The North East Neighborhood Association in Olympia Washington sent out this message to its community. We think it nails all the points and is a good template for encouraging your community to start clicking.

"Northeast Neighborhood Association
Graffiti Busters Campaign
Reporting graffiti is easy!
1. Go to http://www.seeclickfix.com
2. Click on “SeeClick – Report an Issue”
Type in the street name and zip code: For example - Miller Ave. NE 98506.
This will put you in our neighborhood.
Once you click on an area, you can drag the marker to the exact location of the tagging.
The seeclickfix program will automatically load in an address.
In your description, please include additional information about the tagging. For
example: “Graffiti on front of stop sign at corner of Miller and Central St.” For street signs
please indicate if the graffiti is on the front or back of the sign.
Also, any additional details you can provide will be helpful to the police in their tracking of
repeat taggers. For example – ‘ANTOX’ tag on power pole on west side of Bethel Street
between Miller and Etheridge.
You can go back at any time and check the status of taggings or add comments.
3. The NE Neighborhood Association and the City of Olympia will receive
emails with your report and arrange to have the graffiti removed
You may be contacted for more information about your report if we are unsure about the
location or the type of property that was tagged.
All issues reported on seeclickfix are viewable to the world and can be commented on by
anyone. Additionally you can encourage your neighbors and friends to click on the ticket you
reported and click “I want this fixed too” to help reinforce the neighborhood’s interest in
having the problem addressed."

Contest
Entry = photo or video
Prize = fame

SeeClickFix has a new look and a bunch of new features.
To celebrate the ability to add photos and videos to issues, we are launching a contest. Two people will receive national recognition on our blog. One person will be famous for having the most compelling photo and another for the most compelling video. Entries are valid from now until the end of 2008.

Simple steps to get started:
1. Report or visit an issue.
2. Click on "View or Add Comments/Close Ticket".
3. Scroll down to the bottom and "Add an Image" or add a "Youtube link".

Let the best wo/man win.

-SeeClickFix Team
team@seeclickfix.com

Seen a pothole that you really wanted documented but forgot about it when you got home?
We have now simplified SeeClickFix for mobile so you can report an issue or view existing issues in one click with quicker load time.

Just go to http://www.seeclickfix.com in your mobile web browser.
Please try it out and let us know what you think.

When you're traveling for the holidays why not use the new seeclickfix mobile tool to report some issues in a new community and spread Clicking and Fixing to other parts of the Country.

New on SeeClickFix this morning is:

1) Activity. You will notice that you can now view issues, fixers and activity on the map. Activity highlights new issues created as well as watch areas created, photo and video added and other activity on SeeClickFix. What do you think?

2) Easy RSS. Now when you create a watch area you not only have the option to generate an embeddable widget for your map view but you also have the ability to generate an rss feed for that area. The link is below the update button when you are editing your watch area. Is it important to you? Should we locate it somewhere more predominantly?

3)SeeClickFix pro users can now add their logo and a description of their organization to their profile. That logo and description will appear on all issues that they acknowledge. Example here: http://www.seeclickfix.com/issues/1592

Thanks Kam and Jeff...you guys are the best!

In the November 1 '08 Issue of Downtown Idea Exchange SeeClickFix was featured as a tool to, "Facilitate productive community involvement."
From the article: "In Olympia, at least two neighborhood associations are using the free SeeClickFix service for community residents to report vandalism. A police Department liaison in city government informed the city's neighborhood groups about the website.
"The City of Olympia has a vandalism program that they work on with the neighborhood associations. The Northeast Neighborhood Association has been using SeeClickFix, and we're following their model. We're inviting neighborhood members to mark what they're seeing, and then we'll take care of it, either through working with the city or volunteers, to go out and fix those issues,'" Says Luke Bowerman, president, Eastside Neighborhood Association.
For Downtown and close-in neighborhoods, "It seems like a great way to get a community involvement, and make it easier for people to tell the powers that be about problems, so they have a way to feel involved and hopefully get stuff resolved," he says.
"All issues reported on SeeClickFix are viewable to the world and can be commented on by anyone. Additionally you can encourage your neighbors and friends to click on the ticket you reported and click, 'I want this fixed, too' to help reinforce the neighborhood's interest in having the problem addressed," The Northeast Neighborhood Association tells its members in an instructional handout for its "Graffiti Busters Campaign."
-Downtown Idea Exchange November 2008

A sneak-peak at a new feature on seeclickfix: http://www.seeclickfix.com/feeds.
We will debut this soon on the homepage, but for now play around via this link and give us feedback.

I reported that a huge utility box was tagged next to a church in New Haven.
I had know idea who owned the box or who to ask to clean it up.
A week later ATT has cleaned the box and reported the ticket closed based on an alert they got from their watch area created for watching graffiti on utility cabinets around New Haven. It turns out that they actually own the property that the graffiti was reported on and it was passed to ATT building services.
Good Stuff!
See the issue here:
http://www.seeclickfix.com/issues/1749

This morning we released some updates to seeclickfix.com:
-Anyone can now upload a photo or embed a youtube video on a seeclickfix issue.
Be the first to try it out and give us some feedback.
-Anyone can flag a comment as inappropriate or inaccurate

Also check out the article today in the Yale Daily News.
http://www.yaledailynews.com/articles/view/26820

From the article, "Chief Administrative Officer Rob Smuts ’01 said that residents commonly report potholes in the roads and cracked sidewalks, adding that the Web site aids in getting the local government to do its job.

'Just judging by the use that the site gets, a lot of citizens have clearly embraced it and voted with their actions,' Smuts said. 'We are working with [SeeClickFix] to help integrate the site into the city’s work order systems and change the way we process issues.' "

"Unfortunately, the police have been contacted over a dozen times regarding everything posted here. They have laughed in our faces and rolled there eyes, saying "theres nothing we can do." or words to that effect. That is why we have begun posting here, seeclickfix has been much more effective then WHPD in resolving these issues and shining light on just how wrong things are around here. The only change that has come about has been due to seeclickfix and we are thankful for this website."
-Fred - http://www.seeclickfix.com/issues/1039

During the heavy tourist season in San Francisco a clicker reported illegal parking casuing congestion on Historic Lombard Street.
http://www.seeclickfix.com/issues/971
A number of clickers clicked that they wanted this fixed too and one commenter suggested that they make the "no parking" signs list a $300 fine for violations.

