Full Transcript of Think Fresh - Episode 7
00;00;00;00 – 00;00;20;15
RYAN
We’re doing this.
JEN
All right. Hello and welcome to this – were you talking? Oh, my God. All right, we’ll try this again. Ryan, are you settled?
RYAN
I’m Settled.
JEN
Okay.
00;00;20;17 – 00;00;41;06
JEN
Hello, and welcome to Think Fresh, a podcast brought to you by de Novo Marketing’s Collective Creative. Coming to you from our Ideas Institute and here to talk about all things marketing: Insights on new trends, innovative ideas and marketing tools you can use in your day to day life…and whatever else we deem relevant. I’m Jen Neumann, de Novo CEO and your host.
00;00;41;08 – 00;01;09;08
RYAN
And I’m Ryan Shenefelt, account manager, innovation and education lead and resident nosy eavesdropper, always looking to push the envelope.
JEN
He is indeed very, very nosy.
Today we’re going to talk about city communications. All right. We’re here today. And I am without my trusty co-host Ryan Shenefelt. He gets this episode off and I am here with Alicia Anderson from our team who is – could have a baby during this podcast.
00;01;08;25 – 00;01;25;18
JEN
She’s that pregnant, you guys. She could have a baby. So welcome, Alicia, and thanks for joining us.
ALICIA
Thanks. Thanks for having me.
JEN
Yeah. We’re also here with Lori Boren from the city of Mount Vernon. So thanks, Lori, for joining us.
LORI
Yes, thank you for having me. I’m excited to be here.
JEN
Lori Boren is the assistant city administrator for the city of Mount Vernon.
00;01;25;18 – 00;01;45;16
JEN
And she’s joining us today. As we mentioned, we’ve been working with Mount Vernon for about five years, which I had to redo that math in my head is like, is that possible that we’ve been working together that long? Started with the branding and launch of their community center, the Lester Buresh Community Center. I always stumble over that one.
00;01;45;18 – 00;02;02;12
JEN
That was in 2019.
LORI
It’s long.
JEN
Yeah, it is long.
JEN
So let’s let’s go back to that really quick, the project that we initially started with. Tell us a little bit about the LBC Lori.
LORI
So the LBC is our wellness center. Unfortunately I wasn’t here when you guys started this. I wish that I was, but we do a lot of activities there.
00;02;02;12 – 00;02;26;17
LORI
There’s a lot of community outreach that happens there. It’s a it’s a facility that we’ve needed and needed for a very long time. So I – we’re going up a numbers. We’re excited about it.
JEN
I always think that that’s a really good sign. When a community starts adding in, like a smaller communities start adding in community centers, that is a sign of a growing community and a thriving community.
00;02;26;24 – 00;02;45;23
JEN
Has it changed Mount Vernon much?
LORI
Yeah, I think it’s nice because we we finally have a really like a communal meeting place where you can exercise, you can do activities because it’s not just an exercise facility. There’s, air hockey. There’s stuff for little kids to do. There’s, you know, gymnasiums. We can hold tournaments there, we can hold events there.
00;02;45;28 – 00;03;09;01
LORI
We do wedding receptions there. I mean, it’s a really versatile space. So it really has. I feel like it’s brought our community together.
JEN
Yeah, it’s, I’ve been in it and it is interesting because it doesn’t have the hugest footprint. It’s not big. But it is such an interesting use of space there. And the way those spaces can be flexible, for the community I think are really key and, and important.
00;03;09;03 – 00;03;28;23
JEN
It’s and it’s really beautiful.
LORI
Yeah. No, it turned out, it’s a really nice facility and it was something that was incredibly needed in Mount Vernon.
JEN
Yeah.
LORI
And it’s nice because outside communities come into, you know, outer reaches out to a lot of people that don’t have community centers. So we get, you know, just Solon, Springville communities outside of Mount Vernon that are using it as well.
00;03;28;23 – 00;03;48;22
JEN
So I think it’s really kind of become the crown jewel of that, of that little sort of micro region right there.
LORI
Well, and it’s really nice too, because it’s on our school campus. So it’s really easy for kiddos after school to just pop over if we have like an early out. They do a lot of programing just for the, elementary school, middle school.
00;03;48;22 – 00;04;06;10
LORI
Usually are the children we’re getting there. But no, it’s just been all encompassing. It’s been really, really great for our community.
JEN
It’s great. You guys. I know you guys are very proud of it and you should be very proud of it.
LORI
It’s really cool.
JEN
Most recently we partnered with, the city of Mount Vernon on their new website.
00;04;06;13 – 00;04;25;19
JEN
So that’s that’s kind of what we’re here to talk about. And Alicia led the efforts on this, and we started this project, right before Lori came, maybe.
LORI
Probably about a year before I got there, I just I caught the tail end of it. I wish that I had been involved with the whole thing, but I got kind of the tail end of it.
00;04;25;22 – 00;04;47;22
JEN
Yeah. Alicia, tell us a little bit about that process and where we started. And, you know, it really started as just a website project and it morphed into so much more. And city websites are so different than just an industry website or a restaurant’s website. So tell us a little bit about that project.
ALICIA
Yeah, I think the website that we started with that you guys had just really didn’t do with the City of Mount Vernon justice.
00;04;47;22 – 00;05;06;09
ALICIA
Like you’re such a vibrant, thriving community, arts and culture. And it was time for an update and a refresh. So, I’m glad that you guys saw that as a need and came with us to do that partnership. But we really started with all the stakeholders in the room talking about what they think they needed in a website, what would best represent Mount Vernon.
00;05;06;11 – 00;05;23;27
ALICIA
And it’s a big balance between making a website that’s cool and fun to look at, but also gets the right information out to the right people. So just kind of building that balance as we work together.
JEN
Well and Lori wasn’t part of the process yet, although I think Lori was like the one who got it over the finish line.
00;05;24;00 – 00;05;41;28
JEN
Because as you can imagine, when you’re building a city website, a lot of people have opinions, right? And a lot of people, really want to weigh in and they want to make sure everything – I think something this is true in industry too, but I’ll say on cities it’s even harder is everybody wants everything on that homepage, right?
00;05;41;28 – 00;06;00;17
JEN
Like everybody thinks that their department is, is really important and has to be featured. So really being judicious in how we represented that.
ALICIA
I think it was a big shift for your team in particular. They were used to the website they had. They didn’t. Some people didn’t really see a problem with it, but some people did realize it was time for an update.
00;06;00;17 – 00;06;33;16
ALICIA
There were a lot of new things we could bring to the table, so I think there was a learning curve, but we definitely got through it. And I think the website that we have today is amazing, and I hope you guys are excited about it.
LORI
Well, and it’s funny, when I came into it, I had come from a company that had a website similar that’s already been kind of redone, and it was kind of in the now because, you know, as you’ve alluded to and we’ve talked previously, you said that, you know, the way websites operated before and how they are now, people really struggle with that change and the change in the interface.
00;06;33;19 – 00;06;54;00
LORI
And so I was already used to that. That was one of the biggest hurdles when we got the website, was how you interact with, with the actual website. And it’s just different.
JEN
And from the employee’s side, right?
LORI
From the employee side and, and from the community side, I mean, it’s different how you interact with it and getting used to that and trying to educate people on that.
00;06;54;01 – 00;07;17;18
LORI
It has probably been the hardest part up to date or to date. But no, it’s been great. You guys have been awesome with educating us and training us on how to use our website. So no, it’s been it’s been a really great change for the for Mount Vernon.
JEN
Early on in the process. Your city manager, Chris, said that he was really looking for a digital transformation.
00;07;17;18 – 00;07;40;28
JEN
And in some of our early discussions, it really came to light, how analog the city was in their, in how they received communications and how they acted on those communications, literally. You know, you can if you had a request for action. So let’s say there’s a pothole on the street in front of your house, you came down to City Hall and you filled out a form and you gave it to the clerk.
00;07;40;28 – 00;08;09;21
JEN
And, then it kind of went into the ether, right? Like it probably landed on somebody’s desk. And, you know, I remember that initial conversation where Chris was talking about that and he’s just like, I never know where things are in the process. And that is what turned on a light bulb in our heads. And, we work with a CRM platform pretty frequently that, you know, is great for email marketing, but also had this service capability in it.
00;08;09;23 – 00;08;32;07
JEN
And that’s where we started to develop that idea of ticketing, not ticketing your cars, but like ticketing, customer service tickets. And really, when you think about it, cities are in the customer service business.
LORI
That is what we do, right?
JEN
You are there.
LORI
We are service servants of the public.
JEN
Exactly. So, that really got us thinking.
