Partnership Update: Oakland

Thursday, March 1, 2012 - By Kevin Donohue - No comments






As you may have noticed, SeeClickFix recently launched a partnership with Oakland California.  It’s been great working with everyone at the city throughout the entire process, and we genuinely appreciate how energetic they are about the opportunities presented by more transparent and accessible government.  From our perspective, this has been a great example of a mutually beneficial partnership. 

Additionally, they’ve been all over SeeClickFix, acknowledging and closing issues within days, sometimes even hours.  Oakland has a reputation for being somewhat of a scrappy town, and the city administrators are exemplifying this in the best way in how aggressively they are responding to the concerns of their citizens.  For instance, it took less than three days for illegal dumping, reported in Issue # 160661, to be handled, and the pothole that was reported in Issue # 161401 was acknowledged in less than 24 hours.  That is what we call responsive governance.

The most encouraging piece of all of this has been the enthusiastic interest and involvement of Oakland’s citizens.  Since we rolled out this partnership just a few weeks ago, we’ve seen spikes in user activity that have lead us to believe the people of Oaktown are ready to engage with their government in a new way.  As the director of Public Works explained, “This tool allows every person in Oakland to become the eyes and ears of the City.”  It certainly seems like they’ve embraced this role. 

The people of Oakland may be frustrated that Brad Pitt was snubbed at the Oscars for his performance as A’s General Manager Billy Beane, and having the Raiders miss the playoffs after trading away all of those draft picks probably still stings for many.  However, the collaborative synergy being created by citizens, SeeClickFix, and the Oakland government is giving everyone a lot to be excited about in the Bay Area. 

We're Hiring!

Tuesday, February 28, 2012 - By Kevin Donohue - No comments

Government Sales Associate
Location: New Haven, CT
http://seeclickfix.com

SeeClickFix uses the power of public and distributed communication via the web to bring citizens closer to their local government and each other. Through partnerships with local media, governments and social user features SeeClickFix has spread all over the United States and is starting to spread internationally. The SeeClickFix platform reaches millions of eyeballs each month and consists of content contributed by hundreds of thousands of users. . .and the party is just getting started.

As a Government Sales Associate you will be selling our customized cloud-based government software suite to local governments around the world. SeeClickFix sees signs that the market for social and open communication systems between citizens and their governments is growing rapidly. SeeClickFix continues to be the only company filling this market in a way that truly meets all of the feature demands from both citizens and governments. Amongst the products you will be selling are customized smart phone applications and facebook applications that allow citizens to report problems in their communities as well as tools for tracking those requests. Check out our website or smartphone apps for examples of what we do best and also http://www.seeclickfix.com/government to learn a bit about our software.

This position is for full-time employment, on-site at our office in downtown New Haven, CT. You will join a team that has more than doubled in size over the last year to 11 full-time employees.

What We're Looking For:

The right person for the job will have a few years experience in sales. We are more interested in a record of top performance in your industry than your experience selling cloud based software to government, but the latter is definitely a plus. While you don't have to have worked at a start-up previously you need to be prepared to work at a start-up. What does this mean? Start-up culture and SeeClickFix culture is one of dedication to the community over everything else. You must be prepared to carry weight for others and take on tasks outside of your typical responsibilities when needed. You need to be ready to be as important to the organization as the founders. SeeClickFix's hierarchy is flat and everyone in the office is part of the decision making process. Sales Associates are involved in conversations about features and have a say in matters related to the platform.
Most importantly we want you be really really ridiculously smart and fun. We also really want you to care about civic engagement, stronger neighborhoods and more efficient governments and be willing to make the cold calls, emails and even show up at a door to enable this through the sale of our software.

The ideal Sales Associate will be:
• Aggressive and self motivated. A real bulldog when it comes to making cold calls, arranging in person meetings and sending cold emails.
• Well spoken and confident.
• Interest in free and paid cloud software either in personal or professional use
• A high performing track record in a previous sales role
• A sense of humor in the office and with our clients
Desire to exceed monthly goals and work partly on commission
• Used SeeClickFix and has an understanding of the way the tool works
• A bachelor's degree or be Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg

Bonus Traits for brownie points:

-Fast hands on the Ping Pong table
-Likes bicycles more than cars
-Bilingual
-Multilingual
-A user profile on SeeClickFix with over 200 civic points


How We're Different

Join a growing startup team that is connecting 100,000's of citizens to each other and their local Government international and currently in 12 different languages. Our data feeds are distributed by hundreds of media partners who use the data to inform readers and hold government accountable. SeeClickFix is a revenue generating and is backed by Venture funds founded by the founder of Ebay, Pierre Omidyar and the Prophet of Silicon Valley, Tim O'Reilly

Come join us in remaking the user interface to government. Power to the community!

