2008 Woodie Awards
Oxford offers Internet access to town meetings
Matt Greene & Ann Koblenzer
Issue date: 4/4/08 Section: Community
Oxford is the first city in Ohio to allow its citizens to use the Internet to view city council meetings without leaving their homes.
Tuesday's city council meeting was the first to be captured for posting on the city's Web site through "Oxford on Demand," a streaming media portal that allows anyone with the Internet to view these meetings from a personal computer.
"I was surprised we are the first people to do it," said Kate Currie, city council member. "I think Oxford is a town that prides itself in open access to public meetings and information for its citizens and that … is its main benefit."
The idea was brought to city council at an August 2007 meeting, with the council passing the final resolution in December 2007.
According to Oxford Mayor Prue Dana, it cost $35,000 to set up and run the program, with the funding coming from the city's operating budget. This budget is funded by a 1.75 percent earning tax from citizens working in Oxford.
This technology was brought to Oxford by the San Francisco-based company, Granicus Inc., which has helped many cities air their council meetings.
"Over 400 cities in America have implemented this software and Oxford is the first to do so in Ohio," said Lauren Alexander, the public relations manager of Granicus.
Alexnader said Granicus streams more than 85,000 public meetings throughout the country.
The city council meetings are uploaded in San Francisco and the videos are streamlined back to Oxford, where the city trims them and publishes them immediately afterward.
Newton said the city is implementing this technology in light of citizens' demand to view the meetings on their own time. The videos of the meetings are played on cable television, but "Oxford on Demand" will allow citizens with satellites to view the minutes as well.
"Many citizens have asked if they could see the videos (of the council meetings) online and the city was looking for an easier way to access the minutes to the meetings," Newton said.
According to Newton, "Oxford on Demand" minimizes the amount of time it takes to prepare meetings' minutes, making them readily accessible tool for the public. Users can choose certain parts of the meetings by simply clicking a labeled dropdown bar, instead of skipping through the entire video in search of a particular point.
"It really will save our city clerk and other people who set up the minutes a tremendous amount of time," Dana said.
Miami University marketing lecturer and Oxford citizen, Jan Taylor, said although she does not have an extreme interest in what happens in city council meetings, it would be nice to stay caught up on important issues.
"If the issue was important enough, I would watch it and it is a very nice feature to have accessible," Taylor said.
To access the meeting videos, go to www.cityofoxford.org and click the "Oxford on Demand" image on the right side of the page.
Tuesday's city council meeting was the first to be captured for posting on the city's Web site through "Oxford on Demand," a streaming media portal that allows anyone with the Internet to view these meetings from a personal computer.
"I was surprised we are the first people to do it," said Kate Currie, city council member. "I think Oxford is a town that prides itself in open access to public meetings and information for its citizens and that … is its main benefit."
The idea was brought to city council at an August 2007 meeting, with the council passing the final resolution in December 2007.
According to Oxford Mayor Prue Dana, it cost $35,000 to set up and run the program, with the funding coming from the city's operating budget. This budget is funded by a 1.75 percent earning tax from citizens working in Oxford.
This technology was brought to Oxford by the San Francisco-based company, Granicus Inc., which has helped many cities air their council meetings.
"Over 400 cities in America have implemented this software and Oxford is the first to do so in Ohio," said Lauren Alexander, the public relations manager of Granicus.
Alexnader said Granicus streams more than 85,000 public meetings throughout the country.
The city council meetings are uploaded in San Francisco and the videos are streamlined back to Oxford, where the city trims them and publishes them immediately afterward.
Newton said the city is implementing this technology in light of citizens' demand to view the meetings on their own time. The videos of the meetings are played on cable television, but "Oxford on Demand" will allow citizens with satellites to view the minutes as well.
"Many citizens have asked if they could see the videos (of the council meetings) online and the city was looking for an easier way to access the minutes to the meetings," Newton said.
According to Newton, "Oxford on Demand" minimizes the amount of time it takes to prepare meetings' minutes, making them readily accessible tool for the public. Users can choose certain parts of the meetings by simply clicking a labeled dropdown bar, instead of skipping through the entire video in search of a particular point.
"It really will save our city clerk and other people who set up the minutes a tremendous amount of time," Dana said.
Miami University marketing lecturer and Oxford citizen, Jan Taylor, said although she does not have an extreme interest in what happens in city council meetings, it would be nice to stay caught up on important issues.
"If the issue was important enough, I would watch it and it is a very nice feature to have accessible," Taylor said.
To access the meeting videos, go to www.cityofoxford.org and click the "Oxford on Demand" image on the right side of the page.
Be the first to comment on this story