00;08;32;07 – 00;08;54;06
JEN
And we said we might have a solution for you. So, Alicia, you were the absolute mastermind behind, customizing this platform to their needs. And it really kind of opened up our eyes for opportunities to do this for cities that are kind of in the same boat where they’re using older methodology with a lack of accountability. So like.
00;08;54;08 – 00;09;16;20
LORI
Well, that was that was one of the first things when you know, again they came in on the tail end of the, of the website design. But that was one of the things that we talked about is just all these paper tickets coming in, you know, our requests for action. And that was the first thing I asked Alicia, was, is there any way that we can add something on to this platform that we can use, you know, so we can get away from paper ticketing?
00;09;16;20 – 00;09;34;25
LORI
And she kind of just ran with it.
ALICIA
Yeah. And I think, I mean, the website project was a great place to start, but then it just kind of built onto it from there. And I know there was a learning curve with that, but it’s like, I appreciate your guys’s willingness to jump in and not just bring in the new website, but also build this whole new platform with it.
00;09;34;25 – 00;09;50;16
ALICIA
And yeah, we’ve been calling it a digital transformation, and I think that’s a great way to sum it up. But yeah, building it within a CRM, you might not think that that’s something that a city needs. It’s not a business that maybe sounds more like a B2B platform, but and when you really think about it, you are providing customer service.
00;09;50;16 – 00;10;14;18
ALICIA
You’re using that ticketing system to make sure things are getting handled. And you know who’s in charge of handling that ticket. So it really did lend itself pretty well to a city.
JEN
How does the the CRM work when you think about like I’m submitting a ticket for something that I need addressed. How does the CRM track that and how is that of a benefit?
00;10;14;19 – 00;10;31;07
ALICIA
Yeah. So maybe I should back up. So a CRM if you’re not familiar is a customer relationship management platform. So if a business is using that, any contacts that they have that come in through their website, if they want to add them manually, maybe they’ve met them at a conference or something. You add them in there, then you have all their contact information.
00;10;31;07 – 00;10;49;05
ALICIA
It’s stored in one place. It helps your whole team have access to that, and it can also track the interactions that they have on your website. So did they visit this page? They submit this form. So it just gives your whole team some visibility into the people that are interacting with your business. So the big project was that request for action submission.
00;10;49;05 – 00;11;06;05
ALICIA
So that’s a form that we build on the website. And then it connected to the CRM in the back end. So when someone filled out that form, they were able to give their contact information, select what – we had a few different categories that these requests for actions could fall within. There was like parks and Rec. There’s like public works, things like that.
00;11;06;05 – 00;11;25;18
ALICIA
And that would help us on the back end. Then traffic that to people on Lori’s team. Depending on what the request for action was about. Someone would get an email, make sure it goes to the right person. But it’s also tracked in the CRM, so Lori and the other managers can see this has been submitted. It’s been assigned, it’s in progress, and then when it’s been completed.
00;11;25;18 – 00;11;42;29
ALICIA
So I think that visibility and transparency was really what your team was looking for from that management level. It wasn’t a paper ticket that got lost on someone’s desk. And you hope someone followed up with you really able to see it get tracked through the process.
LORI
Well, it’s that and I what I like about the system now is it it holds it holds us all accountable.
00;11;42;29 – 00;12;02;16
LORI
Right. If that ticket’s yours, you need to complete it. You need to go through the process and let us know where it’s at. Put notes in, which is really nice. And actually that’s been like one of the the nicest things about HubSpot is those tickets you can put so much information and you can – if we happen to still get a paper form, you can scan that and put it right with the ticket.
00;12;02;16 – 00;12;18;07
LORI
I don’t have to have a paper form anymore. If pictures have been sent, you know, a pothole, you know, whatever that may be, all of it’s right there for us, which is really nice. And we interact with each other on there. So there’s notes going back and forth so I can see kind of where it’s at.
00;12;18;09 – 00;12;33;21
LORI
If it’s not completed, why isn’t it completed? If, you know, you can go into activities and go put notes in and say, okay, this is why it’s not completed because of, you know, A, B, and C, so it’s been a really great communication tool for the city of Mount Vernon and just keeping us all on the same page together.
00;12;33;21 – 00;12;51;06
ALICIA
And something you said once was that if it’s not in HubSpot, it’s not a ticket.
LORI
Yep.
ALICIA
And I love that because it means you’re you’re embracing that. If someone you can still download a PDF form off the website and bring it in, but your team is making sure that that makes it into HubSpot, or if someone calls in with a concern, you’re making sure it makes it into HubSpot.
00;12;51;06 – 00;13;10;28
ALICIA
So I’m glad to see your team just fully embrace the platform and connect the dots. Well, and I’ll be honest, you know, HubSpot has been, it’s been a great tool. It’s not always easy for people to jump in and make that change, and it’s scary for people. So that’s something that we’ve kind of had to deal with with employees is you know, it’s different.
00;13;10;28 – 00;13;32;11
LORI
It’s not paper. It’s I have to actually go into the app or on my computer and work through that. And, you know, not you know, you have people who are more, technology, have more technology knowledge than others. And so that’s been a little bit of a transition for us. But actually now, I mean, we’re like six months out from using it and maybe even a little more.
00;13;32;13 – 00;13;51;10
LORI
And it’s been a great tool. And I feel like everybody’s kind of embraced it. And it’s, it’s just really moved us forward, which is nice.
JEN
We’ve mentioned HubSpot a couple times here. So HubSpot is the platform that we built this on. It took a high level of customization. It’s not something that’s really, easy to use out of the box.
00;13;51;12 – 00;14;14;02
JEN
And Alicia really did build out quite a bit of that herself. And, and it’s, it’s it’s a great tool. And we say that a CRM and especially a CRM like HubSpot, it’s kind of a beast that you have to keep feeding, right? You can’t let up on, its usage or start allowing workarounds. And, and that’s always the temptation.
00;14;14;02 – 00;14;33;24
JEN
Like, people want to go back to like, oh, this is just easier for me to put it on a piece of paper and leave it on your desk. But like you said, if it’s if it’s not in HubSpot, it’s not a ticket. I’m like – HubSpot or it didn’t happen. Right?
LORI
Well, and I will say I’m just jumping back to this platform’s been so great because I can’t tell you how many times I reached out to Alicia and I’m like, hey, can we add this feature?
00;14;33;25 – 00;14;48;05
LORI
Can we put this in there? And every single time there was nothing that she’s like, let me if I don’t know how to do it, I’ll figure out how to do it. And now it’s just we’ve built this into such an amazing platform for the city of Mount Vernon to use, and I really think that we’ve come a long way.
00;14;48;05 – 00;15;04;16
LORI
So it’s you guys have been great to work with on that. And Alica is so knowledgeable. And then, you know, the other challenge of this is, you know, you have HubSpot on the computer, but then having it as an app for employees to use because a lot of our employees and public works specifically, they don’t have computers to get on.
00;15;04;16 – 00;15;20;26
LORI
So they’re using an app so that was a whole nother piece to this. But Alicia embraced and said, hey, here’s the app. I don’t know much about it, but we’re going to figure it out. And so it’s just it’s kind of been a, an ever changing, platform that we’re using now. And it’s it’s really been it’s been great for us.
00;15;20;27 – 00;15;35;12
ALICIA
And I think that was a shift for us in the way that we use that platform, too, because most of the time it’s B2B and B2C. We’re thinking just you’re at your desktop, doing your marketing work within the platform, but to really think about being out in the field as a public works worker, what information do you need?
00;15;35;12 – 00;15;48;16
ALICIA
You’re on the go. You’re in your car. So I think it was cool to kind of see it evolve in that way and that we use the platform.
LORI
I would agree. And the thing is, is like a lot of times, like our public works employers or whomever is in there, they don’t need all the information that I see.
00;15;48;22 – 00;16;04;20
LORI
So it’s the the app is really nice that way because it just allows them to see what they need. And then I kind of do everything on the back side.
JEN
And they can they can even complete that task in the, in the app, you know, and just show that it’s done, which is that’s what you guys were looking for, right?
00;16;04;20 – 00;16;30;06
LORI
Again, a huge communication tool for us.
JEN
Chris just said, “I just want to be able to see where things are at”. And that pipeline really visualizes that, which is really that’s a really great attribute of that program. But I think it also takes a Lori
ALICIA
The enforcer.
JEN
When you’re thinking about this and, you know, you’re bringing a lot of people along with technology and, you know, there was some carrot and there was some stick.
00;16;30;08 – 00;16;54;00
JEN
Yeah. But I think it takes somebody who’s like, nope, this is where we’re going. We are all going to use it. We are going to adopt it. And I think that for communities that are considering something like this, whether it’s, you know, our platform or somebody else’s platform is it’s going to take a tremendous amount of education and some kicks in the butt, right, to get everybody to use it.