An enforcement supervisor closed the issue today after witnessing the problem and enforcing the parking with this comment:

"Thank you for bringing your concern regarding the illegal parking at 1001 Lombard Street to my attention. I am an Enforcement Supervisor with the Enforcement Division of the Municipal Transportation Agency (formerly DPT). My squad (the "587/588 Detail") responds to complaints that come in from citizens such as yourself. After receiving your e-mail, I had one of my officers respond to this location on a daily basis to enforce illegal parking. He was able to see first hand the problem you witnessed. He made it a point of getting all vehicles parked illegally to move so as to not create further congestion. Unfortunately, a situation like this really requires 24/7 monitoring and we just do not have the personnel available for that. I am aware that as soon as my officer has left the area, the problem would re-occur. My officer is still making daily visits to this area but the problem has diminished due to the end of the tourist season."

If this doesn't work next season maybe they'll have to modify the no-parking signs.
Fixed for now with an alternative solution if this one fails.

A few neighborhood Associations in Olympia Washington have started to use SeeClickFix to document graffiti and get it fixed. Olympia neighborhood groups have closed 13 of their 25 issues so far.
In New Haven Graffiti issues were the issues were the first issues to be resolved and then the clicking and fixing grew from there.
It will be interesting to see what progresses in Olympia.
I'm sure the Pacific Northwest has its fair share of potholes...

On September 7th Anna in San Francisco reported, "There are no ramps for accessible crossing on the corner of Broderick and Hayes. It makes it really hard for people that rely on wheelchairs or people pushing strollers."

A few days later Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi added the comment to the issue "Problem reported via 311. Site to be inspected and ramps may be installed."

San Francisco has an effective 311 system for reporting, but it does not yet allow for the public or Supervisors to view others' reported issues. In this case a Supervisor, who does receive alerts from the 311 system, was able to also be alerted, keep an eye on the issue and follow-up on his constituents concerns.

Today the Supervisor had a follow-up for the public, "Site inspected by DPW Bureau of Street Use & Mapping, request for ramp installation has been placed with DPW Disability Access"

Looks like a fix is on the way.

When there were multiple reports of an abandoned boat in East Rock Park in New Haven last week a few different users jumped on to offer their hand at removal.
Amongst them was "Friends of East Rock Park(F.E.R.P)" which is a group that uses a SeeClickFix watch area to keep an eye on the park that they voluntarily maintain.

In some cases FERP will go out and solve the problem themselves in others they will notify the parks department and follow up to let users know the issue has been resolved. Other issues reported in East Rock this week have included a dead tree fallen on a trail and a dead dear fallen on a road.

The Parks Department got the tree and the boat in record time according to users, we'll let you know the gory details if FERP decides to tackle the deer removal themselves.

In New Haven, the Yale shuttle bus has been a hot topic for the last week on SeeClickFix.
http://www.seeclickfix.com/issues/1067
http://www.seeclickfix.com/issues/1514
http://www.seeclickfix.com/issues/1666

On three different streets in three different neighborhoods there have been multiple complaints on the same issue.

We at SeeClickFix believe that issues where there is not a fix should not remain open on the map. On the most recent Yale Shuttle complaint a clicker complains on nearly being hit by a bus,
"Yale Transit Bus Driver cutting corner on College and Elm. Narrowly killing a biker."
Not seeing a fix I commented that the issue would be closed.
Immediately the initial clicker responded with the date, time and location of the incident.
Shortly after came an anonymous clicker with lots of info as to how to report and close this issue:
"Please send as much info as possible on this incident to Donald, who runs the Yale transit system: donald.relihan@yale.edu. Based on exact time of day, driver description and other info, he should be able to track down the details and investigate. Yale uses a GPS system on its fleet.

I would close this ticket only after this incident has been reported to him."

Good point Anonymous. I'm glad to see that Yale has a fix in place. I'll be sure to butt out next time. :)

On April 5th an issue was opened at an intersection in New Haven demanding traffic control and parking enforcement.(http://www.seeclickfix.com/issues/48)

Since that date the issue goes unresolved but neighbors continue to push.
14 people have stated that they want the issue fixed since the creation date including most recently one individual who confesses to being one of the chronic illegally parked vehicles. From pedestrian in-road signs to stop signs to traffic lights to parking enforcement there have been many solutions suggested on the issue.

If one of these municipal solutions does not come soon enough at least neighbors can now communicate with the driver of the "big brown truck" that jeopardizes their safety.

Keep on pushing clickers!

In Rincon Hills, SF Jamie Whitaker sites issues on SeeClickFix as one reason for creating a neighborhood association. http://www.rinconhillsf.org/2008/10/27/1093 It's great to see SeeClickFix being used by established community organizations but also as a tool for documenting the need for new community organizations.
SeeClickFix understands that not every issue will be resolved with one click on the map. That's why we built the tool so that many people can speak and rally around the same issue. Neighborhood orgs have proved invaluable in mounting support to resolve an issue, I'm sure Jamie will have the same success.

If you are a news organization or a local or national community improvement organization and are interested in expanding your toolkit, we think SeeClickFix could be that tool.
We are looking for partners in every community across the U.S. to help implement SeeClickFix by raising awareness and creating watch areas for local officials.
Making SeeClickFix work in your neighborhood is easy but it takes those first few clickers and fixers to get things started.
Over the past few months we've seen issues get fixed that were previously thought to be hopeless and we've seen people report issues that they would have previously thought a waste of energy. The SeeClickFix tool is proving to be a powerful community resource, but it takes a few early adapters in each community to get it started.
Please contact ben@seeclickfix.com if you feel you need more resources to light the fire. If you're a news agency, check out how the http://newhavenindependent.org uses SeeClickFix(we're on the right.)

