g muni wireless to improve government and/or the lives of its constituents must have a transparent and responsive implementation process. As Philadelphia Mayor Street advises, "conducting this initiative transparentl= y and in the public... will go a long way toward helping to build consensus among different groups and constituencies." Craig Settles is the president of consulting firm Successful.com and author of the new book, Fighting the Good Fight for Municipal Wireless. On 5/3/06, Becca Vargo Daggett <becca at ilsr.org> wrote: > > Since the City doesn't seem very interested in promoting these > sessions, a reminder that there's a meeting tonight, 6 to 8 pm, Waite > House. > > From the city's web site at: > http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/wirelessminneapolis/ > wirelessmeetings.asp#TopOfPage > "Wireless Minneapolis informational sessions > > The City is hosting a number of informational meetings and open > houses so that the public can learn more about Wireless Minneapolis. > Those who attend will also have the opportunity to share their ideas > and feedback about what Community Benefits should be negotiated to > help bridge the digital divide. > > 6 - 8 p.m., Wednesday, May 3, 2006 > Waite House, 2529 13th Ave. S., Minneapolis > > 6 - 8 p.m., Tuesday, May 9, 2006 > Martin Luther King Recreation Center, 4055 Nicollet Ave. S., Minneapolis > > 6 - 8 p.m., Wednesday, May 17, 2006 > Roosevelt High School, Media Center (2nd Floor), 4029 - 28th Ave. S., > Minneapolis > Additional meetings are currently being planned; be sure to check > back for more details."<http://mailman.tcwug.org/mailman/listinfo/tcwug-l= ist> > ------=_Part_10726_8740476.1146871971203 Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline I'm not sure how relevent it is here, since I didn't attend the meeting to = find out what is going on, but I did read some options from the FierceWirel= ess Newletter. <a href=3D"http://www.fiercewireless.com" target=3D"_blank" = onclick=3D"return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"> http://www.fiercewireless.com </a> <br><br>______________________________________________________________= ______________<br><br><span style=3D"font-style: italic;"><a href=3D"http:/= /Successful.com" target=3D"_blank" onclick=3D"return top.js.OpenExtLink(win= dow,event,this)"> Successful.com</a>'s Craig Settles offers some lessons to municipalities ab= out managing the expectations of their muni-WiFi efforts. </span><br style=3D"font-style: italic;"><br>There's a crazy roller coaster= ride we often endure when some new "revolutionary" technology hi= ts the scene. First, there's the rush of ascent as promises of "unpara= lleled benefits" gush forth from the marketing minions and analysts. T= he media picks up on the trend, anoints it The Next Big Thing and on up we = race. Then comes the rapid gut wrenching descent as average users of the te= chnology start discovering what should have been some obvious flaws. <br><br>The pundits and media pick up on this and start widespread hang wri= nging as we've seen recently with negative media coverage after muni-WiFi n= etworks went live in Tempe, AZ, and St. Cloud, FL. San Francisco has become= a disgruntlement dart board, and it hasn't even signed a contract. <br><br>Let's level out this roller before we get emotional whiplash. Here = are some lessons for those actively participating in, or following with int= erest, these muni wireless initiatives. Vendors, consultants and service pr= oviders have as much responsibility as cities do to encourage putting these= into action. Your profits are riding this same roller coaster. <br><br><span style=3D"font-weight: bold;">Lesson 1 </span>- Don't allow ot= hers to declare your network a flop. Remind people why you're building the = network. Of the four primary reasons cities deploy municipal networks--gove= rnment use, digital inclusion, economic development, general public wireles= s Internet access--cheap access is the least financially defensible. Yet, i= t is continually the tail that wags the dog, particularly with this being a= n election year in many municipalities. Cities would do well to shift discu= ssions in the media away from whether or not people are having trouble gett= ing coverage in their homes, and focus on how the network is impacting gove= rnment work. <br><br><span style=3D"font-weight: bold;">Lesson 2</span> - Better manage = expectations. Early feedback about Tempe's deployment criticized people's i= nability to get coverage everywhere. But go back and review public proclama= tions by politicians, vendors and others when Tempe announced they were goi= ng to deploy. You see the problem right away. Officials wrote, or allowed o= thers to write, expectation checks that the bank of technology reality can'= t cover. Were there warnings that the technology will take a few months aft= er going live to get the bugs worked out? Often, government officials just = don't understand the technology or its limitations. <br><br>Unless and until cities realize that poorly managed expectations pa= ve the road to eventual constituent backlash, the minute you go live there'= s going to be hell to pay. And the whole world will read about it.