00;16;54;01 – 00;17;08;15
LORI
Well. And I think, you know, the hard part about it is, is you you know, even when we’re looking at this, we’re looking at different platforms, and I’m looking at the city of Cedar Rapids and how they do things. You know, we’re going back and forth, a lot of smaller towns, like the city of Mount Vernon, I mean, we’re about 4500 people.
00;17;08;17 – 00;17;24;19
LORI
You don’t have these platforms. And so I feel like we’re ahead of the curve on that, which is really nice. But yeah, it just it’s it’s hard for people to adjust to that and make that change. And, you know, the other thing with this is my fear is that, like employees would think that we’re trying to like, micromanage.
00;17;24;19 – 00;17;38;21
LORI
And that’s not what it is. It’s just more so we’re all communicating. We’re on the same page with where tasks are because unfortunately, you know how it goes. Things fall through the cracks.
JEN
Yeah.
LORI
And that’s kind of what was happening when we had paper forms because whoever has it, we don’t have a copy of it. We don’t know where it is.
00;17;38;21 – 00;18;02;19
LORI
It’s not in a file. That was the frustrating part. So now it’s just all in one space and we can kind of follow it as it goes through the process.
ALICIA
And that’s not just internally for management. It’s externally to if, if I’ve submitted a request for action and I want this pothole filled and I know it’s been weeks and nothing’s been done and I call a city hall, whoever answers that phone can hop into the platform, see where it’s at in the process, see if there’s any notes to give context.
00;18;02;19 – 00;18;25;10
ALICIA
So I also just helps with that customer service angle from all perspectives.
LORI
Absolutely. No. It’s been it’s been a huge game changer for the city of Mount Vernon.
JEN
Well you guys moved leaps and bounds from going from a paper system to a to an integrated CRM system.
LORI
Well, and I am a paperless human. And so, I mean, anyone listening to this podcast will laugh is at City Hall because I do not like paper.
00;18;25;10 – 00;18;40;23
LORI
So everything is electronic. If it was up to me, there would be nothing in filing cabinets. But that’s that’s not that’s not how it works. So anyway. But now I like everything electronic in one space so I can get on my computer and see it and see where we’re at with things.
JEN
All right, so if you’re a city leader, get yourself a Lori who can make this happen
00;18;40;29 – 00;18;57;06
LORI
I’m just a very paper person.
ALICIA
So when we think about city communications as a whole, I mean that main hub is your website. Every city is going to have a website. That’s where people they’re googling, if they want to find more information, they’re coming to visit, if they’re thinking about moving there.
00;18;57;06 – 00;19;12;05
ALICIA
So you really want to put your best foot forward with that city website presence. And there’s some information that has to be on there. We know the city council packets, agendas, things like that, but also going beyond what has to be there. Just how do you want to represent your community to people that are maybe new to the area?
00;19;12;12 – 00;19;33;20
AICIA
What activities do you have? So just thinking about that website is the main hub. But then obviously with our work with Mount Vernon, we took that a step further to think about how can you build an even more engaging connection with your residents through the communications platform? I know we’ve talked a lot about the request for action, that form that comes through on the website, but the platform does have other communication capabilities.
00;19;33;22 – 00;19;50;19
ALICIA
You can do email, you can manage social media, you can send out text message updates. So we really embrace that too, as part of our work together. To just build that connection, give residents information that they want. So on the website we have the email sign up, but we give them different options or different buckets they can sign up for.
00;19;50;19 – 00;20;12;00
ALICIA
So you could sign up just for events information. You can sign up for Parks and Rec, city news, or emergency alerts. So that really builds that relationship with your audience. You’re not just spamming them. Everyone’s getting all of the city communications. You’re giving them the information they need. If they don’t live in Mount Vernon but they like to visit, they might just want information on the events like Chalk the Walk or Heritage Days.
00;20;12;03 – 00;20;29;08
ALICIA
Or if you have a child, that’s in new sports, you just want Parks and Rec updates. So just really thinking about getting people the information they need without spamming them too much with emails. And the emergency alerts, that was a little different because that’s where we built in that SMS alerts. So those are those text message communications.
00;20;29;08 – 00;20;51;18
ALICIA
Those are things like winter weather alerts, maybe road closures, things like that. So taking that a step further and getting those alerts to people that want to be updated
JEN
Well, and here’s the I don’t know, I call it fun, but maybe other people might think it’s a little creepy. Part of the platform that we built into the website is when you send those communications out, whether it’s an email, newsletter, or 1 to 1 responses.
00;20;51;20 – 00;21;11;16
JEN
Maybe regarding that, the tickets that we talked about that tracks it back into that person’s record. So you can see, well, we did communicate with them on that day or they’ll say, I didn’t receive the email – well, they received the email and they opened it for God’s sake. Like, you can see it right in the platform. So it just gives you more information.
00;21;11;19 – 00;21;39;02
JEN
And everything tracks back to those individual records, whether they received a newsletter or that 1 to 1 communication or an SMS record. So it’s it’s a really comprehensive communications platform.
ALICIA
And I think you learn a lot more about your residents and what they want to be communicated about, what’s important to them. Because before, if you’re sending that news that monthly or quarterly newsletter and you’re just attaching a PDF to a listserv, you’re not getting those analytics.
00;21;39;02 – 00;21;58;21
ALICIA
You’re getting no feedback on who opened it. What did they click on, what pages on your website did they visit when they received that email? So it’s really digging deeper into the data and the metrics that you can get out of these emails to help you learn what to put on Facebook, what information should be on the front page of your website to see what people are engaging with.
00;21;58;24 – 00;22;15;07
LORI
Yeah, for sure. And you know, one of the things I love about our website now is, is just right when you get to the homepage of that communication tool, because right now the city of Mount Vernon has so many projects coming up, so many things that we want to talk to people about and educate them on. And that has been such a great tool for us.
00;22;15;09 – 00;22;36;15
LORI
We’re in the process of right now, I’m working on our Uptown Streetscape project and it’s just been so nice to be able to update that as as we go each week. And Alicia has helped me update some of that so I don’t mess that website up. Because that is not exactly my my forte. But no, it’s been such a great communication tool with the community and I, I’ve really appreciated having that.
00;22;36;18 – 00;23;02;12
JEN
It’s an interesting and fun challenge to manage the information flow on a website that in any city is going to have complexities that maybe many businesses do not. Right? I mean, there’s just, you know, there’s all the meetings and agendas and, and things that you have to communicate with the public by law. And then there is the information that they’re looking for, the information you need to get out.
00;23;02;15 – 00;23;26;24
JEN
So like I love that challenge with city websites, that it’s a balance of still making it aesthetically pleasing, user friendly, super secure. Because, like, we live in a crazy world now, right? And ADA accessible. Which we’ve talked about ADA accessibility like on our, on our previous podcasts. We’ve talked about ADA accessibility really to anybody who will listen.
00;23;26;24 – 00;23;43;11
JEN
It is an upcoming huge issue for websites. But how to do all that and not make it ugly, right?
LORI
Well, and you know, one of the things when you guys brought up the ADA that I had never heard of that before, so I thought that was a really interesting just I’m, I’m glad that you brought that to the city.
00;23;43;11 – 00;24;02;21
LORI
And that we have that on our website now, and that we’re encompassing that and staying ahead of that curve. Right.
JEN
It’s no different than whether your city hall is accessible or not. I mean, digital accessibility is is important to us. And you guys, you guys got it immediately when we talked about it. Some people we have to talk them into it like well this is important.
00;24;02;23 – 00;24;25;25
LORI
Just having you guys in our corner to educate us on that, though. We wouldn’t have known about that had you not brought it to us. Right.
JEN
So it’s definitely an emerging issue, for website development. But yeah, just balancing all that and making it, you know, user friendl still at the end of the day.
ALICIA
And especially for a city website, just the broad reach that you have and the wide audience that you’re communicating with.
00;24;25;27 – 00;24;44;03
LORI
Well, and you guys are in the know in, in the now. Right. We don’t know what we don’t know. So you bringing that forward to us has been really beneficial to the city.
JEN
Alicia and Laura, you guys were on the the front lines of rolling this out with the city. Not just to, your employees, but also to the community.
00;24;44;06 – 00;25;03;27
JEN
Can you talk a little bit about what goes into training? Not just Lori and her staff on on the back end of the website, but, like, what’s it like rolling this out to to team members?
ALICIA
I think we were really intentional about how we went about that process with we knew it’s a brand new website, it’s a new communications platform.
