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03/16/2004 - City Council Communications CommitteeCommunications Committee Agenda March 16, 2004 4:30 PM I. Community Center Marketing Update A. Ongoing activities B. Committee feedback on additional priorities H. Web Improvements 2004 & Beyond A. Current usage stats B. 2004 development C. What Council would like to see D. Request to investigate alternatives and report back III. Standardized City Logo Recommendations A. Discussion B. Recommendation IV. Technology Task Force update V. Other A. Experience Eagan newsletter 1. Production schedule 2. Councilmember Maguire questions B. Additional topics for future meetings TO: FROM: DATE: SUBJECT: City of Eagan CITY ADMINISTRATOR HEDGES COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR GARRISON March 15, 2004 March 16 Communications Committee Meeting @ 4:30 PM Attached is a copy of the agenda for tomorrow's Communication's Committee meeting in the upper conference room. Though our time is brief, there are several important items to cover: 1. Community Center marketing 2. Web improvements for 2004 & beyond 3. The committee making a recommendation regarding options to standardize the City logo 4. A brief update on the technology task force on Tuesday's consent agenda 5. Councilmember Maguire's questions about the production schedule for the Experience Eagan newsletter and editorial input. This memo and the accompanying attachments may be used to help guide the discussions and the key feedback and/or decisions sought. COMMUNITY CENTE) MARKETING • Attached on page 3- i an update on 2004 marketing efforts both passed and planned. • Building greater daytime business usage of rooms, establishing school awareness of facilities and continuing to build fitness memberships are the current strategic focuses based on earlier Council feedback. • This item is informational only unless there are other strategic priorities the committee wishes to discuss. WEB IMPROVEMENTS • According to newly installed WebTrends software (report attached on pages 5 to the Eagan site is definitely attracting visitors. For instance: a) There were more than 31,000 visitors to the site in February b) They accounted for more than 1.04 million hits to the site or about 36,000 hits a day on average c) The average visit length was 4:42 d) The average number of page views per visit was nearly four (3.89) e) Jobs, the latest events, searches, and calendar/agenda remain among the most actively viewed pages, but more months will have to be reviewed before firm conclusions can be reached. Communications Committee Memo March 15, 2004 A number of Web improvements are slated for 2004 (see Web Site Functions/Features Memo attached on pages &--I I I look forward to discussion of what additional E -Government and Web priorities the Committee would like to see • Based on the outcome of that discussion it is recommended that the Communications Department gather additional information about coining technology developments/capabilities in the industry and solicit the Best Practices from award-winning cities nationwide (along with price ranges for those capabilities) and report back to the Communications Committee prior to 2005 budgeting for further feedback and prioritization. CITY LOGO • While Eagan has a long-established tree as part of its logo, there are a variety of word marks and even other trees in actual usage • Most professional organizations have policies and style guides to guide printers and staff about correct usage and to ensure consistent branding and identification • Eagan lacks such policies and has not revisited its logotype since the 1980s • As a result, a variety of looks and usages have cropped up on everything from signage to printed materials, yielding no consistent look for the City. • Even for the logo used on City letterhead, Eagan lacks clean graphics in all the file formats used in various applications today (EPS, TIF, JPEG, PDF, etc.) • Last fall, the Communications Department engaged the services of Sexton Printing & Design to "clean-up" but not change the existing City logo used on letterhead and to advance one other alternative based on actual usage on signage, publications and the Web. • It is desired that the Communications Committee review and comment on the two choices and make a recommendation for a presentation to the city Council as a whole • Samples to be considered are coming in time for the meeting, but were not available at the time of packet preparation. Communications will also provide digital photos of the wide variety of current usage. TECHNOLOGY TASK FORCE • As Councilmembers Carlson and Maguire were most active on this issue when discussed in a work session February 10, this item is a brief verbal overview of the progress made and summary of the item on the Tuesday, March 16 City Council Consent Agenda • The materials for this discussion are in your Council packets for the 16th, items M and N. OTHER • Councilmember Maguire indicated he had some questions about the Experience Eagan production schedule and possible feedback about future content • A copy of the production schedule is attached without page number. • Are there topics the Committee wishes to address at future meetings? 