Town launches new website
Feedback option designed to engage more residents in process of government
Sarah Ladik
Northern News Services
Thursday, October 22, 2015
INUVIK
Inuvik's new website went live Oct. 14 and with it, a whole new way for citizens to interact with their municipal government.
Senior administrative officer Grant Hood shows off the newly-launched website for the Town of Inuvik Oct. 14 at the town hall. The website has space for feedback from residents, something Hood says he is eager to see used. - Sarah Ladik/NNSL photo
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"'Improved' isn't really the word," said senior administrative officer Grant Hood. "It's a complete re-vamp. We've put in 10 months of work on this. It's been a labour of love. The big thing was getting more information out to residents and people who aren't from Inuvik."
The website, designed by an outside firm to the tune of $45,000, came online at the same time as Facebook and Twitter accounts dedicated to the town.
Hood said that while there are a few existing social media accounts and pages, they will be phased out with all their content aggregated onto the new official page. Overall, the intent is to engage with residents in a new way.
"There is certainly a trend where governments are trying to get communication out to the residents. Things like websites, social media are becoming more prevalent," Hood said.
"We're a little behind in some ways but this website goes a long way."
Residents can sign up for various updates from certain departments via e-mail, something Hood expects will be more efficient than the previous practise of sending out newsletters which would largely be left scattered on the floor at the post office.
He said those who are looking for information - anything from garbage pickup schedules, snowclearing to town hall hours of operation - can now find it.
In the first three days, the page saw 312 users with a total of 1,628 page views. The average duration of the visits was three minutes and 52 seconds.
"We are very happy with what we have been seeing but it will be important to try and keep visitation high after all the excitement and curiosity dies down," said Taylor Giffin, the town's marketing and communications co-ordinator Oct. 16.
While the website could be useful to tourists, Giffin did note that everything for out-of-towners is funnelled back to the town's tourism website.
"Its an extension of our Destination Inuvik website," Giffin said.
"It's an opportunity for people to see how to get here and what there is to do - that's really where we want tourists to go."
Perhaps the most exciting thing for residents is the opportunity to provide feedback directly on the website. The main page features a tab that leads to a form in which people can write comments, negative or positive, about services the town provides.
"Feedback is dealt with on a case-by-case basis and is sent to the appropriate person," said Hood, assuring residents that their comments will not be sent into the abyss, never to be seen again.
"It will take some getting used to and I task my staff with responding. The website gives us that vehicle to get that input and it's something we take seriously."
He did note, however, that staff can't respond to concerns if people submit their feedback anonymously.
"This whole thing is uncharted territory in some ways but we're taking the opportunity to get our message out and hear back if that message is wrong," he said.
"It's something that's been long overdue."