00;25;03;27 – 00;25;29;02
ALICIA
So they’re learning kind of two new tools at once that are very digital, which is uncomfortable for some people. So I think we really took our time to make sure that we had that training where we sat down with the whole team, we provided documentation, we kind of walked through some examples and workflows. And, I mean, it took us a little time, but I think it was really important that when we launched it, because we launched the website and the tool at the same time that everyone was up to speed and ready to go.
00;25;29;04 – 00;25;50;10
LORI
Well, and Alicia did a wonderful job with the training. We had everyone come into City Hall, and we actually had a meeting and sat down and went through everything with all of our employees. So for me, it was changing employees’ mindsets. Because it is scary to learn new things. Technology can be very scary for people. It’s not for me, but it is for some.
00;25;50;10 – 00;26;05;16
LORI
So it was. Alicia did so great on the training side of things, and I kind of picked up on that. And if there was questions or residual questions afterwards, I would, you know, be there for whatever they need. I had several employees in my office. How do you do this? How do you do that? And we just work through it.
00;26;05;18 – 00;26;26;03
LORI
But I think running with it with a positive mindset, showing them it’s really not that scary. It’s actually fairly simple. I think that just breaking through that barrier with employees was huge.
ALICIA
So between the two of us, it definitely helped to have you as kind of that advocate on the inside, because I can come in, I can do the training, but there’s still going to be questions.
00;26;26;03 – 00;26;40;29
ALICIA
Maybe they have. I’m not comfortable reaching out to me personally, but having you there, you were so well versed in it and or you’d kicked it to me if it was a question you were unsure about. So I think having our partnership really helped bring that to the next level.
LORI
Well, I also think it’s really important, you know, we have several people.
00;26;40;29 – 00;27;00;21
LORI
I’m kind of jumping back to the website, like when you’re updating or doing anything, if there’s something I really don’t know how to do, I don’t do it. And so that’s something that I’ve kind of chatted with our employees about is if it’s something that employees can do, there’s 2 or 3 of us that update the website. If it’s something I’m looking at and saying, we probably shouldn’t do that because we’re probably going to delete something that we shouldn’t.
00;27;00;23 – 00;27;21;24
LORI
And Alicia told me not to, I will kick it over to Alicia because I get too nervous about, deleting something I’m not supposed to.
ALICIA
Well, and that’s part of what we like when we build a website. We want that ongoing relationship. We want to support you through it because it’s a big undertaking. And we that’s the relationship we’re looking for where, you know, you’re comfortable making some updates.
00;27;21;24 – 00;27;37;04
ALICIA
We’ve done that training with your team. We don’t want you to have to call us every time you want to update some copy or switch out of photo.
LORI
Put meeting minutes on.
ALICIA
Yes, exactly. But if it’s a larger update, that’s what we’re here for. That’s what we do. So having that trust and support between the both teams is really important.
00;27;37;07 – 00;27;55;04
LORI
Well, I like that we have that ongoing agreement with you each year. I think that is worth its weight in gold because again, I don’t want to update things and break our website, their beautiful website that you guys have so nicely put together for us. So yeah, I, I really appreciate that ongoing relationship with the Novo.
JEN
You guys have been really wonderful to work with.
00;27;55;07 – 00;28;16;04
JEN
You guys are a great community to work with. And just I mean, you’re like a Gold Star client, so for sure.
LORI
Well, I just appreciate you guys taking us kind of to that next level because our, our website previously was pretty antiquated, as you guys know. It just needed some TLC and and a fresh face. So I really appreciate what de Novo has done for the city of Mount Vernon.
00;28;16;04 – 00;28;38;16
LORI
Our website communication has been it’s just been great.
JEN
Every project has a story to it. And, one of the Mount Vernon stories that I think is just going to live in infamy at de novo forever is the story of City Kitty, who was this very elderly kitty who lived at City Hall, and it was a black cat.
00;28;38;16 – 00;29;06;08
JEN
Very cool cat. I don’t how long had City Kitty been around?
LORI
So City Kitty, I believe again, I have. I’ve been at the city at City of Mount Vernon for two years now, almost. But City Kitty came, I want to say in like 2007, the ladies at City Hall will correct me if I’m wrong, but somewhere in that time frame and he showed up on a stormy day, he was just sitting out on a bench and they brought him in and he wasn’t supposed to stay.
00;29;06;08 – 00;29;24;19
LORI
And he did. And they named him City. And the rest is history. Unfortunately, City Kitty passed away this past December, but, he lived a nice, long life at City Hall.
ALICIA
That was always a highlight of our meetings at City Hall is where is City Kitty? Is he joining us today? Is he hiding in Chris’ office on his coat?
00;29;24;21 – 00;29;38;10
LORI
City Kitty was the highlight of everyone’s day. I mean, people would come up to City Hall. It was actually kind of nice because it brought people in just to see City Kitty. And he’d go out in the hallway. Now as he aged, he kind of just sat in a corner. But, you know, I mean, kids would come up.
00;29;38;10 – 00;29;56;10
LORI
It was really actually a really just – it was a he was kind of a social tool for us, you know, Cornell kids that are, you know, away from their pets. They would come up and like, can we see City Kitty? And he was such a sweet boy.
JEN
He was. I loved getting a couple pets in with City.
00;29;56;13 – 00;30;14;26
JEN
And we even did some photography of City Kitty.
LORI
You did do a photo shoot.
JEN
And then we launched the website and within, I don’t know, I want to say it was within a day or two, but maybe I’m making that up.
LORI
Yeah.
JEN
City passed so RIP City Kitty and still on the website? You know, like lives in infamy?
LORI
He’s still on the website now, we still have City Kitty up there
00;30;14;26 – 00;30;36;08
ALICIA
In memoriam.
LORI
Yes. Yeah, we miss him, but.
JEN
But I love that. That was just such a unique thing, you know? And this is like, this is small town Iowa, right? Like, there’s a there’s a cat at City Hall.
LORI
I love they named him City. I thought that was one of the cutest
ALICIA
Full name City Kitty.
JEN
First City, last Kitty. City Kitty was great.
00;30;36;09 – 00;31;01;02
JEN
Well, I’m sure he’s missed by everybody.
LORI
Yeah.
JEN
So to recap what we’re all talking about today. You know, city websites are just they’re different than, a business website. You know, it incorporates all of this public information while at the same time, you know, needing to be sort of your city’s brochure at the same time for future residents, current residents, visitors.
00;31;01;05 – 00;31;23;28
JEN
So to, to us, it was really important that we balance that balance that need. Lori, what were the most important aspects to you in this project that we that we tick those boxes on?
LORI
For me, it really was just and I think for everyone at the city is just that communication and having it all in one place in an organized fashion.
00;31;24;01 – 00;31;45;27
LORI
We were kind of all over the place with everything: our website, our ticketing system. So I think it was just all encompassing. And just again, that communication tool was huge for us.
JEN
And even though, I mean, it took it took a lot to get this over the finish line with the team. Right. And and getting that out there, you know, in the end, our goal was to make your life easier.
00;31;45;27 – 00;32;06;16
JEN
So temporarily probably made it a little bit harder as we as we went through the process. And for some people it was easier than others. But, you know, in the end we want to provide support to the communities that we work with and give them something that is that’s really helpful to them in the long run. And, and I think we achieved that with this, with this project.
00;32;06;16 – 00;32;27;01
JEN
So it’s one of the we’re really proud of it. Obviously we talk about you guys all the time.
LORI
No. Absolutely. I mean, the end product has been awesome. And it’s nice because we are building it still. Right? There’s always things that we’re updating and changing. And you guys have been so instrumental in embracing those changes. When I bring something to you and I’m like, hey, can we do this?
00;32;27;01 – 00;32;46;17
LORI
And, you know, Alicia’s like, I’m on it. If I can’t figure it out, I’ll, I’ll, I’ll look into it and research it. So it’s just been it’s been such a great relationship and it’s just been such a phenomenal tool for us.
ALICIA
I think that leads into I mean, we kind of talked about the website support that we provide, but we also provided support for the communications tool ongoing because we don’t want to launch it.
00;32;46;17 – 00;33;04;03
ALICIA
We don’t set it and forget it. You’re still learning there’s going to be changes and updates. So we want you to have that flexibility to, hey, is this something we could add or oh, we’re not really using this as much. Let’s replace this with this functionality. So I think that was another piece of it too, to just keep it moving and evolving based on your needs.
00;33;04;05 – 00;33;23;01
LORI
Well, and we used to send out a quarterly newsletter, which is a task in itself. So we’ve eliminated that – mailing out that paper copy. So now it’s all on the website. And Tasha Whitman has just done an amazing job with that. Embracing that because it’s it is a it is a it is a learning curve. And she is just kind of run with that.