We believe treating our employees right is important to doing great work. Here are the benefits we're offering right now:

- Competitive Salary with commission on sales
- Equity -- Everyone who works here owns a bit of the company's success
- Health insurance benefits
- Three weeks paid time off


Please email your resume and cover letter to Ben@SeeClickFix.com.

Too lazy?

Thursday, February 23, 2012 - By Kevin Donohue - No comments


Like the rest of the world, we at SeeClickFix have been inspired by the people in Arab countries who continue to risk their lives to resist the autocratic regimes that are currently in power.  We’re all about involved citizenship, and these courageous individuals are certainly going above and beyond the call of duty.

That’s in part why we were a bit bewildered when we saw this post from John Sutter on CNN.  Referencing SeeClickFix specifically, Sutter claims that the problem with Gov 2.0 is “People are lazy.” 

The uprisings in the Middle East are the most glaring evidence that people care about participatory government.  We also humbly feel that the strong interest that engaged citizens have taken in SeeClickFix is an indication that we’re not all too lazy for this whole “of the people, by the people” thing. 

While we respect what’s happened in the Middle East, we’re not really in the business of fomenting revolution.  We’re working hard to make the interaction between citizens and governments more accessible and transparent.  What we’ve seen happen when we’re able to do this is the type of collaboration that improves quality of life for everyone.  In other words, democracy in action.

Most of our users are based in the United States, but this phenomenon is not limited to this country alone.  To take two recent examples, Issue #150777 in Ireland helped to resolve a problem with confusing road signs, and Issue # 155973 in Argentina brought attention to an impassable road in Buenos Aires.

Sutter seemingly would have expected the people who reported these issues not to care about them, assume nothing could be done, or hope someone else would take care of them.  We expect people everywhere to want to have a voice in their government, and to take advantage of this opportunity when it is transparent, reliable, and easy to use.  To us, the evidence indicates that people might not be too lazy after all.  

Harsimus Cove Association makes use of SeeClickFix

Tuesday, February 21, 2012 - By Kevin Donohue - No comments



We wanted to give a big shout out to our friends at the Harsimus Cove Association, in Jersey City, New Jersey, who’ve been using SeeClickFix to support the work they’re already doing in their neighborhood. 

Recently, the HCA’s President Stephen Musgrave gave this awesome presentation to members of the organization to explain how SeeClickFix works, and to encourage its use.  The HCA even got some media attention for their smart civic engagement from the Jersey City Independent.

Explaining his enthusiasm for SeeClickFix in the article, Stephen said, “I call SeeClickFix ‘block watch for quality of life issues.’ Just like with a block watch, if those responsible for resolving quality of life issues know where the problems are, they will be much more effective in their job.” Musgrave’s neighbors agree, as shown by some of the recent issues that have been reported in the HCA watch area, including Issue # 148198 Tree limb dangling on Erie and Issue # 149847 graffiti on the clock. 

We love it when neighbors come together to improve their community, and we love it even more when they’re doing this through SeeClickFix.  Many thanks to Stephen for spreading the word, and to everyone in the HCA for your openness to a new way to improve your community.  Keep up the great work, guys! 

SeeClickFixin' with Open311 in Toronto

Thursday, February 16, 2012 - By Megan - No comments

Just months after integrating with Boston, SeeClickFix completed integration with Toronto's work order system through its new Open 311 API. The connection--which went live last month--will enable citizens to communicate service requests directly into the city's existing CRM by reporting issues through the SeeClickFix platform:
Having already been launched in Boston, San Francisco and Washington, DC, Open311 refers to a 'standardized technology for location-based collaborative issue tracking,' or an open source data platform for 311 service requests. Through this open model, citizens can instantly provide more information to those responsible and help improve the city's environment along the way. More important, it empowers and engages the public to actively participate in civil society.