This is an email to seeclickfix from a happy clicker,
"I posted a comment a few weeks about about flooding on Rte. 122/Forest Rd. in New Haven. I have been making calls and complaints about this problem for the 9 years I've lived at this address, and only made marginal headway. In two weeks, I have seen two direct positive results after posting on SeeClickFix:

1. in the last big storm, state or city DOT put up signs and flags put up to alert motorists about the water over the road and slow them down (my husband and I finally took the signs down days later, since no one came to do so--but that's all right).

2. as I write this, there's a crew out there clearing the three storm drains in the area that floods. Hurray! (Quote from one of the crew: "Man, this thing is pretty plugged up!")

Adding the state DOT to the fixers list was a blessing--they respond!

"Even though it’s not round and flat (like, say, lollipops, hamburgers, apizza, frisbees), SeeClickFix ranks as one of New Haven’s great inventions." - Paul Bass on New Haven Independent.

You may have noticed that the map is showing a lot more issues today.
Until yesterday we only showed the 200 most recent issues and when you wanted to see another location you would have to search to display the issues in that area.

Thanks to hard work by Kam and lots of pushing by the team, we have released "clustering", a feature which allows you to drag and zoom the map to refresh the issues that show in the map view at the same time.

You'll also notice that there are bubbles with dots in the middle. Those bubbles represent groups of issues. As you zoom in those groups will break apart into individual issues.

Kam's off to Oktoberfest to celebrate, we'll be here to answer any questions.
Click Away!

brightest ideas of the week.
So says the San Francisco Examiner Here.
We're number 5...thanks guys.

While on my honeymoon with my lovely new wife, Meera Berkowitz, I had the opportunity to chat with ABC 7 reporter, Carolyn Tyler, about SeeClickFix. Mayor Gavin Newsom happened to be outside city hall at the same time and got a chance to speak about web non-emergency reporting systems also. You can see that video here:
and also in the SF examiner here

A few notes: There was a little confusion in these articles with regards to receiving of issues by San Francisco government. After hearing this, we researched it further. The email address that was originally entered by a SeeClickFix user for the 311 watch area was incorrect. So, the system was automatically sending email to the wrong city email address. To correct, we've pointed the watch area to a San Francisco Department of Public Works email address for now.

As SeeClickFix is a tool for communities to use to build lines of communication, we can not guarantee that the right people are being contacted. We believe that creating this network can be done accurately and easily by users of our site, be it local government, citizens or any other organization with fixing capabilities.

We also want to point out that we do not want to be seen as competition with a city's 311 system. We know that the mapping capabilities of SeeClickFix, the ease of use for watchers and clickers, and the empowering of others beyond city government to fix issues are assets that can work as an adjunct to a preexisting 311 system, as a replacement or as an entirely new system. As long as someone can report an issue somewhere, be it SeeClickFix or 311, with ease and the issue lands at the right place then...mission accomplished.

In addition to the Professional Features, we have rolled out a bunch of new free features over the past weeks. We hope you like them - please share your thoughts.

• Public Watch Areas. When a watch area is created under SeeFixer, you can choose to keep it private or make it public. The title and the description along with the geographical info is available to for all to see. Plus it lists the keywords to used to match issues to watch areas. An email alert will only be generated if the keywords match something in the text of the description or title of the issue. Check it out.
  
• Edit Watch Areas. If you are the person who created a watch area, you can now edit more features of it. Included is the ability to update the geographically boundaries. Let's say that you realized you wanted to include more area. Now you can click and drag a corner or an edge. The original confirmation email you receive when you set-up a watch area includes a link to edit.
  
• Listing of Matched Public Watch Areas. When you look at the details of an issue by clicking "Link to Issue", you can see a listing of matched public watch areas. Here is an example. So, now you know who got an email alert about your issue.
  
• Minus on Keywords. Each watch area can have keywords that are required to match before an email alert is sent. Now you can include words (or partial words) that should cause an issue not to be sent. The minus will override in a case of a conflict.
  
• Images. Once you create an issue, you can add a photo, too. Here's an example of an issue with a photo. Just click on View Image.
  

And other fixes and smaller enhancements based on your feedback.

Here's an email we sent a little while ago to some of our more active SeeFixers. If you want to participate, too, please email us at team@seeclickfix.com.

You spoke. We listened. And now you're invited to a private beta.

We heard that you wanted to be able to manage your SeeClickFix issues
more effectively. You'd like to use the site more and email less.
You asked for a "dashboard" to see and react to issues in context so
that you could spot trends.

Starting today, we offer SeeProfile for the professional SeeClickFix user.

Features include:
*Interactive listing of watch areas (including ability to edit
boundaries, key words, etc.)
*Interactive listing of issues/clickets (see what you have reported
yourself, etc.)
*Interactive listing of comments (see what's important to your community)
*Ability to add multiple email addresses to your profile so work and
home can be used in one place

During this private beta, we are offering these features for a
discounted rate. Respond to this email with the
name and email address of your users and we can get you set-up right
away.

We have always thought that SeeClickFix could be a great tool for the police to police non-emergency issues and are excited to see that they agree.
In the article below New Haven Chief of Police Lewis encourages people to report issues on seeclickfix.com which he checks regularly.
article

The ability to report an incident in anonymity while letting others know that the incident is being reported is a new channel of communication between citizen and police department that we hope will help to encourage more people to report crimes and more crimes to be solved.

Way to go NHPD

With any new project it can be hard at times to communicate how and why something can and will be useful. Tonight I had the pleasure of reading two articles written by authors who seemed to grasp how SeeClickFix can empower citizens, support governments and help bring all interested parties to the table. Both articles, I think, came out of our recent upswing in San Francisco buzz following on the heels of our Chronicle article.

The first was from a local neighborhood advocacy site www.RinconHillSF.org.

The general idea is that if you see a non-emergency issue in Rincon Hill or another neighborhood, you can go to SeeClickFix to open a ticket describing the issue and what can be done to resolve it, and then take responsibility by watching an area and solving the problem or passing it on to someone who can, such as a city official. Instead of just being spectators and shaking your head in disgust at this and that while walking around the neighborhood, you can make a difference. You can step up to the plate to try to get the issue resolved rather than continuing to allow it to go ignored. (full article)

This echos my own experience of being a clicker. After several weeks of reporting issues and seeing them fixed, I've noticed that I'm now more likely to pick up small pieces of litter to keep things clean. I really feel like I have more of a stake in my own city now.