00;33;23;01 – 00;33;40;07
LORI
So it’s been nice just having our newsletter in one place. And we’re not sending out a bunch of mailings. It’s, it’s it’s just been really good for the city.
ALICIA
I think that’s another piece we didn’t really touch on is this platform replaces a few other platforms for you. So it really just I think you had a separate text messaging platform and then an email platform.
00;33;40;07 – 00;33;59;00
ALICIA
So just bring it on to one place, one login just streamlines that process for your team.
LORI
Absolutely. I cannot emphasize that enough. Again, it’s in one space and that has just been really, really good for us.
JEN
Well, Lori, thank you so much for being here with us today and talking about two of our favorite subjects, websites and Mount Vernon.
00;33;59;02 – 00;34;19;22
LORI
No, I really appreciate you guys having me on as a guest. And I look forward to the ongoing relationship with de Novo.
JEN
It’s time for Power of Three, and we are making Lori sit in on this part, with us. So, Power of Three is where we talk about three, educational elements, sometimes of the topic that we’re talking about, that’s what we’re going to do today, sometimes other topics.
00;34;19;22 – 00;34;42;13
JEN
So, power three, what’s the first take away Lori, on City communications and websites? So the new website for me has just been such a huge communication tool along with HubSpot. So I’d say for the city, it’s just been the communication piece of that. And getting that information out has been huge.
JEN
Yeah, it’s that is its primary responsibility.
00;34;42;13 – 00;35;04;24
JEN
Your website is a communications tool. It’s not a piece of software. It’s not it’s not a technical tool. It is a communications tool. So Alicia, what’s number two?
ALICIA
Number two is communications driven by data. So we talked a lot about CRM how that platform can inform your communication. So sending out those emails seeing how people are engaging with them.
00;35;04;24 – 00;35;36;21
ALICIA
Who’s opening what links are they clicking on. So using the data that you learn from those things to really tailor your communications to your audience or your residents.
JEN
And I’ll take number three, providing visibility and transparency to your team with the CRM, but also to your community. When people are submitting tickets, whether they’re submitting a FOIA request, whatever it is they’re doing, being able to track that back and have that accountability, have those records of that, and it’s all stored within one platform.
00;35;36;27 – 00;36;01;23
JEN
I tell businesses the same thing: if you’re operating without a CRM, you’re you’re in danger, honestly, this is, to me, one of the most important business and municipal and government related issues there is, is that that transparency and visibility. And there you go. Power three.
JEN
So that’s a wrap on episode seven. And believe it or not, that is a wrap for our whole first season of Think Fresh.
00;36;01;23 – 00;36;22;16
JEN
So thanks Lori, thank you so much for joining us today.
LORI
Thank you so much for having me. This was fun.
JEN
And Alicia, this is your first podcast and your last before you have. But we’re going to say baby Jakoby, right. Like that’s the that’s the, the the working name right now.
ALICIA
We’ll see. Maybe nothing signed yet. Nothing’s happened.
00;36;22;16 – 00;36;42;08
ALICIA
But we’ll see where we land.
JEN
Well, thanks for joining us today. You both did great. Ryan and I will be back in your ears in 2025 with more great insights on marketing, creative and beyond. So take care friends, and keep thinking fresh.
JEN
Thanks for listening. We hope you enjoyed this episode of Think Fresh.
RYAN
And remember, the conversation does not have to end here.
00;36;42;12 – 00;37;04;22
RYAN
If you liked what you heard today, be sure to follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram. Review our show on wherever you listen to your podcast on, or share all your marketing trials and triumphs by shooting us an email at info@thinkdenovo.com with the subject line “Dear de Novo” so we don’t miss it.
JEN
And while you wait eagerly for our next episode, you can get your fix by checking out our blog at blog.thinkdenovo.com
00;37;04;22 – 00;37;21;17
JEN
Stay tuned for more engaging conversations, laughs, and of course, marketing brilliance and me making fun of Ryan in the next episodes to come.
RYAN
Here’s to fresh thinking, sparking creativity, and never being boring. Bye friends!
00;37;21;19 – 00;37;23;28
JEN
Are we swearing on this or no?
RYAN
We’re doing this.
JEN
All right. Hello and welcome to this – were you talking? Oh, my God. All right, we’ll try this again. Ryan, are you settled?
RYAN
I’m Settled.
JEN
Okay.
00;00;20;17 – 00;00;41;06
JEN
Hello, and welcome to Think Fresh, a podcast brought to you by de Novo Marketing’s Collective Creative. Coming to you from our Ideas Institute and here to talk about all things marketing: Insights on new trends, innovative ideas and marketing tools you can use in your day to day life…and whatever else we deem relevant. I’m Jen Neumann, de Novo CEO and your host.
00;00;41;08 – 00;01;09;08
RYAN
And I’m Ryan Shenefelt, account manager, innovation and education lead and resident nosy eavesdropper, always looking to push the envelope.
JEN
He is indeed very, very nosy.
Today we’re going to talk about city communications. All right. We’re here today. And I am without my trusty co-host Ryan Shenefelt. He gets this episode off and I am here with Alicia Anderson from our team who is – could have a baby during this podcast.
00;01;08;25 – 00;01;25;18
JEN
She’s that pregnant, you guys. She could have a baby. So welcome, Alicia, and thanks for joining us.
ALICIA
Thanks. Thanks for having me.
JEN
Yeah. We’re also here with Lori Boren from the city of Mount Vernon. So thanks, Lori, for joining us.
LORI
Yes, thank you for having me. I’m excited to be here.
JEN
Lori Boren is the assistant city administrator for the city of Mount Vernon.
00;01;25;18 – 00;01;45;16
JEN
And she’s joining us today. As we mentioned, we’ve been working with Mount Vernon for about five years, which I had to redo that math in my head is like, is that possible that we’ve been working together that long? Started with the branding and launch of their community center, the Lester Buresh Community Center. I always stumble over that one.
00;01;45;18 – 00;02;02;12
JEN
That was in 2019.
LORI
It’s long.
JEN
Yeah, it is long.
JEN
So let’s let’s go back to that really quick, the project that we initially started with. Tell us a little bit about the LBC Lori.
LORI
So the LBC is our wellness center. Unfortunately I wasn’t here when you guys started this. I wish that I was, but we do a lot of activities there.
00;02;02;12 – 00;02;26;17
LORI
There’s a lot of community outreach that happens there. It’s a it’s a facility that we’ve needed and needed for a very long time. So I – we’re going up a numbers. We’re excited about it.
JEN
I always think that that’s a really good sign. When a community starts adding in, like a smaller communities start adding in community centers, that is a sign of a growing community and a thriving community.
00;02;26;24 – 00;02;45;23
JEN
Has it changed Mount Vernon much?
LORI
Yeah, I think it’s nice because we we finally have a really like a communal meeting place where you can exercise, you can do activities because it’s not just an exercise facility. There’s, air hockey. There’s stuff for little kids to do. There’s, you know, gymnasiums. We can hold tournaments there, we can hold events there.
00;02;45;28 – 00;03;09;01
LORI
We do wedding receptions there. I mean, it’s a really versatile space. So it really has. I feel like it’s brought our community together.
JEN
Yeah, it’s, I’ve been in it and it is interesting because it doesn’t have the hugest footprint. It’s not big. But it is such an interesting use of space there. And the way those spaces can be flexible, for the community I think are really key and, and important.
00;03;09;03 – 00;03;28;23
JEN
It’s and it’s really beautiful.
LORI
Yeah. No, it turned out, it’s a really nice facility and it was something that was incredibly needed in Mount Vernon.
JEN
Yeah.
LORI
And it’s nice because outside communities come into, you know, outer reaches out to a lot of people that don’t have community centers. So we get, you know, just Solon, Springville communities outside of Mount Vernon that are using it as well.
00;03;28;23 – 00;03;48;22
JEN
So I think it’s really kind of become the crown jewel of that, of that little sort of micro region right there.
LORI
Well, and it’s really nice too, because it’s on our school campus. So it’s really easy for kiddos after school to just pop over if we have like an early out. They do a lot of programing just for the, elementary school, middle school.
00;03;48;22 – 00;04;06;10
LORI
Usually are the children we’re getting there. But no, it’s just been all encompassing. It’s been really, really great for our community.
JEN
It’s great. You guys. I know you guys are very proud of it and you should be very proud of it.
LORI
It’s really cool.
JEN
Most recently we partnered with, the city of Mount Vernon on their new website.
00;04;06;13 – 00;04;25;19
JEN
So that’s that’s kind of what we’re here to talk about. And Alicia led the efforts on this, and we started this project, right before Lori came, maybe.
LORI
Probably about a year before I got there, I just I caught the tail end of it. I wish that I had been involved with the whole thing, but I got kind of the tail end of it.
