part iii putting a new face on internet communication

Part III

PUTTING A NEW FACE ON INTERNET COMMUNICATION

THE INTERNET’S IMPACT

United States 2008 Statistics

220+ million internet users (72.5% of US population)

130.9% increase in usage since 2000

48% report using the internet more than 1 hr/day compared to 26% in 2002

THE INTERNET’S IMPACT

Who’s using the internet? 75% of adult women and 73% of adult

men Breakdown of age groups surfing the web:

Ages 18-29: 87% Ages 30-49: 82% Ages 50-64: 72% Ages 65+: 41%

Men and those age 65+ posted gains greater than the national average in internet usage in 2008.

THE INTERNET’S IMPACT Since the launch of the new SBE

website: 17.4+ Million Visits including:

Voter Lookup: 3.5+ million views Precinct Finder: 1+ million views Election Results: 3.4+ million

views with 3,660 requests PER SECOND on Election Night ‘08

THE INTERNET’S IMPACT

• 7% of the County Boards of Elections in North Carolina do not have a working or active website.

• 31% of the CBE websites are single web pages consisting mostly of contact information.

THE INTERNET’S IMPACT Knowing what we know about the impact of the

internet in today’s world, are we effectively utilizing the internet as a communication tool? For many of us the answer is For many of us the answer is NONO..

How can the internet help us in our day-to-day business? It’s an untapped It’s an untapped RESOURCERESOURCE… … It’s your It’s your VIRTUAL OFFICEVIRTUAL OFFICE… … It’s a powerful It’s a powerful COMMUNICATION TOOLCOMMUNICATION TOOL..

How we can improve our internet presence during a budget crunch? It’s It’s EASIEREASIER than you might think… than you might think… And it may And it may SAVE MONEYSAVE MONEY..

SETTING UP YOUR VIRTUAL OFFICE

SETTING UP YOUR VIRTUAL OFFICE

Visualize for a moment walking into your elections office. Front door Public Work Station Board Room Director’s Office Staff Desk Equipment Storage Room File Room

SETTING UP YOUR VIRTUAL OFFICE

Now think of how these rooms correspond with public needs. Front door – welcome, office hours Public Work Station – source of information,

we’re here to serve you Board Room – minutes, provisional counting Director’s Office – notices are written, ballot

proofing Staff Desk – voter registration, precinct

assignment Equipment Storage Room – equipment

demonstrations, testing, election results File Room – campaign finance records, past

results, election costs

SETTING UP YOUR VIRTUAL OFFICE

How do we make our real offices

into VIRTUAL VIRTUAL OFFICES?OFFICES?

THE FRONT DOOR: THE HOME PAGE

CBE web sites can contain extensive information through tabs and special sections while maintaining a uniform look with the county government’s website. Buncombe CBE:

www.buncombecounty.org/governing/depts/election/

THE FRONT DOOR: THE HOME PAGE

Graphics or icons can help enhance a CBE web site while also providing direction for the user.

Wake CBE: www. wakegov.com/elections/

THE FRONT DOOR: THE HOME PAGE

The most user friendly site combines graphics, tabs and special sections to help any user to navigate a site quickly and easily.The welcome paragraph on the SBE site takes it to a new level. High quality content, especially on the homepage, makes a website more “Google friendly.”

NC State Board of Elections: www. sboe.state.nc.us/

THE FLOOR PLAN: TABS AND WEB PAGES

Recommended Tabs/Categories:About BOEAbsentee VotingBoard MembersCampaign FinanceCasting Your VoteCheck Your Voter RegistrationContact UsEarly VotingElected OfficialsElection CostsElection ResultsElection ScheduleFAQsGlossary

Kids VotingOne-Stop VotingPolling LocationsPoll Worker/Precinct OfficialsProvisional BallotsRegister To VoteRegistration StatisticsRelated/Resource LinksSample BallotsThe Right To VoteUpdate Your RegistrationVoter GuideVoting Districts

All three examples utilize tabs for site navigation and to provide additional content beyond the home page.

THE FLOOR PLAN: ADDITIONAL FEATURESA-Z Index: Cabarrus County, www.cabarruscounty.us/elections/

Contact Us Form/Subject Email Addresses: Forsyth County, www.co.forsyth.nc.us/elections/ and Buncombe County, www.buncombecounty.org/governing/depts/election/

Add Link to Pollworker Training: Clarity Training, http://nctraining.us/

FROM CONCEPT TO CONSTRUCTION SITE

BUILDING YOUR WEBSITE

Schedule a meeting with your county webmaster and/or IT department. Is website maintained in-house or through

vendor? Are there uniform guidelines or is website

at department’s discretion? Discuss updating/editing procedures.

