National Conference
September 7, 2022
Registration Desk – Grand Ballroom Foyer
7 am to 6 pm
Wednesday, September 7
Breakfast
Salon C, 8 - 9 am
Keynote Speaker
William Jackson
"The Unsung Heroes of the Digital Age"
Discovering, Developing, and Diversifying the digital presentation of government professionals
Salon A&B, 9:15 am to 10:45 am
Sponsored by:
All time are central
Thanks for Tuning In: Tips for Launching a Government Podcast
11 am – Noon
Room: Chicot
Go behind the scenes of the Inside the FBI podcast, a show that tells the Bureau’s story in audio form.
Learn the history of the series, including how FBI employees with no formal podcasting training worked together to launch it at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic! We’ll cover some basic equipment, software, and best practices that will help get your message to a brand new audience.
Three Key Takeaways:
- Follow the history of Inside the FBI as a case study of government podcasts.
- Learn the basic things you need to start a podcast at your agency. If you already have a podcast, learn some additional best practices for your show.
- Advertising your podcast can be key to getting listeners, but you don’t have to spend a dime–you can use your existing social media channels to spread the word.
Session Recorded
Online Civic Services and Going Paperless
11 am – Noon
Room: Grampas
So you’ve taken great steps to optimize your website experience for citizens. Congratulations! You’re only halfway done. In this discussion, we’ll explore why it’s also super important to ensure the user experience for businesses is also optimized. The tax revenue generated from better business relations could be the fuel for your next massive passion project.
Andrew “Leaves” Liebelt will talk through real-world implementations aimed at getting you inspired and ready to bring new ideas back to your team and your constituents. In this discussion, he’ll demonstrate why GovOS Studio (formerly SeamlessDocs) and the other solutions in the GovOS family of products are uniquely suited to the nuanced challenges of today’s digital world
Speaker
Come Together. Right Now. Over HTTP.
11 am – Noon
Room: Ouachita
Discover the best in open source web development software that brings together the latest in API integration, accessibility compliance, site performance, mobile responsiveness, security, and ease of use.
Key Takeaways:
- For Web Developers – Learn about features that create developer joy. It is easy to deliver powerful, secure, engaging user experiences.
Speaker:
Brian Mitchell
Lunch
Salon C, Noon - 1 pm
How to Become a WordPress Jedi: Fear is a Path to the Dark Side
1:15 to 2:15 pm
Room: Chicot
As the great Jedi Master Yoda once said, “Fear is a path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” And if you’re afraid of building your website in WordPress (or any other CMS for that matter), all of these things can surely happen. But today, you don’t have to be a Skywalker to master WordPress. With all of the user-experience improvements made to the WordPress editing interface over the past few years, now practically anyone can become a WordPress Jedi. You just have to control your fear, get a little training, have some patience…and use The Force. (Just kidding)
In this session, Ken Smith will explain how the barrier-to-entry for novices to create in WordPress has been lowered in recent years, and how you can use the WordPress “Block Editor” and new “Full-Site Editing” interfaces to build awesome government websites without years of training, meditation or light sabres. Ken will also share his experiences from more than 9 years of building and maintaining government websites on WordPress, including costs, options for web hosting, common issues, pitfalls to avoid, and mitigating security concerns. And he’ll share why he thinks WordPress is still underutilized as a Content Management System in governments despite powering 43% of the larger web.
Key Takeaways:
- Why You Shouldn’t Be Afraid of WordPress: WordPress is just like any other software, albeit easier to use than most. And it powers 43% of the web. Can that many people be wrong? Attendees will see real-world examples of best practices, common issues, how to make and keep your site secure and how easy it truly can be to get a site up and running in WordPress.
- How WordPress has changed for the better in the past 3 years: Attendees will get an extensive overview of the WordPress Block Editor and Full-Site Editing interfaces and how these interfaces truly do make the building process much easier. One prime example will be the City of Bryan’s 150th Anniversary Website built using the Block Editor.
