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Engage Your Citizens with Data-driven Storytelling

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Webinar Panelists

Kate BenderSENIOR PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT ANALYST

Kansas City, MO

Thom RobbinsSENIOR PRODUCT MARKETING MANAGER

Socrata, Inc.

Kate Bender is a senior analyst with the Office of Performance

Management, part of the City Manager’s Office in Kansas City,

Missouri. One of her first responsibilities after starting with the

city in 2007 was to analyze 311 data, which became the

foundation for the development of the Office of Performance

Management in 2009. In the 4 years since, the Office of

Performance Management has developed a new framework for

analysis and reporting that integrates other data sources such as

citizen survey data and department performance indicators and

reports out to the public via KCStat.

As Socrata’s chief product marketer, Thom focuses on helping

people understand what Open Data can do for them. He is a

guiding force in demonstrating the value of Open Data, the

versatility of the Socrata platform, and how public sector

organizations can leverage data technology to better engage

constituents.

A prolific business writer, Thom helps bridge the gap between the

technical needs of developers and the aspirational desires of

forward-thinking government leaders. He has authored many

books and articles, including, “If Abraham Lincoln Were a CMO.”

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An Example StoryDoes This Resonate?

Levy and Bond Information

Seattle voters have a long history of support for our

students over the years, approving funding for day-to-

day operations as well as capital projects.

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An Example StoryIs This a Better Start?

Levy Technology $ / Student

$6,000

$5,000

$4,000

$3,000

$2,000

$1,000

$

SEATTLE

2010

SEATTLE

2013

LAKE WASHINGTON

2014

BELLEVUE

2014

$749.35$1,062.86

$3,273.80

$5,449.31

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WelcomeWhat’s The Power of a Story?

“People are more interested in a great story than

in the storyteller. If you want to get your point

across, you need to learn how to condense your

data into a good story.”

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The Power of Story Telling Good Stories Compel People to Change

The Way We Feel

Stories demand an

emotional investment

The Way We Act

Stories bring energy

to the message

The Way We Think

Stories pique

and hold interest

The Way We Behave

Stories cause

us to take action

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Story Rule #1

Content

(Data) is king

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Story Rule #2

Collaboration

is Queen

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Lessons from the Private SectorThe Value of Story Telling

Emotional branding is a progressive marketing strategy used that

has been shown to drive revenue and increase customer retention.

How a person feels about your brand typically determines whether

they buy your product.

A brand is a matter of perception. When you tell a story that embodies

human challenges, you create an experience that resonates with your

customers.

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Storytelling CharacteristicsMixture of Marketing, Branding, & Fiction Writing

1. Speak Truthfully – Honesty, transparency an consistency are vital parts of any story and all stories

should be rooted in in your citizens reality.

2. Infuse personalities into stories – Boring stories won’t attract and retain people, but stories

brimming with personality will.

3. Create characters you’re your citizens will root for – Create characters that enable your audience

to become emotionally connected and want to follow them

4. Include a beginning, middle and end – Fictional stories follow a structure that includes a beginning,

middle and end. Your data stories should follow a similar structure.

5. Don’t give it all away – Make sure your data stories are page turners and focus on leaving your

citizens wanting more.

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Welcome to the New DigitalQuestions to Ask as You Build a Story

What is the story and narrative behind everything you do?

How can you get to that story that part of your citizens DNA instead of just the facts

How do you connect with people in the language they understand?

How do you create the stories that cause people to change behavior or perceptions

What about the stories your citizens are already telling?

How do you listen and and include them?

How much control can you realistically have?

How can you contribute and shape the story with your own information?

Q:

Q:

Q:

Q:

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Time

Methods

Classifying Data Stories4 Dimensions of Stories with Data & Analytics

Focus

Depth

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Classifying Data StoriesTime-based Stories

Analytics stories about the past, present,

or future

Past

Most common type of analytical reporting is about the past

(it’s reporting)

Present

Most involve a survey and stories of what people

are currently doing

Future

Predictive model based on the past

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Classifying Data StoriesFocus-based Stories

Telling a “What”, “Why” or “How” to address

the issue in the story

What stories

Like reporting – they simply tell what happened

Why stories

Go into underlying factors that caused the outcome

How to address the issues

Focus on ways to improve the situation identified in the What and

Why stories

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Classifying Data StoriesDepth-based Stories

“CSI” Stories

Relatively small ad-hoc investigation to find out why something

sub-optimal is happening

Eureka Stories

Long, analytical-driven searches for a solution to a problem

Tend be long, important and expensive to getting stakeholder

buy-in is vital

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Classifying Data StoriesMethods-based Stories

Different types of stories based on the analytical

methods used

Correlation story

Relationship among variables rose or fell at the same time

Causation story

One variable caused the other

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Thank You!

Find Us!

Socrata.com

Follow Us!

@Socrata

Friend Us!

facebook.com/socrata

Watch Us!

http://www.youtube.com/user/socratavideos

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LEVEL OF DATA MATURITY

Consumer-style web &

mobile interfaces

Accessible storytelling

tools for Publishers

Open Performance and

fact-based decision

making

Robust, high-

performance data APIs

and developer

resources

Automated, real-time

data publishing

Turnkey, UX optimized

apps for high-value data

LEVEL 4

Data as

a Platform

Automatic syndication to

the Consumer Web

Built-in Apps Ecosystem

Data for analytics and

predictive modeling

Intra-government data

federation

Open connectors to

enterprise systems

Domain-specific peer

benchmarking

Location awareness and

mobile by default

Crowdsourcing data and

insight

Sensor-based streaming

data and apps

Data science-enabled

semantic discovery

across the network

LEVEL 5

The Open

Data Network

Scattered spreadsheets

and PDFs online

Legacy custom

web apps

LEVEL 1

Pre Open Data Silos

Basic catalog of

downloadable files

(CSV, XLS, SHP, ZIP,

PDF)

Metadata/Catalog APIs

LEVEL 2

The Catalog Phase

IT resource-intensive

development project

Manual data publishing

Limited interactivity with

basic data tables, and

visualizations

Social sharing

LEVEL 3

Basic Interactive Experience

Our Approach to Customer ValueProducts Designed to Support Program Maturity