BUILDING YOUR WEBSITE

Importance of the domain name.http://www.hendersoncountync.org/elections/

vs. http://www.countywewillnotname.net/index.php?

option=com_content&view=article&id=46&Itemid=56

Publicize the domain name. On your voicemail, letterhead, press releases,

notices, email signatures… every document that leaves your office.

Would the newspaper run a feature article?

BUILDING YOUR WEBSITE

How will you design your website? Option 1: It’s on your office computer today…

Microsoft Publisher has easy to use, effective templates

COST: $0.00 Option 2: Consult your IT department about

design Option 3: College students, interns, poll workers Option 4: Other software or outside vendors Option 5: Breaking News – SOE Software/Clarity

Connect

BUILDING YOUR WEBSITE

Design Tips: KISS Theory

“Make every dollar you spend on your site count. Forget about the cosmetics and focus entirely on functionality.” – Michael Fischler, ClickZ.com

BUILDING YOUR WEBSITE

Design Tips: COLORS Choose a natural palette; unnatural colors

cause eye fatigue Black text on white background

considered best for readability On average select 3 different colors and

stick with them; be consistent throughout the website

BUILDING YOUR WEBSITE

Design Tips: FONTS Avoid fancy fonts that are hard to read Remember that reading on a computer screen

is more difficult Best fonts to use – “Sans-serif” fonts:

Arial Futura Helvetica Lucida Optima Palatino Veranda

HOME (PAGE) IMPROVEMENT

HOME(PAGE) IMPROVEMENT: THE NEXT LEVEL Social Network Services/Websites focus on

building on-line communities of people who share interests and/or activities.

1 in every 11 minutes on-line globally is accounted for by social network sites.

These sites now rank higher than email in on-line categories.

67% of US on-line population visit such sites.

Largest increase in use: 35-49 year olds (11.3 million)

HOME(PAGE) IMPROVEMENT: THE NEXT LEVEL

Social Network Services/Websites include: Twitter Facebook My Space

YouTube, though not considered a social networking site, YouTube has transformed video communication.

HOME(PAGE) IMPROVEMENT: THE NEXT LEVEL

The 200 millionth active user joined April 8, 2009. In the last 2 months the number of Facebook users over age 35 doubled.

Twitter 1382% growth in active users in the past year. Percentage of users age 55-64 equals those between 18-24.

3rd most visited website behind Yahoo! and Google. Every minute 10 hours of video is uploaded to this site.

HOME(PAGE) IMPROVEMENT: THE NEXT LEVEL Taking communication to the next level.

HOME(PAGE) IMPROVEMENT: THE NEXT LEVEL Taking state government to the next level.

HOME(PAGE) IMPROVEMENT: THE NEXT LEVEL

Today we take the NC State Board of Elections and all 100 County Boards to the

next level.

THE NEXT LEVEL: FACEBOOK How can we utilize Facebook in the elections

field?Example: SCVotes.org and Dorchester County (SC) BOE

Dedicated to providing elections and voter registration information. Links to SCVotes.org and other related sites.

THE NEXT LEVEL: FACEBOOK How can we utilize Facebook in the elections

field?Example: Lucas County (OH) BOE

Helps Lucas County Ohio Board of Elections communicate with full time, seasonal, and election day workers. This is a closed group. Members must be invited or approved by an administrator.

THE NEXT LEVEL: TWITTER How can we utilize Twitter in the elections field?

Example: One-stop voting starts today.

Example: Followers can be alerted of short wait times at one-stop, the start of filing, polling place hours, & more!

THE NEXT LEVEL: YOUTUBE How can we utilize YouTube in the elections field?

Appleton, Wisconsin: “Poll Worker: Behind The Scenes”

YouTube Website: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLSKD83Wq7U

Cuyahoga Co., Ohio: “How To Vote An Optical Scan Ballot”

YouTube Website: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRRRlgtIdk4

North Carolina SBE: “You Have A Voice, You Have A Vote”

YouTube Website: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usTK7vLgGzU

Other Ideas: board meetings (St. Louis County, MO), how to absentee vote, man-on-the-street interviews – how’s one-stop going, how long is the wait

Don’t just put videos on YouTube… Links on your website drive more traffic!

NEW FACE ON INTERNET COMMUNICATION With effective use of the internet we

can accomplish the following: Provide information to the public 24-7 by

creating a virtual office. Deliver our message accurately. Reach existing voters and expand to new

voters. Show innovation and creativity in a time of

budget constraints.