The second article was written up by Thrilllist SF. They point out in their own humorous style the success we have had in bringing more then just governments to the table.

SCF also hassles private industry into monitoring the footprint it leaves on the cityscape, as when AT&T used it to relocate and wipe down huge eyesore cable boxes -- proving that not even multinational telecommunications giants are Above the Law. (full article)

I'm really enjoying that people see our site as a place and a way to create more good in the world. Keep it up guys. I'm stoked, thank you.
-Kam

We got some good press yesterday on the San Francisco Chronicles website, sfgate.com, from Editor Phil Bronstein.
Phil is the creator of Chronicle Watch, the "analog predecessor" to seeclickfix. Chronicle Watch has people write in their issues and the chronicle exposes them with a photo of the person responsible for fixing the issue. According to Phil, they've had a lot of success.
Here's the article:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=47&entry_id=29155

This from SideClick Mark:
The dangerous potholes in front of Romeo's appear to have been patched.

A number of similar problems that I have reported on seeclickfix
(www.seeclickfix.com) over the past few months have also been very
quickly addressed by the city.

Check out the past two or three posts on the SeeClickFix blog for
other reviews of how this has worked recently:
http://seeclickfix.blogspot.com/

Now, if only some of those faded crosswalks would get restriped!

Anyhow, I again would like to encourage everyone here to report
problems at this website, especially those related to road conditions
or traffic safety. When you report an issue, notices are sent out to
many people across the city. This seems much more effective than
trying to call 10 or 20 different people, which previously seemed to
be the only good approach for getting things done.

If you see something and report it, you are potentially saving one of
your neighbors from a nasty fall or a broken ankle (speaking as
someone who has stepped or ridden into "invisible" potholes at night).
Also, if you are concerned about a particular issue, keep in mind
that you can search "clickets" by keyword.

So please speak up! And pass this along to your contacts in each neighborhood.

This is from Jason Stockman, a SeeClickFix user, in an email dated 8.07.08:
As of yesterday, I had reported three problems, and two of them had already been fixed. I even got an email from Rob Smuts saying that he was on top of it (regarding the potholes on York St just south of Chapel). This is the kind of thing that validates one's efforts as a citizen, and that's very cool. It's also a great way to multiply the eyes of a few city inspectors into the eyes of potentially every city resident.

The second reason has to do with some stuff I've been reading, including a book called "Emergence" by Stephen Johnson, who gave a talk at Yale a few years back. Johnson argues that there are three types of systems, simple deterministic systems (brick falling from window ledge), systems of disorganized complexity (gas particles in a room), and systems of organized complexity (cities, ant colonies, brains, markets). (Incidentally, I'm now reading Godel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter, which also touches on organized complexity). Johnson talks about bottom-up organization and feedback in cities, ant-hills, brains, and in Internet communities like Slashdot, where posts are reviewed by community members and the most popular ones trickle up to the top. He stresses the importance of distributed processing over centralized authority in shaping the character of a system. There is clearly a role for some concentrated power, for a City Hall. But what most defines a neighborhood, a city, and even a whole nation are the myriad interactions between individuals within it. In an ant hill, each individual abides by very simple rules (follow pheremone trails left by other ants), but very complex behavior emerges from the ensemble of all the ants interacting with each other (the Queen has very little impact on the actual dynamics of the colony). Humans follow somewhat more complicated "rules" at the individual level, but exceedingly complex emergent behavior pops out just as it does for an anthill. Johnson says that free markets breed vibrancy and diversity because they allow individuals to freely interact, as contrasted with the stagnation and bleakness of so-called "command" or "planned" economies from the Communist world (this is debatable, but it's an interesting point nonetheless).

I think seeclickfix is a way to help bring about emergent behavior in a city. It addresses the built environment using the distributed intelligence of many individuals. The individual "signal" left by a person who sees a storm drain overflowing is "amplified" by feedback from others who see the same problem and agree that it is urgent. In this way, information bubbles up and commands attention at a higher level, eventually prompting action by City Hall, or other actors.

I don't know. Maybe this analogy is a bit of a stretch. But I appreciate Seeclickfix and I hope it spreads to other cities like a rabid meme.

A clicker was having trouble getting an unresponsive landlord to maintain their property. The issue has been open on SeeClickFix for weeks and then finally: a closed issue.
How was the problem solved?
An unlikely solution is declared in the comments section of the closed issue:

"vastly improved since unknown neighborhood activist reportedly swept trash and deposited it in front off store entrance after-hours several days in a row. Seems to have made an impact"

We're always excited to see community members taking action themselves to fix issues.

On a similar note: Friends of East Rock Park closed an issue about a broken park bench with the comment:
"The bench is fixed and lookin' good thanks to Friends of East Rock Park and some seriously hard working volunteers."

Nice work guys!

Gary Hogan's watch area for graffiti and trash in New Haven, CT saw 20 issues fixed in the last week. Congratulations Gary. You are the Most Responsive Fixer

From THE WEEK section of this week's New Haven Advocate,:
"New Haven's SeeClickFix.com is part of a wave of localized civic pride on the World Wide Web. The site helps communities identify and fix problems, remove eyesores or just begin a neighborhood dialog. SeeClickFix--founded by Yale system administrator Jeff Blasius, New Haven-touting t-shirt designer Ben Berkowitz and web-savvy brothers Kam and Mile Lasater-has been getting some national press. Spokeman for the site are the special guests at today's monthly Development Roundtable, 9 a.m. at the New Haven Free Public Library (133 Elm St., New Haven; 203-946-8130, cityofnewhaven.com/library)"

Read it here
You can also register(no charge) at: www.guidezilla.com/nhfpl

The Downtown Bozeman Association in Bozeman Montana received the fixie award for Most Engaged Community by receiving the most issues clicked in one watch area this week.
The Downtown Bozeman Partnership is a great example of how other organizations aside from government agencies can be agents for fixing in their communities.
Chris Naumann, Executive Director of the Bozeman Partenership says, "I initiated a graffiti removal program in Bozeman's historic downtown in April of 2008. I inventoried the tags 'by hand' and began systematic removal with the help of our employed maintenance staff.
I also serve as a member of the City of Bozeman Graffiti Task Force. We are devising a city-wide system for locating, identifying, and removing graffiti.
One of the aspects we have been struggling is how to have 'eyes' throughout our 35,000 person town and how to gather the necessary information to proceed with clean-up.
The SeeClickFix website solves both of these problems and presents our efforts with more technology than we could have ever developed ourselves."