00;04;25;22 – 00;04;47;22
JEN
Yeah. Alicia, tell us a little bit about that process and where we started. And, you know, it really started as just a website project and it morphed into so much more. And city websites are so different than just an industry website or a restaurant’s website. So tell us a little bit about that project.
ALICIA
Yeah, I think the website that we started with that you guys had just really didn’t do with the City of Mount Vernon justice.
00;04;47;22 – 00;05;06;09
ALICIA
Like you’re such a vibrant, thriving community, arts and culture. And it was time for an update and a refresh. So, I’m glad that you guys saw that as a need and came with us to do that partnership. But we really started with all the stakeholders in the room talking about what they think they needed in a website, what would best represent Mount Vernon.
00;05;06;11 – 00;05;23;27
ALICIA
And it’s a big balance between making a website that’s cool and fun to look at, but also gets the right information out to the right people. So just kind of building that balance as we work together.
JEN
Well and Lori wasn’t part of the process yet, although I think Lori was like the one who got it over the finish line.
00;05;24;00 – 00;05;41;28
JEN
Because as you can imagine, when you’re building a city website, a lot of people have opinions, right? And a lot of people, really want to weigh in and they want to make sure everything – I think something this is true in industry too, but I’ll say on cities it’s even harder is everybody wants everything on that homepage, right?
00;05;41;28 – 00;06;00;17
JEN
Like everybody thinks that their department is, is really important and has to be featured. So really being judicious in how we represented that.
ALICIA
I think it was a big shift for your team in particular. They were used to the website they had. They didn’t. Some people didn’t really see a problem with it, but some people did realize it was time for an update.
00;06;00;17 – 00;06;33;16
ALICIA
There were a lot of new things we could bring to the table, so I think there was a learning curve, but we definitely got through it. And I think the website that we have today is amazing, and I hope you guys are excited about it.
LORI
Well, and it’s funny, when I came into it, I had come from a company that had a website similar that’s already been kind of redone, and it was kind of in the now because, you know, as you’ve alluded to and we’ve talked previously, you said that, you know, the way websites operated before and how they are now, people really struggle with that change and the change in the interface.
00;06;33;19 – 00;06;54;00
LORI
And so I was already used to that. That was one of the biggest hurdles when we got the website, was how you interact with, with the actual website. And it’s just different.
JEN
And from the employee’s side, right?
LORI
From the employee side and, and from the community side, I mean, it’s different how you interact with it and getting used to that and trying to educate people on that.
00;06;54;01 – 00;07;17;18
LORI
It has probably been the hardest part up to date or to date. But no, it’s been great. You guys have been awesome with educating us and training us on how to use our website. So no, it’s been it’s been a really great change for the for Mount Vernon.
JEN
Early on in the process. Your city manager, Chris, said that he was really looking for a digital transformation.
00;07;17;18 – 00;07;40;28
JEN
And in some of our early discussions, it really came to light, how analog the city was in their, in how they received communications and how they acted on those communications, literally. You know, you can if you had a request for action. So let’s say there’s a pothole on the street in front of your house, you came down to City Hall and you filled out a form and you gave it to the clerk.
00;07;40;28 – 00;08;09;21
JEN
And, then it kind of went into the ether, right? Like it probably landed on somebody’s desk. And, you know, I remember that initial conversation where Chris was talking about that and he’s just like, I never know where things are in the process. And that is what turned on a light bulb in our heads. And, we work with a CRM platform pretty frequently that, you know, is great for email marketing, but also had this service capability in it.
00;08;09;23 – 00;08;32;07
JEN
And that’s where we started to develop that idea of ticketing, not ticketing your cars, but like ticketing, customer service tickets. And really, when you think about it, cities are in the customer service business.
LORI
That is what we do, right?
JEN
You are there.
LORI
We are service servants of the public.
JEN
Exactly. So, that really got us thinking.
00;08;32;07 – 00;08;54;06
JEN
And we said we might have a solution for you. So, Alicia, you were the absolute mastermind behind, customizing this platform to their needs. And it really kind of opened up our eyes for opportunities to do this for cities that are kind of in the same boat where they’re using older methodology with a lack of accountability. So like.
00;08;54;08 – 00;09;16;20
LORI
Well, that was that was one of the first things when you know, again they came in on the tail end of the, of the website design. But that was one of the things that we talked about is just all these paper tickets coming in, you know, our requests for action. And that was the first thing I asked Alicia, was, is there any way that we can add something on to this platform that we can use, you know, so we can get away from paper ticketing?
00;09;16;20 – 00;09;34;25
LORI
And she kind of just ran with it.
ALICIA
Yeah. And I think, I mean, the website project was a great place to start, but then it just kind of built onto it from there. And I know there was a learning curve with that, but it’s like, I appreciate your guys’s willingness to jump in and not just bring in the new website, but also build this whole new platform with it.
00;09;34;25 – 00;09;50;16
ALICIA
And yeah, we’ve been calling it a digital transformation, and I think that’s a great way to sum it up. But yeah, building it within a CRM, you might not think that that’s something that a city needs. It’s not a business that maybe sounds more like a B2B platform, but and when you really think about it, you are providing customer service.
00;09;50;16 – 00;10;14;18
ALICIA
You’re using that ticketing system to make sure things are getting handled. And you know who’s in charge of handling that ticket. So it really did lend itself pretty well to a city.
JEN
How does the the CRM work when you think about like I’m submitting a ticket for something that I need addressed. How does the CRM track that and how is that of a benefit?
00;10;14;19 – 00;10;31;07
ALICIA
Yeah. So maybe I should back up. So a CRM if you’re not familiar is a customer relationship management platform. So if a business is using that, any contacts that they have that come in through their website, if they want to add them manually, maybe they’ve met them at a conference or something. You add them in there, then you have all their contact information.
00;10;31;07 – 00;10;49;05
ALICIA
It’s stored in one place. It helps your whole team have access to that, and it can also track the interactions that they have on your website. So did they visit this page? They submit this form. So it just gives your whole team some visibility into the people that are interacting with your business. So the big project was that request for action submission.
00;10;49;05 – 00;11;06;05
ALICIA
So that’s a form that we build on the website. And then it connected to the CRM in the back end. So when someone filled out that form, they were able to give their contact information, select what – we had a few different categories that these requests for actions could fall within. There was like parks and Rec. There’s like public works, things like that.
00;11;06;05 – 00;11;25;18
ALICIA
And that would help us on the back end. Then traffic that to people on Lori’s team. Depending on what the request for action was about. Someone would get an email, make sure it goes to the right person. But it’s also tracked in the CRM, so Lori and the other managers can see this has been submitted. It’s been assigned, it’s in progress, and then when it’s been completed.
00;11;25;18 – 00;11;42;29
ALICIA
So I think that visibility and transparency was really what your team was looking for from that management level. It wasn’t a paper ticket that got lost on someone’s desk. And you hope someone followed up with you really able to see it get tracked through the process.
LORI
Well, it’s that and I what I like about the system now is it it holds it holds us all accountable.
00;11;42;29 – 00;12;02;16
LORI
Right. If that ticket’s yours, you need to complete it. You need to go through the process and let us know where it’s at. Put notes in, which is really nice. And actually that’s been like one of the the nicest things about HubSpot is those tickets you can put so much information and you can – if we happen to still get a paper form, you can scan that and put it right with the ticket.
00;12;02;16 – 00;12;18;07
LORI
I don’t have to have a paper form anymore. If pictures have been sent, you know, a pothole, you know, whatever that may be, all of it’s right there for us, which is really nice. And we interact with each other on there. So there’s notes going back and forth so I can see kind of where it’s at.
00;12;18;09 – 00;12;33;21
LORI
If it’s not completed, why isn’t it completed? If, you know, you can go into activities and go put notes in and say, okay, this is why it’s not completed because of, you know, A, B, and C, so it’s been a really great communication tool for the city of Mount Vernon and just keeping us all on the same page together.
00;12;33;21 – 00;12;51;06
ALICIA
And something you said once was that if it’s not in HubSpot, it’s not a ticket.
LORI
Yep.
ALICIA
And I love that because it means you’re you’re embracing that. If someone you can still download a PDF form off the website and bring it in, but your team is making sure that that makes it into HubSpot, or if someone calls in with a concern, you’re making sure it makes it into HubSpot.
00;12;51;06 – 00;13;10;28
ALICIA
So I’m glad to see your team just fully embrace the platform and connect the dots. Well, and I’ll be honest, you know, HubSpot has been, it’s been a great tool. It’s not always easy for people to jump in and make that change, and it’s scary for people. So that’s something that we’ve kind of had to deal with with employees is you know, it’s different.
