Welcome to The Senate Site

By John Valentine
President of the Utah Senate

Legislators and staffers throughout the nation will participate in a phenomenal gathering of the National Conference of State Legislatures this week in Boston. I was honored by an invitation to share a little about the Senate Site in a forum discussing interactive technologies for communicating with the public.

The question: how to encapsulate this two-year experiment in 15 minutes or less? Here's my outline:

THE BEST WAY TO PREDICT THE FUTURE IS TO INVENT IT
Making state government informative, inclusive, classy, competent, and fun.

* The Blog Site :: Keeping the Board of Directors informed and involved.

* The Supporting Web Pages :: Profiles, Archives, About, Contact, etc.

* Senate Radio :: Curing insomnia since 2006.

* Audio Snapshots :: How is the session going so far, Senator Killpack?

* The Status of Bill Hickman :: A little respect for Diety.

* The Senate Cam :: Introducing Little Brother. (Big Brother is so 1984.

Some of you have been reading this site since the beginning. Is there anything about the contribution this site has made - positive or negative - that I should mention to others who may want to do something similar?

4 Comments:

 The Ghost of Tom Joad said...

You might mention that blogging is a community. Politicians who approach blogging as nothing more than an endless series of press announcements posted on the web don't get it. You know who you are. Blogging is more like a bunch of neighbors talking at a backyard barbeque. Engage. Interact. Learn. Build relationships. Change.

One of the best things you guys do is participate. You respond to others' comments here and you post comments on other Utah blogs.

8/04/2007 10:56 PM  

 Voice of Utah said...

I agree with Ghost's observation. There are some legislators who genuinely seem to desire feedback, the hallmark of a good blog (and a good legislator). Some legislators have been complaining about negativity--a site like this is a chance to alleviate that. Greater interaction (vs. the posting of press releases or horn-tooting), can lessen negativity. Speaking from experience, a lot of sarcasm arises when there is a sense that a particular legislator or group doesn't really care to hear alternative viewpoints. A sincere dialogue, regardless of how it turns out, is one way to elevate the tone.

One example: A senator posted some proposed legislation here last session, and asked for comments. I offered some, and the senator responded with his perspective. If I wrote about that legislation, it would have been with recognition of his effort to consider all issues in connection with the bill.

In Boston, be sure to give credit to your webmaster. Ric's sense of humor, sincerity, and willingness to interact with local bloggers of all stripes has placed the Senate Site on the list of trusted sites, even for those of us not in the majority.

8/05/2007 9:15 AM  

 Anonymous said...

Here at NCSL in Boston. We are demonstrating the Senatesite.com. It is a beautiful day in Boston. Wish you were here.

Love,

PVal

8/05/2007 11:17 AM  

 Aldon Hynes said...

Hi. I'm sitting in the audience in the session and I wanted to say that it was a great presentation. Thanks.

8/05/2007 11:43 AM  

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