To Learn More about the Downtown Bozeman Partnership:http://www.downtownbozeman.org/

Now Chris just has to clean up all those issues that were reported in his area and Bozeman could be awarded with this weeks acknowledgment for Most Responsive Fixer.
That competition starts tomorrow, so start fixing.

We're starting to have new sideclicks pop-up all over the country and we're really excited.
Our newest SideClick in Pittsburgh just added a seeclickfix page to their website.
If you're in Pittsburgh help get those first couple of clicks on the map by going to:
http://15211.org/15211-seeclickfix/ or zooming to PGH on our map.

You too can add this page to your site/blog/facebook page by going to http://www.seeclickfix.com/widget.

This week a few seeclickfix reports of Graffiti were reported on AT&T's New U-verse boxes. While we at seeclickfix are excited for faster Internet for everyone, we were equally excited to see that AT&T responded to the issues so quickly. It's great to see utility co's engaging in the seeclickfix community and broadening the realm of fixers.

The clip below is from A New Haven Independent Article posted today:

Smuts “strongly encouraged” New Haveners to report any taggings through SeeClickFix.com, an independent watchdog website mapping quality of life complaints across the city and tracking how quickly they’re addressed. The tagging at the top of this story was reported here on SeeClickFix on Sunday evening and fixed Thursday by noon. Graffiti seen on the V-rad boxes can be reported at the website, with the tag word “v-rad.”

To read more click here

From Ben to our SeeFixers:

Get your neighborhood/watch area to report the most issues this week on seeclickfix.com and we will honor you with good blog press and national recognition for your organization/department. (We're a start-up so we can't offer a trip to the pothole fixing convention in the Bahamas...sorry. Maybe next month.)

All issues must be reported by next Monday 7.21.08. The award: Most Engaged Community

The following week we will host a similar competition where orgs/departments will be recognized for most items fixed in an area in one week.

For all you busy folks who don't have time to compose an email, here's a sample message that you can deliver to potential Clickers in your watch area if you'd like:
----------------------------
Help improve our neighborhood/area while gaining some national attention. Go to SeeClickFix.com and report a non-emergency public issue such as a pothole, graffiti, litter or a blighted property. The area with the most issues will receive national recognition via the SeeClickFix blog with the honor of Most Engaged Community.

-----------------------------
We're excited that so many of you have taken responsibility for you neighborhoods so quickly as See Click Fix is only in its infancy.

We depend on you guys for user feedback, so please don't hesitate to give it.

Sincerely,
Ben B.
SeeClickFix.com
Power To The Community

Gary Hogan, director of LCI in New Haven is proving that SeeClickFix can be a powerful tool when used to its fullest capabilities.
His department is fighting an uphill battle against rising urban blight such as graffiti, but they're getting the job done more efficiently today than they would have been able to months ago do to active citizen reporting and easy tracking of issues on seeclickfix.
To read more about Gary and the praise he recently received from the New Haven board of Alderman click here

See Click Fix obtained some regional press today in the New Haven Register.
Read the story here.
As SeeClickFix helps the New Haven community maintain their public space we hope that other members of cities in the region will pick up on all the benfefits and start amping up the clicking.

Thanks goes to Keep America Beautiful for including SeeClickFix in their email newsletter:

Track Graffiti with SeeClickFix
SeeClickFix is a map-based website that allows citizens, government agencies, and nonprofits to set up a non-emergency reporting system for issues such as graffiti vandalism. This tool can help educate and empower residents to improve their neighborhoods, as well as track and report graffiti tags for quick and efficient response. Read more...

Earlier tonight, Kam and I were talking with Ben about how many different groups can benefit from SeeClickFix. It's one thing to know this intellectually. It's another thing to see this in action over the past few days. For example we've recently had discussions with:

• Citizens - like Abby in Pittsburgh who will be spreading the word to her friends and Murat in San Francisco who will post a note about SeeClickFix to a bunch of listservs. Citizens are remarking on the feeling of power to change their neighborhood and to be involved.
  
• City Governments - like the New Haven department head who raves about how the reports from SeeClickFix help him do his job better and wants more features.
  
• State Government - like the Connecticut State economic development official who sees the power to have an impact on a state-wide level.
• Non-Profits - like the multi-chapter group Keep America Beautiful who is going to be sharing the new tool with their teams.
  
• Special Services/Business Improvement Districts - like the business improvement district in Mobile, AL or Greensboro, NC who just set-up SeeFix watch areas.
  
• Utilities - like the northeast electric company CEO and VP of Customer Service who are exploring how they can use the power of SeeClickFix.
  
• School Districts - like the school board official in Texas who wants to embed SeeClickFix inside their parent web portal to keep on top of maintenance issues around schools.

So, we're now up to nearly 50 cities with SeeFix watch areas set-up (we did ~30 of them) and over 10 cities with open issues. I think that will be continuing to grow given all the conversations we've been having. Where do we go next?

Congratulations to Ben Berkowitz. Ben, who is one of the SeeClickFix founders, won a the Town Green's Collaborator of the Year Award during thier 10th anniversary gala. He was recognized for his efforts creating the famous pro-New Haven t-shirts, a neighborhood merchant association and SeeClickFix. In the words of the Executive Director Scott Healy will "soon be sweeping the nation." I can't wait.

We've been getting great feedback from users which has been great. As you use the site, we appreciate hearing from you on your thoughts. We've gotten suggestions on new features including being able to open issues from your cell phone. Sometimes we also hear about "bugs" or issues with the software not working as expected. Although many of the reported issues have been resolved, there may always be some outstanding. Since SeeClickFix is very much about identifying issues in the physical world, it seems like a good idea to share our list of issues with the website. Is that too meta for you? It's about transparency.

