social media in action: a virtual open house for the willamette river bridge
DESCRIPTION
Jyll SmithPublic Information OfficerMajor Projects Branch, Oregon Department of TransportationPresented at the IAP2 Cascade ChapterPublic Meeting SOS 3.0 workshopVancouver, WA, December 9, 2011TRANSCRIPT
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Social media in action: A virtual open house for the Willamette River Bridge
Jyll Smith
Public Information Officer
Major Projects Branch
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Replacing the Interstate 5 Willamette River Bridge
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Design enhancements
Sculptures to appear along the bridge’s median and freeway
Build on the Whilamut Passage theme
Designed with the community in mind
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The challenge
Introduce bridge enhancement ideas
Modernize outreach methods
Adopt new processes and platforms
Increase public
access to information
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The opportunity
Engage an active online community.
Break new ground in
social media.
Increase opportunities
for community
input.
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The solution: A virtual open house
Hosted on project website
for six days.
Supplemented a one-time
physical open house.
A first for ODOT. The WRB had
two virtual open houses; this
was the second.
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Research and planning
Explored alternative
survey methods.
Coordinated with artists
and facilitators.
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Cross-promoting with social media tools
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Willamette River Bridge YouTube videos
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Willamette River Bridge Twitter feed
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Willamette River Bridge blog
Puts human face on the project team.
Provides public with a look behind the orange cones.
Drove traffic to the virtual open house.
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Results of the virtual open house
Required fewer resources than a physical open house.
Received 10 times as many responses as typical open houses alone.
High-level input.
Positive feedback.
Strengthened our use of integrated social media to interact with our audience.
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Lessons learned
An established online presence is key to driving
traffic.
Engaging online requires a
heavy resource commitment.
Project team’s efforts were worth the
investment.
ODOT will use virtual open
houses in the future.