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.

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:

• Website
• Mobile app (iPhone, Android, Blackberry)
• Facebook App
• Widgets (Embedded on news and community websites)

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.

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!

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.

SeeClickFix media partner WIS-TV in Columbia, SC hit the streets this week to investigate an issue reported by one of their viewers. Issue #153450 - Need Stop Lights - highlights a deceptively dangerous intersection that many fear could lead to serious injuries if something isn't done.

After an anonymous viewer reported the issue through the SeeClickFix widget on the WIS-TV website, another viewer logged on and left a comment, adding important information about the intersection at Clemson and Percival. Vickie Covino wrote:

A stop light DEFINITELY needs to be added at percival and clemson road. It is nearly impossible to get out of Clemson road onto percival in the mornings and afternoons. If something isn't done soon someone is going to get hurt or killed. It is a very dangerous area. Plus it will help with the Fort Jackson Cemetery. Please consider putting a light there ASAP.

Reporters Shana Smith and Taylor Kearns read Vickie's comment on the original issue and posted a comment of their own, asking if she would be interested in being interviewed for the story they were working on.


Within a day, Vickie, her coworker Heather, and the WIS-TV crew were at the intersection filming and helping fix this problem once and for all! As part of their investigation, WIS-TV called the Department of Transportation and found out that the intersection has been approved for a stoplight which will be installed in the next several months.

Congrats to WIS-TV for a job very well done on their first SeeClickFix segment, and to Vickie and Heather for getting their issue the attention it deserves! Our team can't wait to see that WIS-TV will be fixing next!

Oakland, CA – The City of Oakland is offering a new tool that streamlines the process of reporting a problem. Yesterday, Oakland unveiled their portal into the mobile app called SeeClickFix for reporting non-emergency problems such as illegal dumping, graffiti, broken street lights and other infrastructure issues to help keep Oakland clean and safe. All of the data goes into the City’s existing Public Works system.

The SeeClickFix mobile app joins phone, email and web as another tool the community can use to report a problem. Information from all these sources are funneled into one database for tracking and resolution.

SeeClickFix allows residents to quickly report and track non-emergency community issues ranging from potholes to graffiti. Smartphone users can use GPS to enter the address of a problem and take a photo. Oakland Public Works crews benefit by having the photo clearly document the area of concern.

SeeClickFix works anywhere in the United States. Through mobile web, web, iPhone, Android and Blackberry apps, the SeeClickFix platform is the most widely-distributed citizen reporting tool in the country. Because it is multi- jurisdictional, it can be used to report problems in other communities.
Oakland Public Works has received and entered requests from SeeClickFix into its work management system for years. The City is now communicating results back to SeeClickFix, so people can see their issues resolved.

Mayor Jean Quan said, “With diminishing resources, this system can help City staff work more effectively and enlist more citizens to get involved. One of my favorite neighborhood leaders says that ’Grime equals Crime.’ Together we can make Oakland more beautiful and safer.”

“This tool allows every person in Oakland to become the eyes and ears of the City. Problems can be reported more quickly and more accurately, and the system continues to follow the problem until it gets addressed,” said Public Works Director Vitaly Troyan.

With increasingly limited resources, Oakland Public Works crews cannot be everywhere. SeeClickFix is designed to facilitate civic conversation and engage the community in improving Oakland’s infrastructure.

Oakland Public Works encourages residents and businesses to report problems via SeeClickFix, phone (510) 615-5566, email pwacallcenter@oaklandnet.com or web (www.oaklandpw.com). For more information, visit www.oaklandpw.com or call (510) 615-5566.

To download the free mobile app, go to http://seeclickfix.com/apps or visit the iPhone App Store or Android Market.

Recently, this article caught our eye, because of its focus on the effort of techies affiliated with online retailer Zappos to rejuvenate Las Vegas. The company is moving its headquarters downtown, encouraging employees to live in the neighborhood, and working to lure other businesses to join it.

This sentence, describing Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, was especially interesting to us:

“Indeed, the motivation for Hsieh's big bet comes from his long-held philosophy that serendipitous interactions, or what he likes to call spontaneous "collisions" between people, are what spark ideas and what facilitate relationships that lead to stronger ties -- and stronger ties lead to more ideas.”

It seems that Zappos and SeeClickFix share this common cause. We’re thrilled when citizens can use our site to address a particular issue that affects their community, like issue #152700 Blocked storm drain, which brought attention to a basic public service that needed to be restored. We also know that our platform can be used to foster the collisions that Hsieh is interested in, which will enrich the community ties in areas that use SeeClickFix. For instance, a group of users took to the site to express a desire for more dog friendly spaces in Issue #131594 New Haven’s Lack of Dog Parks. They even started to fundraise for the park by taking professional portraits of neighborhood dogs for a fee.

This is obviously a very exciting time for Las Vegas, but most communities don’t have access to the hundreds of millions of dollars that are being invested there. However, anyone with access to the web can log on to SeeClickFix, get connected with their neighbors, and express their desires for their community. 

We’re hoping that this will continue to lead to the sparks of inspiration and enhanced civic life that we’re trying to facilitate.