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Pimping out council websites: London Bridge & VW Inspirations – Get your bagpipes out & play the piano!

21 January 2010 No Comment

Hi guys and dolls ;o)

Its certainly been a while since I’ve written anything original. I’ve been quite busy getting other stuff sorted that I even missed announcing my 1 year anniversary last month. That’s right peeps, LGEO Research is now 1 year old!!! Yay

Anyways, the new year is here and we’re all already gearing up to face new challenges in our careers and everyday life. Though I have to say my new years resolution is not as exciting as others but hoping “taking everything in my stride” is a good way to ensure the year takes off to a good start. Another thing is “whatever happens, don’t panic, relax!” lol

Visiting Alice Ainsworth at Southwark Council

So today I was visiting a fellow Twitterati from Southwark Council and social media blogger Alice Ainsworth to talk about issues surrounding my new task at work. After announcing that I would be working on redesigning a council website project, Alice kindly informed me that she was doing the same too. So she ever so kindly invited me to talk to her and swap ideas and her experience so far. As you might figure, chances like this don’t really come that easily if it wasn’t for Twitter

Southwark Council offices – My dream office….

So after a few Direct Messages back and forth on Twitter, the day finally came and I met Alice at London Bridge today where Southwark Council’s BEAUTIFUL new offices is situated.

Has anyone been there? Its gorgeous! The sleek, modern and stylish lines were designed to perfection. I absolutely loved it! There were stylish seats everywhere, nicely lighted booths that you can have discussions or small meetings and rows of neatly placed desks and comfortable chairs at work stations. The walls were made of glass and it was all centered around the reception area. Very chic!

The London Bridge Inspiration…

After talking to Alice about the issues and challenges she’s had so far with redesign Southwark Council’s website, it somehow made me feel refreshed and rejuvenated to see council websites in a different light. After years of research and hearing people say things like…

Who would ever want to spend more than 5 minutes on a council website?
Why would anyone want to be a fan of a council website on facebook?
People just want to get in then out of council websites and that’s it.
We don’t expect people to hang around at council websites because its mainly for transactions.
And so many more!!!

This made me wonder what was the initial whole motivation for me to take up this research and how I had envisioned council websites to be. I wanted my research to be able to find new ways and reasons for council websites to be more useful and change the perception its had all along. I mean just think about it… we went from…

Just brochure websites to
Transactional websites and now to
Hopefully more interactive council websites using social media

But why do we still think that council websites have to be boring?

Why can’t we aspire to make council websites fun and worth visiting?

Is it hard to believe or comprehend that council websites can be ‘useful’ and a source of the local communities spirit?

Community websites are proof people care about their local area

Its mind boggling to think that now with all the local community websites popping up like mushrooms, we can see that people do have an interest in using the internet to talk about their local area and the problems and opportunities surrounding it.

Problems and opportunities?

Considering council websites have most of the information on how to resolve local problems and offer opportunities, so why is it still deemed as boring? Why don’t people turn to council websites as their first point of information regarding their local area? Look at it this way, if a council website was a book, it would be the local communities encyclopedia. Or even better, if it were a website, it’ll be the local communities ‘wikipedia’! ;o)

Let’s make council websites worth visiting!

I couldn’t help to think that we need to change this perception that council websites are not worth visiting for more than 5 minutes. That council’s are not worth being fans of on Facebook. That councils websites are just there for corporate purposes.

With all the money spent on websites, and thousands of website pages of information, why can’t it be more than a corporate presence? With all the ‘informers’ or council employees who listen or deal with citizens or community problems every working day. Surely, a council website has a lot more to offer a community than this?

Following the bagpipes at Borough Market, London Bridge

The moment of inspiration…

It really hit me today on how important it is that in order to achieve this, council websites need to pull their resources together and start playing their bagpipes!

You might be a bit confused on what I mean by this but here’s what happened…

After visiting Alice at Southwark Council, she recommended that I make a visit to the Borough Market at London Bridge over my lunch break. It was quite interesting to go there as I had never been. The only time step my foot anywhere near London Bridge was for a blind date about a year ago! lol

When I got there, I couldn’t help but notice the sound of bagpipes playing in the market. Being the usual curious creature that I am, I followed the sound and went to see what the fuss was all about. Once I tracked them down, there were a few guys wearing kilts and with the rest of it. They walked around quite a bit around the market, then stopped at a stall and started promoting the stalls products which was Haggis!

I thought to myself, what a brilliant idea!

Create noise to create interest!

It was so simple and possibly the first step to getting people interested in what services the council has to offer. Often enough I find people saying “I didn’t know I could do that on the council website!” So here’s a method of creating that interest. Local community websites are often the best place to create this buzz. But the trick is, you can’t say “You can now do this at the council website!” That would be an example of being BORING!

Let’s not be boring!

The noise or ‘lure’ (what I’d like to call it sometime) should be something that people can relate to or in a language or manner that they can understand. Some of the best examples are sometimes delivered in the most unusual ways and have completely unrelated but with beneficial consequences.

Be creative!!! Use the FUN THEORY! ;o)

Still don’t quite get where I’m getting at… well have a look at these videos and probably you’ll get a better idea of what I’m trying to say. ;o)

Get the idea???

Getting people to use online public services or gaining information doesn’t need to be boring. Just be a little bit creative and be brave to be different! Nothing is impossible. Therefore… Council websites can be fun….. because “You’re worth it!”

Last but not least… want to get inspired?

Get out! Today I decided to stay at London Bridge and work remotely in Starbucks. Though I have to say the entrance wasn’t that inviting but once I was inside, I felt really inspired by the local surroundings of Borough Market. Bored? Step out to the Thames and get some fresh air! Just a ‘lil tip! ;o)

Hope this was useful guys and dolls and hopefully a good but simple post to start off this exciting year! )