Read the list of issues we're working on. Send us your ideas, please.

If you live in New Haven (like me), you may have seen the local press article on SeeClickFix. It was exciting to see continued recognition of our efforts (thanks for all the help!). It was a positive article and captured a lot of the functionality of the website. I hope it will attract moreSeeClick'ers.

I want to underline a couple of points from the article:

• SeeClickFix is meant to provide everyone with tools to collaborate and improve things together - not to create an adversarial relationship.
• We are piloting in New Haven, CT and Buffalo, NY. We do have users in other towns and will continue to spread the word. Ultimately, our vision is to reach out nationally and beyond.
• In any given town there are so many people responsible for fixing things that it is hard for the average citizen to keep track. Is the city or the state responsible for this street? Does the electric company or the city handle this street light? Who fixes this drain? SeeClickFix helps you sort through this mess by sorting tickets to the right place.
  

And as the Mayor of New Haven says "SeeClickFix is the result of people taking ownership of what goes on around them. That's a good thing...we don't have to own it or to duplicate it, we just need to pay attention to it."

What did you think of the article?

What makes SeeClickFix different than traditional 311 systems?
This is a question that has been asked of us over the past few months and it deserves a response.
1. City 311 systems are just that, a way to communicate with the city. SeeClickFix acts on the assumption that there are others along with city hall responsible for keeping the public space up to snuff and allows anyone to be alerted to issues and close issues.

2. In a traditional 311 system communication on an issue occurs between reporter and the city employee responsible for fixing. In a traditional 311 system a reported issue can not be viewed by the general public. On SeeClickFix communication on an issue occurs between the reporter and the entire community of watchers and visitors to the site who may also include the city employee responsible for fixing. On SeeClickFix everyone can view the reported issue and comment on it as well as select that they want the item fixed also.
SeeClickFix creates accountability and responsiveness through transparency.

3. 311 systems are typically designed for individual municipalities and do not collaborate with their peers. See Click Fix is intended for global use and allows for global collaboration on universal local issues.

4. SeeClickFix has free features for every citizen available now. No need to wait until your town has the money and/or time to spend installing a 311 system. According to our research only ~100 towns in the US have 311 systems.

We have now crossed the digital divide. When some people hear about SeeClickFix they wonder how those without a computer can report issues. Today we introduce a new feature for SeeClickFix. I have jokingly dubbed it "SeeCallIt". You now can call in your issues to 877.853.1552 and we'll enter it on the website.

I'm also excited about the new feature because anyone can use it from their cell phone. So, program it into your phone memory now and the next time you see an issue, you can call it into us. Look forward to hearing from you.

...what is that you say? I had no idea either until this morning when our friend Paul alerted us to this New Haven register article:
After Paul suggested we ask people to map these boxes on seeclickfix I just had to check them out. I found one on a pole around the corner from my home sitting two feet off the ground, partially overlapping the sidewalk and whirring loudly enough that the landlord of the house 10 feet away could not possibly live there.

If you have one of these boxes in your neighborhood and it bothers you, you should mark it on the map. It appears that the Department of Utilities will be requesting that ATT
display where all 2000 of these boxes are in CT. As a citizen you can do the same and let the DPUC know it bothers you.

Our friend David suggested that we use Meetup. That's the website that helps you organize in-person meetings. I thought it would be fun to get together with people in New Haven who share a passion for or a curiosity about SeeClickFix.

Come join us in person. Sign up online, too.

June 16th at 7:30pm
Christopher Martins
860 State St, New Haven

THE GOOD:
Yesterday,
I woke up at 6:30 am to drive my fiancee to the work. As I left our driveway on State Street in New Haven I noticed that the property next door to ours had been vandalized with a huge piece of graffiti. As I drove down State Street I noticed 14 other locations that were covered in the work of the same "tagger."

After reporting the incident to NHPD I returned home and reported all of the tickets on seeclickfix. On Upper State Street we have contract a worker to remove graffiti. The Clean Team, as they're called, have created watch areas around Upper State Street on seeclickfix and respond within 24 hours to our graffiti complaints.

At 10:30 I left my house to ride my bike to "the office"(I freelance. yes it's a coffee shop.)
On the way down State Street I noticed that some of the graffiti had already been removed. I pulled up to one of the workers removing the graffiti and to my surprise it was not our Clean Team worker. The City of New Haven's livable city initiative had received the email also and was well on their way to cleaning up the whole street. By noon all traces of our overnight vandal were gone before the majority of business owners residents and visitors could see the work.
Check out State Street in New Haven to see all the blue tickets. The city of New Haven did an amazing job this morning. Also a big thanks to our Alderman, Roland Lemar, who also got the clicket updates (he has a seeclickfix watch around his ward)and gave LCI a call to make sure they had seen the emails.
Accountability and efficiency is what seeclickfix is all about. Start clicking in your hood and slowly you will start to see the same results. As our sideclick, David Torke, in Buffalo said to me yesterday, "the anecdote will become the rule".

THE BAD
In my estimation the vandal that necessitated the cleanup cost the taxpayers of the city of New Haven over $2,000 yesterday. It may seem like a game to the kids that keep LCI and the Clean Team busy, but it goes far beyond that...

THE UGLY
$2,000 in The City Of New Haven is about 1/2 the cost of what it takes to keep a homeless shelter open for one night. In a time when cities in CT and around the country are facing tough economic challenges we need the vandals that piss away our money and their families money to call a truce as they are literally putting people out on the street.

Mark in New Haven, responsible for designnewhaven.com, was the first to incorporate our widget into his blog. He has now also received the designation of of "most prolific" New Haven clicker.
It's people like Mark that are making the clicking and fixing a reality in New Haven.
Thanks Mark.

Over the last week we have become acquainted with the inner workings of Buffalo, New York. Through clickets, blog posts and emails from interested residents interested in how they can be the second city to implement seeclickfix we are starting to see how the sideclick program can spread the clicking and fixing.