From now on, issues reported through SeeClickFix's online and mobile interface will be fed directly into Toronto's existing 311 system. With Open311 implemented, SeeClickFix can fully interact with and connect into the city's work order system. This SeeClickFix-Open311 connection gives Toronto residents yet another channel through which they can report non-emergency concerns. With a few clicks, citizens can provide locational, descriptive, and photographic information about quality-of-life issues from potholes and graffiti. Once the resident submits an issue, it will be communicated not only to the city, but also to the citizens it serves. With SeeClickFix's public platform, everyone can be kept informed in real time.

To find out more information about Toronto's Open311, check out the city's informational page.

Growing the Team...Again

Wednesday, February 15, 2012 - By Ben Berkowitz - No comments

Its been a very active few months at SeeClickFix and as such we're growing the team.   We've been busy with on boarding new Government clients like Oakland, CA Minneapolis, MN Coon Rapids, MN Hendersonville, NC O'Fallon, IL,  Bainbridge, GA Macon GA Canton, GA, Nevada MO.   We've also been busy with launches of new media partners like WISTV in South Carolina and Granite Broadcasting.
We've also launched another custom mobile application with Washington, DC and are busy connecting up existing clients like Dunwoody, GA to City Works.

Its clear that local governments are more than ready for Gov20 and open, social and public reporting has become the norm.  As such we have just taken on two new interns and community manager. Emma has moved to handling media partnerships and Megan has moved to managing government relationships.

In the Intern corner we have Hans Schoenburg and Jessica Cole and in the Community Manager corner we have Kevin Donohue.

Hans
Hans is working on mobile application development with Jason. He towers over a standing desk in the office by day and drops mean PechaKucha presentations on his other project GiftFlow by night.  Hans is a Yale grad passionate about economies of giving and social entrepreneurship.



Jess
Jess, like Hans, is also working on another start-up called Roameo as a founder while she attends Yale.   I met Jess via the Twitterverse a few years back. Since then Jess led a group of volunteers in Yale's Day of Service assisting SeeClickFix. Jess will be surveying existing users and helping us with critical insights into our existing community.



Kevin
Kevin joins SeeClickFix as full-time employee number 11. Kevin will be our full-time community manager which means he'll be primarily responsible for keeping the SCF community constructive and on track towards the goal of improved and self-sufficient communities.  Kevin has previously interned for SeeClickFix while wrapping up his M.B.A at Fairfield University.  Kevin brings a unique perspective to the team with his experience leading service trips to Jamaica for Fairfield University Campus Ministry.


The talent keeps on showing up at our doorsteps here in New Haven and we grow increasingly enthusiastic about our choice of hometowns for SCF.  All of our new folks either bicycle or  walk to the office from some of the great surrounding neighborhoods that they themselves are working to make better.

Power to the Community!

Rural Community Offers Big City Technology

Tuesday, February 14, 2012 - By Megan - No comments

Nevada, Missouri residents now have a more high-tech way of reporting potholes, non-working street lights, trash, or other problems to the city government. Residents with smartphones can get a new mobile app called SeeClickFix to inform city staff of their public issues. The mobile app, unveiled by City Manager JD Kehrman, allows users to document, take photos of a problem, and automatically provide GPS coordinates. After the report is submitted, users can track all reported problems on a map as well.

"This technology is much more than just another exciting new application for mobile devices; it’s a vehicle to promote and encourage accountability and transparency in the delivery of services by local governments." Kehrman said. "The City of Nevada Missouri is pleased to lead the way in the implementation of technologies that will shape the future of interactions between residents and local government professionals."

With the online reporting platform, residents can report quality-of-life concerns directly to City Hall through custom service request categories via the City of Nevada website, SeeClickFix.com, or mobile applications for iPhone, Android and Blackberry. The platform allows citizens to provide additional information about the issue by adding a detailed description or including a photograph in their report. Once someone submits an issue, both the reporter and the City of Nevada will receive an email notification. The local government can then acknowledge the service request, route it to the proper department, and update the issue page once it’s been resolved. All updates on issues reported through SeeClickFix are displayed publicly, allowing Nevada to quickly and easily inform citizens of their progress.

"It’s exciting to be the first city in the State of Missouri to implement this readily used and popular new technology," said Mayor Brian Leonard. "The purpose of this app is to identify concerns in our community and to foster a safe and vibrant community for all who reside in and visit our city. This will be a valuable tool to help improve the quality of life in the City of Nevada."

Just because it’s "Small Town" Missouri doesn’t mean it lacks big city technologies, education, amenities and culture. Through a partnership powered by SeeClickFix, Nevada, a thriving rural community, is able to offer programs and services usually reserved for larger municipalities.