. Soon, most if not all government web applications will rely on a web 2.0 approach.

Thanks, James!  We also want to welcome all other candidates out there to get in touch with us to discuss your plans for social media, New Orleans, and the 2010 Mayor’s race!

The Corps gets public input for MRGO ecosystem plan

Last week, on November 3 and November 6, the Army Corps of Engineers held two meetings around New Orleans to solicit public input on a plan aimed at restoring and maintaining the areas affected by the now de-authorized Mississippi River Gulf Coast Outlet (MRGO).  The Corps invited public input on two major issues:

1. What are the most important issues, resources, benefits, and impacts that should be considered?

2. Are there any other restoration features or modifications to the restoration features identified that should be considered?

The real question is whether the Corps was really seeking input for the plan, or whether they were conducting the sessions as a mere formality?  Indeed, the public notice released by the Corps states that the public meeting is required for compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act.

While most agree that Katrina turned MRGO into a hurricane highway that contributed to the city’s flooding, closing the channel outright seems like an extreme step, particularly in light of the fact that other measures, like flood gates and wetland restoration, could be designed and built to protect urban areas from flooding while still providing the shipping industry with a short route to the gulf.  I guess it becomes a question of resources…how much would it all cost and do the benefits outweigh the expenses?

The Green Corridor Plan seems to be a politically impossible, yet logical solution to the MRGO problem, the State’s energy concerns, and economic development in the New Orleans region.

From Greencorridor.org:

The “Green Corridor Solution” is not just a plan, but a system. A system designed to solve most of the major problems facing Louisiana today – Permanent Wetlands Funding, Green Energy, Hurricane Protection, Economic Development, Habitat Restoration and National Political Acceptance to create a stable future for Louisiana and its citizens.

The system is designed to utilize all of Louisiana’s assets to bring together one plan of action, create 150,000 permanent jobs and start an era of economic expansion that will be unequaled in the modern world.

If any of the following are important to you, then Green Corridor can use your support.

• Permanent wetlands restoration & funding
• True protection for the city of New Orleans
• Fuel adjustment charge “off” your utility bill
• Reduce need for fossil fuels & lower our carbon footprint
• 150,000 permanent new jobs
• Beaches in Louisiana
• New Orleans the Queen of the South, again!

Can the massive GreenCorridor plan gain enough traction to overcome the critics?

Click here for the master plan.

New Orleans attempts crowd-influenced Zoning ordinance

On September 27, 2008, New Orleans residents were invited to participate in a yearlong process of creating a 20-year master plan for development. The master plan will create a citywide framework to guide decision-makers in promoting economic development, better housing, improved infrastructure, environmental quality and other goals while preserving the city’s architectural and cultural legacies.

The forum’s theme is “Creating a Vision for New Orleans’ Future Together.”  The yearlong forum seeks to engage residents such that the new ordinance reflects the values, aspirations, and priorities of the whole community.  A website has launched with information and to keep residents up to date on the progress.  Citizens can also participate through resident surveys, public meetings, community groups, and work groups.

While its great that the city is attempting to increase input from its residents, my guess is that this will still be a primarily top-down approach to overhauling the zoning. The City Planning Commission has hired Goody Clancy, a Boston planning and architectural firm, to lead the effort to create the master plan and will be paid at least $2 million for the job.

While tools like Policypitch.com use the internet to make crowd-sourcing public policy more effective, it begs the question: can a city zoning ordinance truly be developed by the crowds?  Don’t we need to use professional urban planners and lawyers to draft the plan?  So, while this is a good step in the right direction, is society at a stage yet where public policy can be developed by its individual residents?  Any ideas?

More info about the master plan at: www.nolamasterplans.org

504ward.com: successful community crowdsourcing for local change (Part II)

The initial meeting took place in November 2007.  About 25 New Orleans residents showed up, brainstormed, met in focus groups, and exchanged ideas.   Many community meetings followed.  In February 2007, the group wrote an RFP for the website design and branding of the campaign.  The Ideavillage team selected four companies to present.  In March, a collaborative team of about 30 community residents, mainly young people, watched the presentations, and voted on a theme and a company.  The Netcom Group and the 504ward.com campaign won the day. From that point, Ideavillage took the ball and rolled with it.  Jessica White was hired to coordinate the launch.  Hundreds of behind the scenes meetings took place.

And finally, last night, in true New Orleans style, some 504 New Orleanians attended the historic launch of 504ward at Tipitinas.  The final product is 504ward.com, a collaborative initiative designed to retain the influx of young movers and shakers who are arriving by the hundreds in New Orleans.  The initiative has 4 major components: 504connect, a connection program to help our young talent develop cross-generational roots and relationships to better navigate the New Orleans Networks; 504explore, our very own insider’s guide to the cultural escapes and social happenings on tap in New Orleans; Talent Profiles, featuring one young cultural rock star each week in CityBusiness (be sure to check out this week’s cover story!); and the $100,000 business competition for entrepreneurs with ideas to retain New Orleans’ young talent.  An effective and efficient job board for young people is also being developed for 504ward by NOLA YURP.

The 504ward story is a successful example of crowdsourcing for local policy change.  The community identified a problem, leaders stepped up, citizens joined in the collaborative process and followed through, and most importantly, the professional services and resources were donated (office space, wed development, legal, marketing, website optimization, PR, advertising, etc.) to make it happen.

See the competition video:

PolicyPitch.com featured on the NOLA 100 List by Alldaybuffet!

(originally posted August 25, 2008)

The guys at Alldaybuffet released their long awaited NOLA 100 List today – and we made the cut in the Social Innovation category! ADB’s Mike Karnjanaprakorn describes the list:

“The New Orleans 100” is a worldwide initiative that will highlight and encourage discussion among millions about 100 of the most innovative and world-changing ideas to take root in the city since Katrina.

After hearing so many of the positive changes and innovative projects post-Katrina, we’ve decided enough is enough. It’s time to put an end to the negative press in mainstream media. We know that the levees broke. We know that our city is dysfunctional. We know that. But do you know about Prospect.1? Or about the influx of young professionals into New Orleans? The world needs to know about the NEW New Orleans. And to quote Brad Pitt, “If you’re going to rebuild something, why not rebuild it right?” Amen brother.

Click here for the full list.