0 I. COMMUNITY CENTER MARKETING UPDATE Marketing Promotions ➢ January "Year of You" advertisements in Eagan Sun Current and Eagan This Week newspaper's Resolutions section. ➢ Experience Eagan story on Fitness membership special January promotion ➢ Infomercial written, taped, edited and aired regarding fitness. ➢ Fitness For Busy People presentations to Lockheed Martin and Unisys employees. Results: ■ 159 January membership specials sold ■ Experience Eagan newsletter had the highest response for memberships sold ■ Infomercial aired on BECT had the second highest response leading to memberships ■ Out of 25 people at Lockheed who attended fitness seminar, 5 signed up; out of 35 Unisys employees who attended 2 signed up. ■ December / January "J -term" membership — sold 8 February Promotions ➢ Letters went out to over 600 groups promoting Th, t Blast; to encourage summer bookings. We also promoted Cascade Bay at the same time. ➢ Letters went out to all school principals giving two Blast complimentary visits (to use as they see fit — silent auctions, class parties etc.) March Promotions ➢ Flyer went out to over 600 Recreation Members to encourage them to book a trip to the Blast or Cascade Bay this summer. ➢ New activities bulletin boards designed at the ECC — around fireplace ➢ Complimentary Group Fitness classes — promoted in papers, brochure, e-mails to corporations, and in-house ➢ Melissa Wind back from maternity leave Upcoming this spring ➢ School principal meetings ➢ Advertisement Twin City Bridal Association Wedding Directory ➢ Advertisement Mpls St. Paul magazineWedding Guide ➢ Starting April 1 - letters go out to all May 2003 birthday children who held there parry at Th, e Blast last year and we invite them back for 2004. ➢ Mailing list composed of all Blast parties with postcards to go out. ➢ April 8th — Softball Manager's Meetings are being held here (Sonya). Jessica will do a short "Dog and Pony" show to each meeting to share fitness related information. ➢ April 12th — Aaron is holding a "Cascade Bay" appreciation night at the ECC. If Cascade Bay holders have purchased or validated their 2004 pass by March 19 they will be treated to this event. Complimentary use of the Gym, Blast and teen room events. ➢ Adding Teen B -day parties (in teen room) — Melissa is currently working on this. ➢ Upcoming video promotions on BECT on Open Gym and Meeting Rooms 3 Summer 2004 ➢ Summer Membership Special (can purchase between Mid -May through Mid July); trying to hit the college and school aged children. We will also extend this into a fall membership (if they re -up before it expires we will give them a discounted enrollment fee). This would work for any adults or kids (non college) who joined over the summer. ➢ June 15th — Parks and Rec will host their Summer Kick-off at the ECC. This is when parents pick up registration info, enroll, etc. We will have a reduced fee for the Blast, plus P & R is doing events inside and outside the building. ➢ Market Blast to Little Mates at Cascade Bay (may include a BOGO coupon). ➢ Market ECC group fitness classes to Cascade Bay water walker and lap M"AMI0010 -111.3 ➢ Feature in Twin Cities Best magazine ➢ July 4th — we will be in the parade again and staff will hand out the "litter" bags. Festival takes place on site. -in ;P=. Eagan Monthly Website Report Web Log Analysis Custom Date Range Report Report Range:02/01/2004 00:00:00 - 02/29/2004 23:59:59 www.netiq.com WebTrends Summary Report WEB-IRENDS, Language: English Eagan Monthly Website Report Custom Date Range Report Pagel of 2 Template: Complete View 02/01/2004 00:00:00 - 02/29/2004 23:59:59 Overview Dashboard This displays key graphs and tables that provide an overview of the entire report. Click on the title of a graph or table to navigate to the corresponding page. Visits Trend 1,500 1,000 500 02/01 02/05 02/09 02113 02117 02131 02125 02129 1. ■ Visits Visit Summary Visits 31,382 Average per Day 1,082 Average Visit Length 00:04:42 Median Visit Length 00:01:24 International Visits 0.00% Visits of Unknown Origin 100.00% Visits from Your Country: United States (US) 0.00% Visitors Trend 1,500 1,000 500 02101 02/05 02/09 02/13 02117 02121 02135 0229 1. M Visits Visitor Summary Unique Visitors 18,727 Visitors Who Visited Once 14,231 Visitors Who Visited More Than Once 4,496 Average Visits per Visitor 1.68 Hits Trend 75,000 Page Views Trend 60,000 45,000 30,000 15,000 02/01 02105 02109 02113 02117 02131 02125 02129 1. ■ Hits http://lo-fsl.logis.org/cgi-bin/general/startod report.pl?time=2004/mO2/dO1-2004/m02/d2... 3/12/2004 WebTrends Summary Report 10,000 7,500 5,000 2,500 OVO1 02105 02109 02113 02117 02/21 02E25 02129 1. E Page Views Page View Summary Page Views 122,199 Average per Day 4,213 Average Page Views per Visit 3.89 Page 2 of 2 Hit Summary Successful Hits for Entire Site 1,048,880 Average Hits per Day 36,168 Home Page Hits NIA This report was generated by WebTrends® Friday March 12, 2004 - 15:45:35 (c) 1996-2003 NetlQ Corporation, All rights reserved. 7 http://lo-fsl.logis.org/cgi-bin/general/startod report.pl?time=2004/mO2/dOl-2004/m02/d2... 3/12/2004 Overview Dashboard This displays key graphs and tables that provide an overview of the entire report. Click on the title of a graph or table to navigate to the corresponding page. Visits Trend 1,500 1,000 500 Q 02 02!13 02!18 02f11 02f3 02,23 02x7 026 03102 02102 02104 02!05 02118 02110 02112 02114 02!15 02118 02120 02122 02124 02!20 =0 03101 !01 Visits 31,382ay Average per D 1,082 Average Visit Len 00:04:42 Median Visit Length 00:01:24 International Visits 0.00% Visits of Unknown Origin I f 0.00% 02N3 021115 02!07 0210D 02111 02114 0?!iT Visit Summ: a - Visits 31,382ay Average per D 1,082 Average Visit Len 00:04:42 Median Visit Length 00:01:24 International Visits 0.00% Visits of Unknown Origin 100.00% Visits from Your Coun : United States S 0.00% Pa a View'Summa Paize Views 122,199agay Avere per D 4,213 Average Page Views er Visit 3.89 www.netiq.com 3 Visitor Summa Unique Visitors 18,727 Visitors Who Visited Once 14,231 Visitors Who Visited More Than Once 4,496 Average Visits per Visitor 1.68 Hit Summary:;. Successful Hits for Entire Site 1,048,880 Average Hits per Day 36,168 Home Page Hits N/A www.netiq.com 4 TO: