COA – Doug Matthews, Chief Communications Director Responds
I got a letter of response today from Doug Matthews with the City of Austin regarding my inquirey to the status of the City of Austin Website Redesign project. Here is the letter:
Hi, John. This is Doug Matthews, Chief Communications Director for the city. Sorry for the delay in getting back with you, as we’ve been dealing with recent flu-related issues. I’m working in partnership with Gail on the review and recommendations regarding the current website RFP.
First, thanks for your interest in the project. We feel that improving the feel and functionality of the site is vital to our continuing efforts to improve services to our customers and residents. It’s important that whatever solution we choose is sustainable, supportable and affordable for the city and its taxpayers. With new leadership in both Communications and Technology Management (CTM) and Communications and Public Information (CPIO) we felt it necessary to take a step back and evaluate our direction to ensure that these goals can be achieved.
We’re in the process of meeting with Council members to get their feedback and will be making a recommendation for direction soon. Our first step will be to get a Council decision on the existing RFP, which should come soon. Should that proposal be refused, we plan to involve the local technology community in a general review of the RFP requirements as part of a new process, with the understanding that – due to purchasing guidelines – we can’t share the full contents of a new RFP publicly until it is released to potential vendors.
Once those decisions begin to fall in to place, we will post relevant dates, meetings and information on the AustinGO website. The more participation we have, the better our final product will be. Thanks for being part of the solution.
Doug.
———————————————————————
Doug Matthews
Chief Communications Director
City of Austin
512.974.2231 ph
512.974.2405 fx
512.573.8757 cell
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I asked about the GoAustin website he referenced and got a futher clarification on that.
Here’s Mr. Matthews 2nd response today:
We set up a page to provide updates when the project first launched. You can see updates on the process and view documents related to the project at http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/austingo/austingo_news.cfm
We’ll be sure to keep everyone looped in a information comes available.
Doug.
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And then a quick follow up:
…you can also access it via direct URL at www.austingo.org
Doug.
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Thanks Doug. Hope everyone at the city is feeling better.
So there you have it. Keep your eyes and RSS readers on Austingo.org.
@jmacofearth
permalink: http://bit.ly/AustinGO
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