- What do you need to actually make WordPress happen for you: Attendees will get an overview of what it truly takes to run a WordPress site in terms of costs, hosting, maintenance, and various other elements. Is WordPress right for everyone? No. Could it be right for a lot more governments than those who currently utilize it? Absolutely.
Session Recorded
Maturing Seamlessly: Olathe's Metamorphosis to a Modern Government Leade
1:15 to 2:15 pm
Room: Grampas
Are you managing multiple interfaces and third-party solutions trying to create a connected digital experience for residents? Are you struggling to get the buy-in and/or resources needed to meet modern expectations (I want it online, I want it now)? Scott Meyer, Digital Programs Manager for the City of Olathe, Kansas, has a story of digital transformation you’ll want to hear. Over the course of about six years, Olathe has undergone a strategic and phased metamorphosis, evolving into a modern government. Hear the key steps it took to get there, plus lessons learned. Learn how, just like Olathe, you can take a holistic approach to provide an omni-channel online experience that reaches, informs, serves and engages residents! And, spoiler alert, it’s possible through a single platform.
Key Takeaways:
Defining a path for digital transformation via your website and beyond to create a connected resident experience, plus getting the organizational buy-in to support it.
Establishing your role as a cross-functional leader of digital experience, able to identify possibilities and navigate solutions that effectively leverage technology across your organization.
Providing a modern, reliable citizen experience online that empowers self-service, encourages engagement, and delivers delight – boosting confidence and trust in your organization.
Scott Meyer
Are You "Content-Forward"? How the Right Content Strategy Can Save Time, Money, and Headaches
1:15 to 2:15 pm
Room: Ouachita
Designing a website without first taking stock of its content is like sewing a dress without measuring the person who will wear it. It might fit and be flattering or it might not. Interpersonal Frequency’s Content Strategy Lead, Kirsti Kenneth, has seen too many government sites wait too long to address their content needs, with sometimes disastrous results. In response, she developed a “content-forward” approach to website (re)design that’s built to minimize process bottlenecks and maximize efficiency. Plus, it supports higher quality content that enriches the user experience.
Key Takeaways:
Content matters. We’ll share a simple framework to evaluate government content because even the most beautiful, high-tech website will fail its users if the content is poor quality or just a bad fit.
Content knowledge matters. We’ll share tools to inventory and organize the content you have so you can build a website that aligns with your real-world content needs.
Content process matters. We’ll share tools and strategies to build a content team and effectively prioritize and revise content before development even begins.
Session Break
From 1 to 4 Stars: ATF's Journey to Improving its Internal Customer Service.
2:30 to 3:30 pm
Room: Chicot
ATF switched its entire internal customer service model by utilizing a third-party service desk product resulting in improved customer communication, increased productivity, and reduced repetitive errors.
This session will share ATF’s successes and frustrations on getting leadership buy-in, service desk customization, onboarding users and launching the product and provide insight into how to measure those successes and build on those failures.
Key Takeaways:
- Customizing a service desk product can improve customer and content manager satisfaction.
- Using a hands-on and visual training approach reduces customer confusion when adapting to new technology.
- Reducing repetitive tasks using automations, workflows, and customized templates.
Speaker:
Hadiza Buge
Speaker:
NeKeisha Philippeaux
Session Recorded
Solving Document Accessibility in Municipal Government
2:30 to 3:30 pm
Room: Ouachita
Document accessibility is a huge problem for municipal government. Title II of the ADA protects individuals with disabilities from disability-based discrimination in the services, programs, or activities of public entities. You may think you have an accessible website but any documents that are uploaded also need to be accessible and many municipalities struggle with how to handle the problem. Documents can have many authors, and many are not familiar with document accessibility requirements, much less how to do it. All to common is that despite efforts to make a website accessible, there can still be major accessibility issues, regardless of how well the underlying HTML code is accessible.
