INCREASING CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT FOR THE TOWN OF KENSINGTON The Town of Kensington in Montgomery County, Maryland wanted to better communicate and connect with citizens, expanding beyond traditional methods. The Town’s main concerns were that its staff members could not easily update their website in order to share information with their citizens and that the content was difficult to find within the site. Additionally, the Town wanted to share critical information with citizens easily through both email and its website.” The Division of Innovation and Applied Research was contacted to create a comprehensive solution for the municipality’s challenge. Using Wordpress as a content management system, the Division’s designers and programming staff developed a new site that included a dynamic calendar function, blog capability, and new site wide organization to ensure citizens could find the information they were looking for. The Division also developed email templates, such as a monthly newsletter, important announcements, upcoming events, and council meeting updates that further increase the ability of the Town to share information with its citizens.
Matt Hoffman, the Assistant Town Manager for the Town of Kensington, was very pleased with the finished project.
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Town of Kensington blog
IMPACTS
} The Town of Kensington is able to efficiently engage its
citizens so that they can keep up with what is happening in town and get involved in the community. } During weather and other related emergencies the Town is able to share critical updates immediately. } The Town has control over its website and can easily change content without going through an intermediate channel.
I really think the new site looks great! It meets all of our objectives, especially ease of navigation.
2013 REPORT | 11