Our first SideClick in Buffalo is David Torte who embedded the widget in his blog and gave Buffalo their first introduction to seeclickfix. Since David has done this, a few other blogs have picked up the widget or written about seeclickfix, some tickets have been entered and discussions about the potential of seeclickfix in Buffalo has begun. Some are skeptical that seeclickfix is just another way to complain without any goal of resolution, but those like David are starting to understand how seeclickfix can create a network of reporters and fixers alike dedicated to efficiently restoring and maintaining their home base.

From U.I. Feedback, to reporting tickets, to getting the word out by contacting press and friends David exemplifies what we need in SideClicks.

Buffalo is Rising...you let us know if your city is next!

Looks like we got picked up by another local blogger. They end with a great quote:

this site gets two thumbs up for trying to help make my life better.

http://hobohaven.wordpress.com/2008/05/13/awesome-new-website-for-nh-complaintswith-the-goal-of-actually-fixing-them-oh-joy/

That is awesome as far as we are concerned. Its great to have the positive feedback. Good thing we have Google-Alerts running here at SeeClickFix otherwise we might have missed out on the nice pat on the back.

An issue we have seen is that each community that has started embracing the power of SeeClickFix to empower their communicty, thinks that the site was built for them. One of the mottos we had from the start was "local every where from day one". Personally I didn't realize how much people would just begin interacting with our site with such a sensation of local and personal ownership.

-Kam

Things are really clicking along here at SeeClickFix. We've started generating more buzz and as Ben has already posted, we are seeing some real traction with our widget offerings. Check out the multi platform code at WidgetBox. The excitement is palpable.

Earlier this month our service offering got picked up and written about by a local online news outlet, The New Haven Independent. Here is the link to article.

http://newhavenindependent.org/archives/2008/05/see_click_fix.php

-Kam

See Click Fixing is spreading to Buffalo where a couple of different media streams have implemented our new "widget".
Check out:
www.wnymedia.net
and
fixbuffalo.blogspot.com

Here at home in New Haven we have also had a local blog become an uber sideclick and embed a widget in their blog: www.designnewhaven.com

If you want to embed seeclickfix in your site just email team@seeclickfix.com for the code(or steal it from one of the above sites...they won't mind.)

This week we got some great press. A local New Haven news letter picked up our work here at SeeClickFix and decided to reach out to their readers. Its great to see community organizations see how much value we can provide and begin championing our system.

This is just one example of our belief that the resources and networks already exist in our communities its just a matter of breaking down the barriers to communication and engagement. Someone wants to fix that street light or remove that graffiti but they can't if they don't know where to go. Now, those who are effected can reach out to those who will fix.

Ok now all pumped up. Below is the article. I look forward to seeing your tickets. Keep'em coming.
-Kam

A Quicker Fixer Upper

Ever wondered who’s responsible for fixing potholes, replacing blown out street lights and cleaning graffiti? Well,there’s a huge network of organizations (including the Town Green District) working together to take care of all sorts of issues throughout the city, but now there’s a way you can help them (and us) do the job more efficiently.

It’s as simple as SeeClickFix!

Elm City locals Jeff Blasius, Ben Berkowitz, Kam Lasater and Miles Lasater launched SeeClickFix.com as way to use the power of the internet to keep New Haven clean, vibrant and beautiful. With SeeClickFix, concerned citizens, merchants’ associations, Aldermen or utility companies are alerted to concerns or requests for service. The website’s map based interface makes it easy for anyone to pinpoint a location and identify an issue. Here’s how it works:

See: See a non-emergency issue in your neighborhood.

Click: Go to SeeClickFix.com, click on the map, open a ticket and describe the issue. Each ticket generates an email to a "Fixer," someone involved with solving issues in that area. All tickets regarding graffiti in Downtown are addressed by the Town Green District’s Clean Team.

Fix: Click save on your ticket and the issue is reported for a more timely resolution.

Sounds easy, doesn’t it? Want to be an even bigger help? Sign up to be a SideClick and you can help spread the word, work with Fixers, and provide feedback.

SeeClickFix: Open your eyes, raise your voice, click your ticket!

In our regular seeclickfix Sunday Jam Session, otherwise known as developers gone wild, we hit a standstill when we realized that we could not access our source code.
When seeclickfix developers are "not going wild" we enjoy updating (spamming) people about our latest and greatest developments and occasionally, though it's most painful for me, reading.
About 5 minutes ago in one of these reading endeavors I came across what seems to be the best justification for widespread seeclickfixing written by New York City Councilwoman Gale Brewer. http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/issueoftheweek/20040710/200/1033

In the article Councilwoman Brewer applauds the NYC 311 system and Mayor Bloomberg's use of the reporting data to warrant a noise ordinance. She also points out the shortcomings of this 311 system:
1. The complaints are sent to a centralized complaint area where no one else has access to them.
2. Non-Authorized individuals can not receive reports on non-emergency issues.
3. The data that is used is not localized enough to identify specific problem areas beyond, say "Lower Manhattan."

Gale, if you've come across this post, we believe seeclickfix is the solution to your problem.
SeeClickFix allows anyone to watch the smallest of areas and receive reports. It also allows multiple people to comment on an issue.

When we first started working on seeclickfix 3 months ago we did not think much beyond the local public works department in terms of who would be a "fixer." As use has started to grow in New Haven, CT, where we have first implemented concentrated marketing, all types of fixers are coming to the table.

A city/town is a complicated organism that requires Alderman/Councilman, Merchant's Associations, Public Works departments, Neighborhood watches, not-for profits, for profits, utility companies and just your average concerned citizen to remain healthy.
Enabling all of these parts to listen to the same system allows for a healthier system.

Hopefully New York does open up their 311 system for all, but if they don't, you can always seeclickfix.
Gale, we'd love to talk, ben@seeclickfix.com

Exciting new features at SeeClickFix. I think you'll find them quite useful.