In this session presented by CivicPlus and CommonLook, we will discuss the scope of the problem, with many municipalities having thousands of inaccessible PDF documents on their websites that are a huge legal liability. We will show how you can use web analytics and accessibility reporting to generate a list of the most commonly accessed documents and their accessibility compliance so that you can tackle the problem in realistic sized projects and reduce the liability and at the same time, improve the overall accessibility of your website.
Key Takeaways:
- How big the problem is in municipal government with PDF documents published on your websites.
- How analytics and accessibility reporting tools can be used to determine priorities.
- Breaking the problem into manageable projects to make progress in incremental steps
Speaker:
David Herr
Speaker:
Don Torrez
UX Marks the Spot: Designing Meaningful and Inclusive Content
2:30 to 3:30 pm
Room: Grampas
Join Chesterfield County’s Chris Coleman and Lauren Henry as they discuss why inclusive digital communications are better digital communications for all users and audiences. Learn the why and the how behind the development of meaningful digital communications by reviewing regulatory compliance (ADA, WCAG, etc.), technical specifications, and elements of brand and style.
Key Takeaways:
UX is for everybody!
Inclusive communication is good communication.
Meaningful communication respects all audiences and builds trust based on consistency.
Speaker:
Chris Coleman
Speaker:
Lauren Henry
Snack Break
Grand Ballroom Foyer
3:30 pm to 4:15 pm
To Improve Digital Inclusivity, Take Cues From Your Government Website's User Success
4:15 to 5:15 pm
Room: Chicot
In theory, digital spaces can provide both services and better quality of life to more people than ever before. In practice, too many government websites are not serving diverse populations equally. You want your website to do better and attract historically underprivileged categories, but how do you begin?
Three Key Takeaways:
Emphasis on the wrong metrics leaves you totally in the dark about how your website serves those it was created for.
Serving your citizens well on your website begins with understanding what they intend to do and what obstacles are in their way. A highly-specialized civil analytics tool can
With the right data, you can make targeted improvements that directly and positively influence completion numbers. Instead of playing a guessing game, you’ll be able to diagnose and treat discrete issues.
Harish R Rao
Session Recorded
Integrated Online Forms: Opportunities and Challenges
4:15 to 5:15 pm
Room: Grampas
Enabling people to apply for multiple benefits in an integrated way has proven to be an essential but difficult-to-achieve component of more accessible and equitable government service delivery.
This session is a case study on the lessons learned through the design, development, and implementation of CiviForm, an open source integrated benefits application tool. We discuss the key design decisions that enabled a resident-friendly unified application experience, along with the operational and technical practices developed to help successfully onboard programs in multiple governments.
We share success stories from residents, community organizations, program offices, and IT departments, as well as present and future challenges. Finally, we look forward to promising opportunities enabled by integrated benefits applications, including increasing cross-enrollment, measuring and improving service delivery, and consolidating operational efforts across programs.
Three Key Takeaways:
- General understanding of the tradeoffs of using a single platform for benefits applications.
- Specific lessons learned from running CiviForm in multiple government contexts from the perspectives of communities, program offices, and IT departments.
- Key design decisions that enabled a resident-friendly unified application experience.
Speaker:
Aaron Ogle
Creating Next-Level Videos that Play to your Residents’ Emotions
4:15 to 5:15 pm
Room: Ouachita
In 2022, it isn’t enough to just have videos. Your videos need to break through to your residents and make a lasting impression on them. That means grabbing them emotionally regardless of the subject, whether it be public safety, community development, or recreation & parks.
In this session, Video Production Manager Connor McFadden will illustrate the difference between videos that fail to convey their message vs. those that succeed, and how to tailor videos for each specific platform. Topics include how to film footage for interviews & b-roll, tips for recording clean audio, selecting music that sets the right pace & mood, and even some (entry-level) visual effects tricks.
This session spans beginner, intermediate, and a few advanced techniques, offering something for all communications professionals, especially those with limited resources or production experience.
Three Key Takeaways:
- How to film footage for interviews & b-roll
- Tips on how to record clean audio
- Selecting audio/music to set the right mood
Speaker:
Connor McFadden
CELEBRATING 20 YEARS!
