Author: rebecca@deptofcivicthings.com

Direct messaging: Rebecca Woodbury

I’ve always been inspired by the open source nature of public sector work – sharing and learning from each other in ways that lift us all up. Read GovFresh’s chat with Department of Civic Things founder, Rebecca Woodbury.

Marin Flood Control District launches new website

The Marin Flood Control District recently launched a new website using the ProudCity platform. As a ProudCity Certified Service Partner, Department of Civic Things supported the City’s product owner and project team with: Content strategy and design Plain language training Developing and editing content Creating several years of a public meetings archive The content on the … Continued

Set guiding principles

This is a chapter from Proudly Serving, contributed by Laine Hendricks and Rebecca Woodbury Overview Guiding principles help organizations align their values to their digital goals. They serve as an aspirational North Star to help teams make design and content decisions. Guiding principles enable collaboration and consistency so digital products achieve better outcomes and build … Continued

Digital Marin redesigns website

Digital Marin recently redesigned their website on the ProudCity platform. As a ProudCity Certified Service Partner, Department of Civic Things supported the organization with: Reorganizing and labeling pages Creating web content for their strategic plan, so it’s not just PDF Redesigning their digital resources The content on the new website prioritizes connecting people to digital resources … Continued

Santa Ana, California launches new city website

Santa Ana, California (pop. 332,610) recently launched a new website using the ProudCity platform, featuring their most common government digital services. As a ProudCity Certified Service Partner, Department of Civic Things supported the City’s product owner and project team with: Content strategy and design Plain language training Website accessibility training The content on the new … Continued

How to share updates (and why they increase public trust)

A new website project ends with a launch, but your website is never done. When you get feedback, you should report out about what you did. An easy way to do this is a regular update with a list of things you’ve done and things you are doing to improve the site. Sharing updates increases public … Continued

Beginner’s guide to digital community engagement

How to create sustainable and effective community engagement for your government agency Written in collaboration with Go Vocal (formerly CitizenLab), this guide walks you through the basics of digital community engagement and is meant to serve as a resource for beginners and seasoned practitioners alike. After all, setting a solid foundation for your community engagement … Continued

How to empower the local government product owner

Purpose The purpose of an empowered government product owner is to make sure that a government service or program is effective and meets people’s needs. “There must be a single product owner who has the authority and responsibility to assign tasks and work elements; make business, product, and technical decisions; and be accountable for the … Continued

Blending offline & online community engagement

In this CitizenLab webinar, Milzy Carrasco, Director of Community Engagement for Lancaster, PA and Rebecca Woodbury, who runs Department of Civic Things, discuss how local governments can combine online and offline community engagement to reach more people, build trust, and make more strategic and equitable decisions. From survey design to pop-up workshops, we discussed the … Continued

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