FROM: DATE: SUBJECT: city of eagan TOM GARRISON, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR JOANNA FOOTE, COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR March 15, 2004 New Web Site Functions/ Features. I►�Ii�U C17 Since December when the new City of Eagan Web site was launched, the 20+staff-members involved in developing and maintaining the Web site, have worked to continually identify, update and implement new features and functions onto the site to help improve community access to City information. Features that are anticipated in the coming months are as follows: Park Finder, interactive map This LOGIS mapping function will allow the public to choose a park location from an alphabetized list of all City Parks. When a park name is chosen, the map will zoom into that park location showing the streets that surround the park and the lakes and trails contained within. Information regarding park amenities such as ball fields, skating rinks, picnic shelters, etc. will also be listed alongside each park. We anticipate launching this new feature within the next two weeks. Pothole Reporting In order to keep Eagan roadways in good condition, the Streets division of Public Works is asking people to report potholes and poor roadway conditions on Eagan roadways via the City web site. The pothole reporting page has just been launched with a color -coded map depicting City, County and State Roadways and a simple e-mail link which will be directed to maintenance staff. We are working to create an interactive form which can ask more specific information and provide an even more effective reporting system. We hope to have this upgraded form available by April. On-line Building Permits City staff has been working with LOGIS to create an on-line permit application process for specific types of building permits. The functionality will provide basic information that applicants should know about a variety of project and permit types, a form to gather specific essential information, and an ability to pay the associated permit fees on-line. The site is currently being tested to confirm proper functionality and to ensure that it will be an easily understandable tool for the public. Following this testing and a few more design modifications, the site should be ready to launch to the public in April. Interactive Zoning & Floodplain Information An interactive program is being developed in conjunction with LOGIS which will allow the public to access zoning and floodplain information about a specific parcel by entering a Property Identification (PID) number. As part of daily service, Community Development provides Zoning and Flood Zone confirmation via a dedicated voice mail line to mostly appraisers and title companies who need this information to complete refinancing or property title transfer. The department receives about 2,000 calls per year on this line. Staff is planning to create an interactive tool on our web site that would help alleviate many of these calls and provide immediate information to users. The web application would allow the end user to enter an address or PID and receive Zoning information, the FEMA flood zone and panel number, a map of the property, and eventually a link to more detailed bulk standards and use codes of the particular zoning district. We expect to have this functionality ready to launch in June. Interactive Police Activity Map — This tool is intended to integrate actual dispatch calls into an interactive map where users can click on specific neighborhoods and access infonnation regarding police calls for service within that specific area of the community. This project is still very early in development and no timeline is currently available due to LOGIS staff changes and required research into data privacy issues. Other new information that has recently been added to the site includes: • Current and Pending Development Information • July 4"' information including pageant and parade applications • Spring Softball Registration Information • Tree care and planting information • Proposed and/or approved Engineering projects • Minutes and Agendas for each Council and Commission meeting • Ongoing events The staff involved in developing and maintaining the Web site will continue to identify areas to improve the City Web site and increase the public's ability to interact with the City, 24 -hours per day. Ongoing training continues to learn to implement available features of the software to help further develop the City of Eagan site. I will attempt to keep you informed as other interactive tools are discussed or developed and we will monitor requests from the public regarding new features they would like to see implemented. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require additional information. CgwAunications Coordinator ITEM V -----Original Message ----- From: Mike Maguire [mailto:mikemaguire@visi.com] Sent: Thursday, March 04, 2004 9:57 PM To: Mira McGarvey Subject: RE: Communications Committee meeting Yes I could. Let me know if that ends up working out. For forwarding Tom and Tom. I'm not sure what's on the agenda but I'd like to see if we can get not only an update on the web site's publication but some sort of development timeline for where we see it going as it comes increasingly "online." Also, I'd like to, if we could, get a brief presentation on how timelined out the Experience Eagan newsletter is and how we anticipate or schedule stories. My motive here is partially wondering if we are not either underutilizing that publication and need to expand it or perhaps make it more frequent. Both have budget implications for sure and may be cost prohibitive, but I want to have the chance to at least start the conversation. Mike