Comments on: The Story Behind the Transforming Edmonton Blog

By: Looking back at the Transforming Edmonton blog’s first year at MasterMaq's Blog

Tue, 07 Dec 2010 20:01:32 +0000

[...] little over a year ago, the City of Edmonton launched its official blog, called Transforming Edmonton. Though it launched as a pilot project, the blog was meant to be [...]

By: Restless in Edmonton? Stop complaining, start creating at MasterMaq's Blog

Restless in Edmonton? Stop complaining, start creating at MasterMaq's Blog — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 18:01:20 +0000

[...] people like Raffaella Loro. She wanted a city government that was more open and accessible, so she championed the Transforming Edmonton blog to help make it happen. The blog is a fantastic complement to the City’s other online [...]

By: Kory

Kory — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 03:31:13 +0000

Happy to see that they are blogging, great content is up there, and someone was clearly thinking when they chose such a great blogging platform and a robust theme to cleanly convey important information.

By: Mack D. Male

Mack D. Male — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:04:58 +0000

Chris & Liam – Agreed!

dmesser – I’m aware of some of the back story re: Next Gen, but figured it wasn’t entirely relevant for this post

Jas – I’ve subscribed, of course, and I look forward to reading all of the posts. Keep doing what you’re doing Jas, I think the City’s senior managers recognize that you and your team are leading the charge in a positive way, and I’m sure that mitigates much of the risk for them.

By: Jas Darrah

Jas Darrah — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:55:45 +0000

Thanks for the mention, Mack, and your initial support.
Raffaella deserves a lot of credit for moving this project forward and capitalizing on a convergence of need: several City branches wanted to launch blogs as a way to share information and engage Edmontonians, while we have an organizational need to seek tools that foster more transparencey.
The biggest credit goes to the City’s senior managers who – unlike many city leaders across North America faced with this type of project – saw the benefits outweigh the risks. That’s courage and, I believe, demonstrates their belief in making sure the City’s priorities match those of the people it serves – and being prepared to hear when we miss the mark.
To that end, I trust you will keep observing the blog and let us know when we falter on our objectives.

By: Liam Peuramaki

Liam Peuramaki — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:35:45 +0000

I’m also quite excited to hear about this, especially that the same blog will be available to City employees and the public. Definately a great step forward for the city.

By: dmesser

dmesser — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 05:17:52 +0000

This is great for the City of Edmonton. Although they may be a bit behind on social media and even giving access to their employees to social media sites. And you mentioned that Next Gen was approached in 2006. There were many factors involved on why the group decided not to go forward to the blog for their website. You should talk to some of the members to find out why.

By: Raffaella Loro

Raffaella Loro — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:10:21 +0000

Thanks Mack. I’m really glad you were willing to help promote the City’s efforts. It’s really exciting for me to be a part of this project. Getting the project to this point has been a lot of hard work and wouldn’t have been possible if it hadn’t been for the willingness and effort of people from across the organization. It’s this enthusiasm that makes me love going to work every day. And I really mean that.

By: Chris LaBossiere

Chris LaBossiere — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:23:19 +0000

Time and again our City seems to be ahead of the curve when it comes to online tools, marketing and community outreach.

Bravo!