Council on the web
Following my recent comments about adding our Council meetings to the internet, I got a suggestion from a resident about a company that offers web-based live videostreaming. So I called them. The jist of their 60-second pitch was that they offer a variety of options, including:
1) live webcast (simultaneous to the TV feed)
2) meetings stored on the internet for later access
3) webcasts broken down by agenda item.
The related costs for a town with a population of 27,000:
1) $15,000 startup
2) $1,000/month recurring fee (assuming the meetings are already taped, which they are).
I think that may be money well spent.
Alternatively, other towns may get their meetings on TV for a lower fee... but they may not be offered by agenda item... which I think would be extremely beneficial... allowing people easier access to the items of concern to them.
Regardless, I would very much like to move forward with exploring the possibility of videostreaming (I don't care how or who makes it happen) as expeditiously as possible.
Tim White
Town Council, 4th District
17 comments:
talk about a waste of money
There are several reasons to support streaming of council meetings. First, it would provide more uniform access to council meetings. Currently, only cable subscribers can watch council meetings; those who use satellite dishes or antennas are in the dark. Moreover, both AT&T and Verizon will offer television service in CT, and whether council meetings will be available to their subscribers is uncertain. Although both have government access channels listed in their line ups, the channel is available only on the more expensive service plans through AT&T, and Verizon has already been accused of failing to braodcast local programming. In addition, both AT&T and Verizon think that they are not bound by cable franchise agreements which require service providers to offer local access channels. So, in a few years, only a minority of Cheshire residents may have reliable access to council meetings through their televisions. In contrast, most people have access to the internet at home or through the library, and therefore, broadcasting council meetings on the internet will provide greater access to residents.
Second, streaming council meetings will increase public interest and involvement in local issues. Not that people will be glued to their computers watching every minute of the meetings, but streaming overcomes one major impediment to getting more people involved: time. There are very few people who have the time or stomach to watch an entire council meeting. By making council meetings available on the internet, people can watch when they want. More importantly, by separating the video into agenda items, people can quickly access and watch discussion of the topics that interest them.
Third, streaming will encourage grass roots action on issues by providing easier dissemination of information. Imagine there is an issue before the council that you think is critical for Cheshire, how do you alert your fellow friends and fellow residents? Letters to the Herald often take 2 to 3 weeks to get published. Instead, you can instantly email your friends or post on your website a link to the video of the council discussing the issue.
Finally, video provides a more accurate and complete public record of council meetings. Although minutes are kept, they are only a transcription of what was said. Minutes cannot convey the emotion or nuances of speech. Video allows for a better appreciation of the arguments for and against an issue and hopefully leads to decisions that recognize both sides of an issue.
"Minutes cannot convey the emotion or nuances of speech."
That's only one of the reasons P&Z didn't want television coverage.
Nor is online going to solve the many special executive meetings that are top secret from the public.
To Emma's Dad...please tell us you will run for council..I don't care if you are a D or an R or an I...you are thoughtful and informed and reasonable..I beg you!! Please know both parties are still looking hard for candidates....
He supported the mall. And, the housing to promote diversity.
here you go again, Tim,
finding more ways for greater
accountability & transparency
in town government.
So the big O is out how do we win without him??
This could be a good idea. The more publication we have of the meetings of our government is better.
If anyone raises a stink about the cost, I think it would be useful just to get the video recorded onto a pc for upload to Youtube. That big quote they handed you has bandwidth in it (hence the 27k being relevant), and there's really no reason to absorb the bandwidth costs when you can let Youtube host the videos for free.
After all, the ability to view the videos online after the fact is most important. The live stream will probably only have a literal handful of viewers, but the recordings should get decent convenience play (provided that they are put up asap).
Either way, it will be money well spent.
Really though, for 500$ hardware startup and 60$ per tape, I'll bring the vhs recordings into Youtube get them embedded onto the town's site. For 120$ per video I'll break them into agenda items. I say this to make a point, but at that price it is actually worth it to me, and I do have the IT resume to back up the offer.
Tim's right though, it doesn't matter how it happens. Let's get those videos up. I was about to buy the hardware tonight at CompUSA just to host them on my own site, but I'd have to get a hold of the recordings since I have Dish network.
-csh
(art blog - political blog - gallery)
Tim are you out of your mind?
15K for putting the meetings on the internet and you think the pool report is a waste of money?
Forget it pal you are done.
csh... "there's really no reason to absorb the bandwidth costs when you can let Youtube host the videos for free"
one thing to be careful about... there may be copyright issues... I don't know, but I have heard rumblings about that.
"That big quote they handed you has bandwidth in it"
I know bandwidth is important, but I don't understand the issue that well yet. I just know that connectivity can encounter many bottlenecks... bandwidth being one, right?
"the ability to view the videos online after the fact is most important. The live stream will probably only have a literal handful of viewers"
I think you're probably right. A quick turnaround on upload would be key.
Beyond that... assuming the town does an RFP... feel free to propose!
"whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government." - Thomas Jefferson
11:19 I didn't support or oppose the town spending $15k to put the meetings on the web. I just said we should put the meetings on the web... and we should do it asap. Frankly, the Council is dawdling on this... Council has the wrong priorities... two hours for a non-investigation of the Town Clerk... but no time to enhance transparency in gov't? I mentioned this a couple months ago when the TM annual review began.
As for the pool report... it was a waste of $20,000.
tim you said on this blog you would support the investigation
Now you say you don't
You are constantly saying that we should not spend money recklessly then you say put meeting on website which will cost money
You vote against the school budget int he zero budget year then you vote for it this year
It will be easy to defeat you this fall
1:17 I won't be surprised if several incumbent Council members lose this fall.
As for the two hours of the "investigation," most of it was spent discussing process... not investigating "shenanigans."
Good idea period. We spend more money on other foolish things that many citizens are not aware of. This might get them more involved. They are asleep at this moment.
"most of it was spent discussing process... not investigating "shenanigans."
That would be obvious as there were never any regarding the clerk's office.
But, why did Estey and Hall wait that long to post false charges? This was the real shenanigan.
I read with great interest the blog discussions about Google Video/YouTube vs the Granicus Integrated Public Record. I’ll let these 2 links speak to the benefit of our solution. Btw, I’m the guy who talked to Councilman White…
Here is an example of a town that archives council meetings and other content, including, believe it or not, local dodgeball games..
http://blacksburg.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=2
Then click on any meeting to see the agenda, links to the video, and attached documents.
http://blacksburg.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=483
Granicus works with local governments to archive public meetings on the internet - with the benefit of having the meeting indexed to the agenda. We also provide meeting management software to assist clerks and secretaries in meeting management and minutes annotation. We are proud to say that we are the largest provider of local government meetings on the internet
The Granicus MediaManager does the automatic update to the website and also provides the technology baseline for MinutesMaker, our minutes preparation tool that clerks use to have 80% of the minutes done by the time they leave the dais. Other benefits available are closed captioning, audio/video podcasting, update subscriptions, and the ability to place other non-meeting content such as public service announcements and town events.
So you have to ask yourself – is a simple video really the best way to display a government meeting and its content?
sal@granicus.com
If you are interested in some of our other 250 clients across 28 states, please go to www.granicus.com/clients
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