Digital Turns One!
We had an awesome time celebrating our one-year anniversary with all those that could join us on Wednesday at Digital’s first Open House! We were so excited to share some of the projects we’ve accomplished, exciting ventures in the works, plus some fun and engaging demos!
Staff members who were not able to attend in person used the Teams link to video in, say “hi”, and check the celebration out remotely 🙂
A few of the projects we highlighted at the open house:
How do you know if you service is any good? Our product framing template helps define a problem in need of a solution and strategically assess the root cause, identify users, outline user scenarios, and define success. At the open house, Van Bach, Lindsay Lara, Sara Smith, and Raul Aguilar all completed their own product management template winning themselves a Digital Services t-shirt!
Our Network Redesign display and diagram gave staff a clearer look into the level of complexity of what a network is. For many, light was shed on what technological terms such as, router, switch, and Local Area Network (LAN) actually are—fascinating!
Remember when we experienced our first Public Safety Power Shutoff? Yep, so do we! But in case you forgot, we had a presentation looping of every news post, sprinkled with a few social media posts, that San Rafael’s Public Information Officers team collaborated with the County to create during the event.
The Essential Facilities project began in 2016, with two fire stations completed and the Public Safety Center right behind them. These complex construction projects require detailed and thorough technology planning to ensure a strong and secure network design that works with critical public safety services. The Digital Team has been working in lockstep with Police, Fire, and Public Works to ensure all technology needs are met.
A big “thank you!” to Jerry from Xantrion for representing our tech support team at the Open House. In addition to the hundreds of support tickets, Xantrion has also been steadily accomplishing a lot behind the scenes, including documentation, network monitoring, inventory, web filtering, and more. On deck is cyber security training, multi-factor authentication, mobile application management, and endpoint encryption.
In September, Zak Baron worked with Public Works to create a visualization tool to display sweeping routes and their schedules to make it easier for residents to see what days and time frames the sweeper will be on your street.
Employees that live in San Rafael had the most fun with this, looking up their own addresses to see when their street would get swept!
Over the past year, Sean Mooney has collaborated with Cory Bytof on developing the Climate Change Action Plan website. This project incorporates the City’s Climate Change Action Plan with community examples of “Climate Change Role Models.” We are excited to partner with Sustainability in rolling out this important community engagement project.
We showcased how we work as a department including daily stand ups and all hands meetings, establishing a team agreement on how we work together, using collaborative software tools like Microsoft Teams, Trello, and CP Connect, and setting aside time for focused project work in “Baby Sprints.”
We shared our Department’s Strategic Framework and how we are using it to inform the work we do every day. Our Annual Work Plan showcases the specific projects we are undertaking to realize the ambitious goals outlined in the Strategic Framework.
We are working ourselves out of bad email habits and learning how to work asynchronously by leveraging the power of Microsoft Teams for project-based chats and video conferencing. Teams let us consolidate conversations about topics in one place, so we aren’t fishing through our inbox piecing together conversations. It also lets us conduct video meetings. We can’t wait to introduce these features to City staff.
2020 Lunch & Learn Sessions
Bring your lunch and join us for a Lunch & Learn session every third Thursday of the month. Each session will cover a different topic from designing a catchy and sophisticated flyer to website best practices, product managemen
t, and using Office 365 applications to their full potential. There’s something for everyone!
The first Lunch & Learn will take place on Thursday, January 16 in the large conference room at City Hall.
Have you ever been tasked with posting content on the website and have no idea where to begin, how to attach a featured photo, or generate a click-worthy headline? In this Website Nuts & Bolts session Rebecca and Sean will share the best tips and tricks for creating a news post on the City’s website.
Digital Co-Facilitates Focus Group for Public Safety Art Projects
How might we create a space that makes public safety staff proud, reflects the diversity of our community, and makes all members of our community feel welcome? That is the challenge faced with the design of a mural project and exhibit space in the lobby of the new Public Safety Center. Our Civic Design Manager Sean Mooney and Economic Development Director Danielle O’Leary convened representatives from Police, Fire, residents, staff, and the art community in a focus group that aimed to outline what design elements make visitors feel welcome or unwelcome as we attempt to create a space that truly reflects the tremendous work and impact of our Police and Fire Department in the community. Participants reflected on the various reasons members of the public visit the Police and Fire Department, highlighted community sensitivities, reviewed contemporary murals celebrating public safety, and helped define guidelines and principles to help the City identify a successful way forward on this ambitious project.