<br> <br> <span style=3D"font-weight: bold;">Lesson 3</span> - People, reign in your = politicians. This is an election year for many municipalities. "Free m= unicipal WiFi for everyone" is a great hook upon which to hang a few p= olitical hopes. It's the 21st century version of the 1928 promise of "= a chicken in every pot." <br><br>However, broadband wireless is too complex, citywide WiFi is too ne= w and examples of cities doing it right are too few for the technology to l= ive up to campaign promises. Most politicians know too little about technol= ogy and care too much about looking good for voters to drive key initiative= s. <br><br>Use the mayor to get the initiative off the ground, bring them out = occasionally to maintain its momentum and have them show up to take final b= ows when the network goes live. But the CIO, someone in IT or a multi-const= ituent steering committee should be out front leading the public discussion= . <br><br style=3D"font-weight: bold;"><span style=3D"font-weight: bold;">Les= son 4 </span>- Find a PR strategist. No, not a press secretary, and not a s= pin doctor. Get someone who knows how to craft messages, position products = or services, keep people in various parts of the government on the same pag= e with those messages and build consensus among constituent groups. <br><br>Hundreds of municipalities are about to roll out a major new techno= logy solution that's going significantly alter how business gets done in th= ose cities. Build anticipation, set realistic expectations and educate the = market. There are enemies of muni-WiFi who will broadcast every flaw and sc= ar. Cities and their supporters must drive the public discussion, not their= enemies. <br><br><span style=3D"font-weight: bold;">Lesson 5</span> - Maintain trans= parency with those whom the network is supposed to serve. If it's not caref= ul, San Francisco could become an embarrassing footnote in the short histor= y of muni-WiFi as the only city initiative to be temporarily derailed by th= e technology's main supporters. Regardless of the reality, San Francisco is= perceived locally to have acted hastily, with disregard to community needs= and wishes, inspired by political cronyism and without any credible amount= of technology due diligence. <br><br>From pre-RFP to post network deployment, any city that's serious ab= out using muni wireless to improve government and/or the lives of its const= ituents must have a transparent and responsive implementation process. As P= hiladelphia Mayor Street advises, "conducting this initiative transpar= ently and in the public... will go a long way toward helping to build conse= nsus among different groups and constituencies." <br><br><span style=3D"font-style: italic;">Craig Settles is the president = of consulting firm <a href=3D"http://Successful.com" target=3D"_blank" oncl= ick=3D"return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">Successful.com</a> and= author of the new book, Fighting the Good Fight for Municipal Wireless. </span> <br><br><br><br><div><span class=3D"gmail_quote">On 5/3/06, <b class=3D"gma= il_sendername">Becca Vargo Daggett</b> <<a href=3D"mailto:becca at ilsr.org= " target=3D"_blank" onclick=3D"return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)= ">becca at ilsr.org </a>> wrote:</span><blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"border-lef= t: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1= ex;"> Since the City doesn't seem very interested in promoting these<br>sessions,= a reminder that there's a meeting tonight, 6 to 8 pm, Waite<br>House.<br><= br> From the city's web site at:<br><a href=3D"http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn= .us/wirelessminneapolis/" target=3D"_blank" onclick=3D"return top.js.OpenEx= tLink(window,event,this)"> http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/wirelessminneapolis/</a><br>wirelessmeeting= s.asp#TopOfPage<br>"Wireless Minneapolis informational sessions<br><br= >The City is hosting a number of informational meetings and open<br>houses = so that the public can learn more about Wireless Minneapolis. <br>Those who attend will also have the opportunity to share their ideas<br= >and feedback about what Community Benefits should be negotiated to<br>help= bridge the digital divide.<br><br>6 - 8 p.m., Wednesday, May 3, 2006<br> Waite House, 2529 13th Ave. S., Minneapolis<br><br>6 - 8 p.m., Tuesday, May= 9, 2006<br>Martin Luther King Recreation Center, 4055 Nicollet Ave. S., Mi= nneapolis<br><br>6 - 8 p.m., Wednesday, May 17, 2006<br>Roosevelt High Scho= ol, Media Center (2nd Floor), 4029 - 28th Ave. S., <br>Minneapolis<br>Additional meetings are currently being planned; be sure= to check<br>back for more details."<a href=3D"http://mailman.tcwug.or= g/mailman/listinfo/tcwug-list" target=3D"_blank" onclick=3D"return top.js.O= penExtLink(window,event,this)"> </a><br></blockquote></div><br> ------=_Part_10726_8740476.1146871971203--