Council Chambers A/V Training Sessions
Last week we worked with our vendor CMS to correct audio issues in the Council Chambers and collect additional Assisted Listening/Translation devices due to the recent increase in demand. Staff also cleared out older equipment and will be working with the Facilities division to address final aesthetic improvements including cable control to further reduce the visual clutter of technology in the room.
For employees who use the City Council Chambers: come to one of our 30-minute overview and training sessions to learn how to operate the new presentation PC or plug in your own laptop, how to use assisted listening/translation devices, and learn about other planned improvements to the room.
- Tuesday, February 26th – 9 am
- Monday, March 4th – 9 am
- Thursday, March 7th – 9 am
RSVP to sean.mooney@cityofsanrafael.org.
New Printing Services
We are now working with the County of Marin Printing Services division for printing services instead of our in-house print shop. The County’s Print Shop offers full service printing including business cards, brochures, posters and banners, letterheads, door hangers, postcards, newsletters, and more.
Copy and print jobs can be submitted in-person (at the County) or online. In addition, County Printing Services provides free pick-up and/or delivery to or from the City and County offices, up to two times each week. Keep in mind that print jobs will be processed within 3-5 business days, so please plan ahead!
Visit the Printing Services page on the Employee Website to learn more and order prints. Over the next few months, we will provide support to departments, so don’t hesitate to open a support ticket if you have questions. We’ve also created a feedback survey so you can let us know what’s working and what isn’t.
Mail Room Changes
Starting next week, the incoming and outgoing mail will be located at the end of the second-floor hallway instead of room 207. Each department will be provided keys to access the cabinets. Outgoing mail needs to be dropped off by 12:30 p.m. each day. Moving the mail out of room 207 allows us more space and fewer distractions so we can better focus on tech support and service design projects. Let us know what works and what doesn’t so we can continue to improve.
CP Connect (formerly Romulus) Site Visit
On Thursday, we hosted representatives from CivicPlus. They recently acquired the Romulus software, now called CP Connect, which we use across the City to respond, manage, and track requests from constituents. They spent most of the day listening and observing our users and will be working on bug fixes and product enhancements based on what they heard. We also spent time hearing about their product roadmap and plan to work closely with them as they beta test new features.
Thanks to Christine Foster for organizing this helpful site visit!
Bay Area Civic Innovation Network (BACIN)
On Tuesday, I co-hosted the third convening of the Bay Area Civic Innovation Network. My colleague, Jason Lally of DataSF, and I are co-chairing this new group that brings together public servants across the Bay Area who are working in the digital, innovation, and data spaces of government. SPUR is generously allowing us to use a meeting space in San Francisco free of charge. So far, we’ve brought together people working for San Rafael, Marin County, San Francisco, San Mateo, San Jose, Santa Clara County, Walnut Creek, Berkeley, Oakland, Redwood City to talk about the shared challenges and opportunities we face. In addition to the convenings, we’ve also set up a Slack channel for further collaboration and communication. We hope that through this group we can share ideas, work collaboratively on regional issues, and scale innovative solutions.
Through this, I met Molly Turner who helped coordinate our effort. Next week, she is launching a podcast called Technopolis with CityLab, about how technology is reshaping our cities. From what she’s told me so far, I think it will be a fascinating look at emerging technologies and their impacts to the urban environment.
Now Hiring: Digital Service Analyst
Our department is now recruiting for a Digital Service Analyst. The mission of the Department of Digital Service and Open Government is to help continuously improve the delivery of City services by designing for and with people, engaging the community, using data to drive decisions, and maintaining modern technology infrastructure. We need a team-member in an analyst role to help organize and coordinate our internal efforts to make all this happen.
The Digital Service Analyst will be working with our team in the successful implementation of improvements to service design, citywide communication, and technical support through assistance in administrative operations, management of internal projects, community engagement, policy development, and coordination of citywide training programs. If you are interested or know someone who might be a good fit please forward the job announcement to qualified recruits. Learn more and apply online at www.cityofsanrafael.org/jobs.
This position was created through a reclassification of a vacant network analyst position and is part of the administrative analyst job classification with a working title of Digital Service Analyst.
February All-Hands Meeting
Our Department held our monthly All Hands Meeting which included a collaborative workshop focusing on ways we can increase the use of automation to improve our internal support services. Some suggestions included the use of automation for software deployment, remote support, onboarding, and PC orientations. We will be integrating some of these projects into the goals and actions of our departments Strategic Plan. To learn more about our meeting read our recap on the employee website.
Microsoft Adds “@ Mentions” to Comments in Word
Now you can directly mention a colleague in a Microsoft Word comment. The incorporation of this feature makes it easier for staff to find comments that are addressed specifically to them. To use the feature type “@” followed by the person’s name into a comment. The software will autofill the users name based on the information in the City’s directory. To learn more about using mentions in comments watch this video.