00;13;10;28 – 00;13;32;11
LORI
It’s not paper. It’s I have to actually go into the app or on my computer and work through that. And, you know, not you know, you have people who are more, technology, have more technology knowledge than others. And so that’s been a little bit of a transition for us. But actually now, I mean, we’re like six months out from using it and maybe even a little more.
00;13;32;13 – 00;13;51;10
LORI
And it’s been a great tool. And I feel like everybody’s kind of embraced it. And it’s, it’s just really moved us forward, which is nice.
JEN
We’ve mentioned HubSpot a couple times here. So HubSpot is the platform that we built this on. It took a high level of customization. It’s not something that’s really, easy to use out of the box.
00;13;51;12 – 00;14;14;02
JEN
And Alicia really did build out quite a bit of that herself. And, and it’s, it’s it’s a great tool. And we say that a CRM and especially a CRM like HubSpot, it’s kind of a beast that you have to keep feeding, right? You can’t let up on, its usage or start allowing workarounds. And, and that’s always the temptation.
00;14;14;02 – 00;14;33;24
JEN
Like, people want to go back to like, oh, this is just easier for me to put it on a piece of paper and leave it on your desk. But like you said, if it’s if it’s not in HubSpot, it’s not a ticket. I’m like – HubSpot or it didn’t happen. Right?
LORI
Well, and I will say I’m just jumping back to this platform’s been so great because I can’t tell you how many times I reached out to Alicia and I’m like, hey, can we add this feature?
00;14;33;25 – 00;14;48;05
LORI
Can we put this in there? And every single time there was nothing that she’s like, let me if I don’t know how to do it, I’ll figure out how to do it. And now it’s just we’ve built this into such an amazing platform for the city of Mount Vernon to use, and I really think that we’ve come a long way.
00;14;48;05 – 00;15;04;16
LORI
So it’s you guys have been great to work with on that. And Alica is so knowledgeable. And then, you know, the other challenge of this is, you know, you have HubSpot on the computer, but then having it as an app for employees to use because a lot of our employees and public works specifically, they don’t have computers to get on.
00;15;04;16 – 00;15;20;26
LORI
So they’re using an app so that was a whole nother piece to this. But Alicia embraced and said, hey, here’s the app. I don’t know much about it, but we’re going to figure it out. And so it’s just it’s kind of been a, an ever changing, platform that we’re using now. And it’s it’s really been it’s been great for us.
00;15;20;27 – 00;15;35;12
ALICIA
And I think that was a shift for us in the way that we use that platform, too, because most of the time it’s B2B and B2C. We’re thinking just you’re at your desktop, doing your marketing work within the platform, but to really think about being out in the field as a public works worker, what information do you need?
00;15;35;12 – 00;15;48;16
ALICIA
You’re on the go. You’re in your car. So I think it was cool to kind of see it evolve in that way and that we use the platform.
LORI
I would agree. And the thing is, is like a lot of times, like our public works employers or whomever is in there, they don’t need all the information that I see.
00;15;48;22 – 00;16;04;20
LORI
So it’s the the app is really nice that way because it just allows them to see what they need. And then I kind of do everything on the back side.
JEN
And they can they can even complete that task in the, in the app, you know, and just show that it’s done, which is that’s what you guys were looking for, right?
00;16;04;20 – 00;16;30;06
LORI
Again, a huge communication tool for us.
JEN
Chris just said, “I just want to be able to see where things are at”. And that pipeline really visualizes that, which is really that’s a really great attribute of that program. But I think it also takes a Lori
ALICIA
The enforcer.
JEN
When you’re thinking about this and, you know, you’re bringing a lot of people along with technology and, you know, there was some carrot and there was some stick.
00;16;30;08 – 00;16;54;00
JEN
Yeah. But I think it takes somebody who’s like, nope, this is where we’re going. We are all going to use it. We are going to adopt it. And I think that for communities that are considering something like this, whether it’s, you know, our platform or somebody else’s platform is it’s going to take a tremendous amount of education and some kicks in the butt, right, to get everybody to use it.
00;16;54;01 – 00;17;08;15
LORI
Well. And I think, you know, the hard part about it is, is you you know, even when we’re looking at this, we’re looking at different platforms, and I’m looking at the city of Cedar Rapids and how they do things. You know, we’re going back and forth, a lot of smaller towns, like the city of Mount Vernon, I mean, we’re about 4500 people.
00;17;08;17 – 00;17;24;19
LORI
You don’t have these platforms. And so I feel like we’re ahead of the curve on that, which is really nice. But yeah, it just it’s it’s hard for people to adjust to that and make that change. And, you know, the other thing with this is my fear is that, like employees would think that we’re trying to like, micromanage.
00;17;24;19 – 00;17;38;21
LORI
And that’s not what it is. It’s just more so we’re all communicating. We’re on the same page with where tasks are because unfortunately, you know how it goes. Things fall through the cracks.
JEN
Yeah.
LORI
And that’s kind of what was happening when we had paper forms because whoever has it, we don’t have a copy of it. We don’t know where it is.
00;17;38;21 – 00;18;02;19
LORI
It’s not in a file. That was the frustrating part. So now it’s just all in one space and we can kind of follow it as it goes through the process.
ALICIA
And that’s not just internally for management. It’s externally to if, if I’ve submitted a request for action and I want this pothole filled and I know it’s been weeks and nothing’s been done and I call a city hall, whoever answers that phone can hop into the platform, see where it’s at in the process, see if there’s any notes to give context.
00;18;02;19 – 00;18;25;10
ALICIA
So I also just helps with that customer service angle from all perspectives.
LORI
Absolutely. No. It’s been it’s been a huge game changer for the city of Mount Vernon.
JEN
Well you guys moved leaps and bounds from going from a paper system to a to an integrated CRM system.
LORI
Well, and I am a paperless human. And so, I mean, anyone listening to this podcast will laugh is at City Hall because I do not like paper.
00;18;25;10 – 00;18;40;23
LORI
So everything is electronic. If it was up to me, there would be nothing in filing cabinets. But that’s that’s not that’s not how it works. So anyway. But now I like everything electronic in one space so I can get on my computer and see it and see where we’re at with things.
JEN
All right, so if you’re a city leader, get yourself a Lori who can make this happen
00;18;40;29 – 00;18;57;06
LORI
I’m just a very paper person.
ALICIA
So when we think about city communications as a whole, I mean that main hub is your website. Every city is going to have a website. That’s where people they’re googling, if they want to find more information, they’re coming to visit, if they’re thinking about moving there.
00;18;57;06 – 00;19;12;05
ALICIA
So you really want to put your best foot forward with that city website presence. And there’s some information that has to be on there. We know the city council packets, agendas, things like that, but also going beyond what has to be there. Just how do you want to represent your community to people that are maybe new to the area?
00;19;12;12 – 00;19;33;20
AICIA
What activities do you have? So just thinking about that website is the main hub. But then obviously with our work with Mount Vernon, we took that a step further to think about how can you build an even more engaging connection with your residents through the communications platform? I know we’ve talked a lot about the request for action, that form that comes through on the website, but the platform does have other communication capabilities.
00;19;33;22 – 00;19;50;19
ALICIA
You can do email, you can manage social media, you can send out text message updates. So we really embrace that too, as part of our work together. To just build that connection, give residents information that they want. So on the website we have the email sign up, but we give them different options or different buckets they can sign up for.
00;19;50;19 – 00;20;12;00
ALICIA
So you could sign up just for events information. You can sign up for Parks and Rec, city news, or emergency alerts. So that really builds that relationship with your audience. You’re not just spamming them. Everyone’s getting all of the city communications. You’re giving them the information they need. If they don’t live in Mount Vernon but they like to visit, they might just want information on the events like Chalk the Walk or Heritage Days.
00;20;12;03 – 00;20;29;08
ALICIA
Or if you have a child, that’s in new sports, you just want Parks and Rec updates. So just really thinking about getting people the information they need without spamming them too much with emails. And the emergency alerts, that was a little different because that’s where we built in that SMS alerts. So those are those text message communications.
00;20;29;08 – 00;20;51;18
ALICIA
Those are things like winter weather alerts, maybe road closures, things like that. So taking that a step further and getting those alerts to people that want to be updated
JEN
Well, and here’s the I don’t know, I call it fun, but maybe other people might think it’s a little creepy. Part of the platform that we built into the website is when you send those communications out, whether it’s an email, newsletter, or 1 to 1 responses.
00;20;51;20 – 00;21;11;16
JEN
Maybe regarding that, the tickets that we talked about that tracks it back into that person’s record. So you can see, well, we did communicate with them on that day or they’ll say, I didn’t receive the email – well, they received the email and they opened it for God’s sake. Like, you can see it right in the platform. So it just gives you more information.