• SeeFix. If you work for the local government or want to take responsibility for your neighboorhod, get notified anytime a ClickIt is opened or updated in your area. It's simple, just visit the SeeFix section of the website. Then you find your local area and draw a line around the area you want to watch. Once you save and give us your email, we'll let you know whenever a new ClickIt is opened or updated. You can use that information to monitor the performance of those officially responsible for addressing the issue or you can choose to fix it yourself. You could even check out the area and add your own comments on the issue. Do you agree? Has it already been resolved? You can help keep the database up-to-date.
  
• Search. We've made it easier to find the ClickIts you're looking for. Now on the SeeClick page you can search by keyword, radius and/or status. More features to come based on your feedback.
  

As always, if you're interested in becoming a SideClick, please contact us.

Good momentum here at SeeClickFix world headquarters. We have movement on several fronts:

• Spreading the Word. We've been spreading the word about SeeClickFix and seeing interest in Florida, Michigan, Kansas, California and Illiosnios. Starting to see Clickits open up in places where I've never been.
• Team. Jeff has joined our development team. He's brought a lot of good experience and already transitioned us most of the way to a new technology system. We'll be using Ruby on Rails andPostgres to support more rapid/easy development and certain mapping calculations. I've been impressed with how quickly he has gotten up to speed and made progress on building new features.
• SideClicks. We've also had a few SideClicks join the team and are happy to have them. Great feedback flowing in. So, keep it coming and tell your friends.
• Partners. We've been talking with a number of other organizations about working together in some way. I'm interested in two types of relationships right now: (a) resellers to municipalities and (b) social/civic societies. Resellers can help us bring our backend Clicket management tools to cities and towns. We plan to charge for these features to help support our work. Resellers get to share in some of this revenue. Social/civic societies or other informal groups can bring another meaningful volunteer opportunity to their members and help spread the word about SeeClickFix.

Here at SeeClickFix world headquarters (Miles' condo), we've been working on terminology and a new site design. Wanted to update you on it and get your feedback.

• ClickIt - an issue or ticket that is opened by a user using the SeeClickFix website. Each flag on the map is a ClickIt (sounds like "ticket").
• SeeClicker - a website user or person who recognizes ("sees") a local issue and reports it ("clicks"). More generally anyone who uses the website.
• SeeFixer - someone who resolves ("fixes") an issue. Usually, a SeeFixer is someone with works for the local government or other authority. Personally, I can't wait until SeeClickers become SeeFixers by banding together to make their community a better neighborhood by getting hands-on. When a ClickIt is SeeFixed, it changes color on the map so everyone knows it is no longer an issue.
• SideClick - someone who takes responsibility for a local area (neighborhood or town). SideClicks spread the word to help recruit SeeClickers and SeeFixers. (more to come on this later)

What do you think?

Google announced google.org today. Dot org, as it's already being donned, will be the philanthropic arm of the commercial giant.
The seeclickfix team is more than excited to note that "improving the flow of information to hold governments accountable in community services" is one of their five main goals.
Check out http://google.org/inform.html to learn more about google's vision.

On Friday 1.11.07 we felt confident enough in seeclickfix to don it an alpha title and email our nearest and dearest to give it a whirl.
The core features to seeclickfix alpha are
1)The ability to search the map and create a ticket.
2)The ability to search the map and view an existing ticket.
3)The ability to add a comment to an existing ticket or close an open ticket.
4) The map zooms to your approximate physical location on load.

We are looking for all the feedback we can get, so please play with the site and let us know what you would like to see in Beta.

On Sunday 1.13.07 we discussed some of the feedback we received and the typically positive nature of the feedback led us to the decision that we should move towards beta.
What does seeclickfix Beta mean to us? For the most part it means that we will be putting Kam's coding ability to the test with lots of nifty new features.
What are these nifty new features? In alpha we feel that we adequately addressed the "seeing" and the "clicking", but the "fixing" has lots of room for growth.
What is "Fixing"? To us it is features such as:
1.Email notification to those concerned about a ticket(a ticket creator, editor or anyone who wants to sign-up).
2.Detailed reports that make it easy for an individual to view tickets that they are interested in.

On day 1 "Post Alpha" beyond the talk of what's to come we created a test environment to run our nifty new features and then we created one: email on creation of a ticket.

What's next?
We'll let you know.

Ben, Kam and I happen to live in New Haven and have a certain interest in our town for that reason. We were excited to hear that New Haven has launched a "web311" system.

From New Haven's website: "Effective Immediately New Haven residents can submit concerns, questions and requests directly to the appropriate department through our interactive Web 311 system. Follow the link to the Web 311 page where you can select from pre-populated options or submit your own original question, work request or concern. All residents who provide an email address will receive an immediate response with a tracking number to follow the progress of your request. A new innovation for a new year, make sure to utilize Web 311 for all your municipal (non-Police emergency) needs."

We were working on SeeClickFix before the New Haven site was announced so we're not doing this in response. In fact, it's great that New Haven is on the forefront here. Ben told me about using the system himself and said he was pleasantly surprised at the level of functionality. Kudos to who ever whoever put this together!

In the research I've done the vast majority of municipal website don't have any functionality like this. The overwhelming majority of people out there have no easy web-based service for drawing attention to local issues. At SeeClickFix, we're excited about changing the relationship between citizens, their governments and their neighboorhoods. We want to reach everyone in the US and ultimately beyond that. We're looking for massive scale. Come join us.

Here's an email we just sent out to some of our friends and the folks at MySociety. Let the Seeing, Clicking and Fixing begin. Hat's off to Kam and Ben for all the work in getting to this point.

----
Welcome to the future of democracy. No this isn't an ad for a Presidential candidate. Rather, this email is to invite you to a preview of our new project.

SeeClickFix encourages residents to become citizens by participating in taking care of and improving their neighborhoods. We allow anyone to:

• See - see a non-emergency issue in your neighborhood
• Click - open a ticket describing the issue and what can be done to resolve it
• Fix - publicly report the issue to everyone for resolution

Please check out the website, open a ticket and give us your feedback on this early version. We know there are probably a million things we can do to improve it. You're getting a first look at our preview site so let us know what you think.

Then tell all your friends.

http://www.seeclickfix.com

Thanks,

Ben, Kam & Miles
seeclickfix@gmail.com