Screenshot of Engage Omaha’s homepage, engageomaha.com
Omaha mayor Jim Suttle today announced the launch of EngageOmaha.com, one of the nation’s first city-wide, virtual town hall websites. The city launched the site in collaboration with Omaha-based startup MindMixer, which offers web-based idea generation and concept prioritization services. The city is paying $12,000 for the site and MindMixer’s services.
Together, the city and MindMixer aim to offer an innovative way for residents of Omaha to provide input on important community issues.
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“Omaha residents can now engage their government 24 hours a day, wherever there is access to the internet,” Suttle said in a release. “I’m proud to offer this innovative tool and encourage all Omahans of Omaha to connect with their city government.” (Suttle, pictured below, courtesy of CityofOmaha.org)
For its first 45 days, Engage Omaha will focus on the 2012 city budget. From there, the focus of the discourse on the site will shift every 30-45 days.
After registering for an Engage Omaha account, a user can post an idea regarding one of the site’s eight topics — library, planning, parks, public works, police department, fire department, convention and visitors bureau and administration. Other users can then comment on that idea or simply “second” it to show approval.
Unlike traditional town hall meetings, which city officials said have drawn low attendance of late, MindMixer’s town hall format allows citizens to participate in the civic process on their own terms. (Left: Example of the Library topic, screenshot from engageomaha.com.)
MindMixer CEO and co-founder Nick Bowden said it’s “like having a town hall meeting online, whenever it’s convenient for you.”
MindMixer was founded in 2010 and received a $300,000 round of funding from Omaha-based Dundee Venture Capital in February of this year. MindMixer’s stable of clients includes Lincoln, Neb., Kansas City, Mo., Burbank, Calif., Nashville, Tenn, and El Paso, Texas. The company has previously worked with Omaha on Pass the Potatoes, a project focused on the city’s parks department.
To learn more about MindMixer’s platform, watch the video of their demo from Cornstalks Demo Night three weeks ago: “Cornstalks Demo Night: MindMixer demo by Nick Bowden.”