00;21;11;19 – 00;21;39;02
JEN
And everything tracks back to those individual records, whether they received a newsletter or that 1 to 1 communication or an SMS record. So it’s it’s a really comprehensive communications platform.
ALICIA
And I think you learn a lot more about your residents and what they want to be communicated about, what’s important to them. Because before, if you’re sending that news that monthly or quarterly newsletter and you’re just attaching a PDF to a listserv, you’re not getting those analytics.
00;21;39;02 – 00;21;58;21
ALICIA
You’re getting no feedback on who opened it. What did they click on, what pages on your website did they visit when they received that email? So it’s really digging deeper into the data and the metrics that you can get out of these emails to help you learn what to put on Facebook, what information should be on the front page of your website to see what people are engaging with.
00;21;58;24 – 00;22;15;07
LORI
Yeah, for sure. And you know, one of the things I love about our website now is, is just right when you get to the homepage of that communication tool, because right now the city of Mount Vernon has so many projects coming up, so many things that we want to talk to people about and educate them on. And that has been such a great tool for us.
00;22;15;09 – 00;22;36;15
LORI
We’re in the process of right now, I’m working on our Uptown Streetscape project and it’s just been so nice to be able to update that as as we go each week. And Alicia has helped me update some of that so I don’t mess that website up. Because that is not exactly my my forte. But no, it’s been such a great communication tool with the community and I, I’ve really appreciated having that.
00;22;36;18 – 00;23;02;12
JEN
It’s an interesting and fun challenge to manage the information flow on a website that in any city is going to have complexities that maybe many businesses do not. Right? I mean, there’s just, you know, there’s all the meetings and agendas and, and things that you have to communicate with the public by law. And then there is the information that they’re looking for, the information you need to get out.
00;23;02;15 – 00;23;26;24
JEN
So like I love that challenge with city websites, that it’s a balance of still making it aesthetically pleasing, user friendly, super secure. Because, like, we live in a crazy world now, right? And ADA accessible. Which we’ve talked about ADA accessibility like on our, on our previous podcasts. We’ve talked about ADA accessibility really to anybody who will listen.
00;23;26;24 – 00;23;43;11
JEN
It is an upcoming huge issue for websites. But how to do all that and not make it ugly, right?
LORI
Well, and you know, one of the things when you guys brought up the ADA that I had never heard of that before, so I thought that was a really interesting just I’m, I’m glad that you brought that to the city.
00;23;43;11 – 00;24;02;21
LORI
And that we have that on our website now, and that we’re encompassing that and staying ahead of that curve. Right.
JEN
It’s no different than whether your city hall is accessible or not. I mean, digital accessibility is is important to us. And you guys, you guys got it immediately when we talked about it. Some people we have to talk them into it like well this is important.
00;24;02;23 – 00;24;25;25
LORI
Just having you guys in our corner to educate us on that, though. We wouldn’t have known about that had you not brought it to us. Right.
JEN
So it’s definitely an emerging issue, for website development. But yeah, just balancing all that and making it, you know, user friendl still at the end of the day.
ALICIA
And especially for a city website, just the broad reach that you have and the wide audience that you’re communicating with.
00;24;25;27 – 00;24;44;03
LORI
Well, and you guys are in the know in, in the now. Right. We don’t know what we don’t know. So you bringing that forward to us has been really beneficial to the city.
JEN
Alicia and Laura, you guys were on the the front lines of rolling this out with the city. Not just to, your employees, but also to the community.
00;24;44;06 – 00;25;03;27
JEN
Can you talk a little bit about what goes into training? Not just Lori and her staff on on the back end of the website, but, like, what’s it like rolling this out to to team members?
ALICIA
I think we were really intentional about how we went about that process with we knew it’s a brand new website, it’s a new communications platform.
00;25;03;27 – 00;25;29;02
ALICIA
So they’re learning kind of two new tools at once that are very digital, which is uncomfortable for some people. So I think we really took our time to make sure that we had that training where we sat down with the whole team, we provided documentation, we kind of walked through some examples and workflows. And, I mean, it took us a little time, but I think it was really important that when we launched it, because we launched the website and the tool at the same time that everyone was up to speed and ready to go.
00;25;29;04 – 00;25;50;10
LORI
Well, and Alicia did a wonderful job with the training. We had everyone come into City Hall, and we actually had a meeting and sat down and went through everything with all of our employees. So for me, it was changing employees’ mindsets. Because it is scary to learn new things. Technology can be very scary for people. It’s not for me, but it is for some.
00;25;50;10 – 00;26;05;16
LORI
So it was. Alicia did so great on the training side of things, and I kind of picked up on that. And if there was questions or residual questions afterwards, I would, you know, be there for whatever they need. I had several employees in my office. How do you do this? How do you do that? And we just work through it.
00;26;05;18 – 00;26;26;03
LORI
But I think running with it with a positive mindset, showing them it’s really not that scary. It’s actually fairly simple. I think that just breaking through that barrier with employees was huge.
ALICIA
So between the two of us, it definitely helped to have you as kind of that advocate on the inside, because I can come in, I can do the training, but there’s still going to be questions.
00;26;26;03 – 00;26;40;29
ALICIA
Maybe they have. I’m not comfortable reaching out to me personally, but having you there, you were so well versed in it and or you’d kicked it to me if it was a question you were unsure about. So I think having our partnership really helped bring that to the next level.
LORI
Well, I also think it’s really important, you know, we have several people.
00;26;40;29 – 00;27;00;21
LORI
I’m kind of jumping back to the website, like when you’re updating or doing anything, if there’s something I really don’t know how to do, I don’t do it. And so that’s something that I’ve kind of chatted with our employees about is if it’s something that employees can do, there’s 2 or 3 of us that update the website. If it’s something I’m looking at and saying, we probably shouldn’t do that because we’re probably going to delete something that we shouldn’t.
00;27;00;23 – 00;27;21;24
LORI
And Alicia told me not to, I will kick it over to Alicia because I get too nervous about, deleting something I’m not supposed to.
ALICIA
Well, and that’s part of what we like when we build a website. We want that ongoing relationship. We want to support you through it because it’s a big undertaking. And we that’s the relationship we’re looking for where, you know, you’re comfortable making some updates.
00;27;21;24 – 00;27;37;04
ALICIA
We’ve done that training with your team. We don’t want you to have to call us every time you want to update some copy or switch out of photo.
LORI
Put meeting minutes on.
ALICIA
Yes, exactly. But if it’s a larger update, that’s what we’re here for. That’s what we do. So having that trust and support between the both teams is really important.
00;27;37;07 – 00;27;55;04
LORI
Well, I like that we have that ongoing agreement with you each year. I think that is worth its weight in gold because again, I don’t want to update things and break our website, their beautiful website that you guys have so nicely put together for us. So yeah, I, I really appreciate that ongoing relationship with the Novo.
JEN
You guys have been really wonderful to work with.
00;27;55;07 – 00;28;16;04
JEN
You guys are a great community to work with. And just I mean, you’re like a Gold Star client, so for sure.
LORI
Well, I just appreciate you guys taking us kind of to that next level because our, our website previously was pretty antiquated, as you guys know. It just needed some TLC and and a fresh face. So I really appreciate what de Novo has done for the city of Mount Vernon.
00;28;16;04 – 00;28;38;16
LORI
Our website communication has been it’s just been great.
JEN
Every project has a story to it. And, one of the Mount Vernon stories that I think is just going to live in infamy at de novo forever is the story of City Kitty, who was this very elderly kitty who lived at City Hall, and it was a black cat.
00;28;38;16 – 00;29;06;08
JEN
Very cool cat. I don’t how long had City Kitty been around?
LORI
So City Kitty, I believe again, I have. I’ve been at the city at City of Mount Vernon for two years now, almost. But City Kitty came, I want to say in like 2007, the ladies at City Hall will correct me if I’m wrong, but somewhere in that time frame and he showed up on a stormy day, he was just sitting out on a bench and they brought him in and he wasn’t supposed to stay.
00;29;06;08 – 00;29;24;19
LORI
And he did. And they named him City. And the rest is history. Unfortunately, City Kitty passed away this past December, but, he lived a nice, long life at City Hall.
ALICIA
That was always a highlight of our meetings at City Hall is where is City Kitty? Is he joining us today? Is he hiding in Chris’ office on his coat?
00;29;24;21 – 00;29;38;10
LORI
City Kitty was the highlight of everyone’s day. I mean, people would come up to City Hall. It was actually kind of nice because it brought people in just to see City Kitty. And he’d go out in the hallway. Now as he aged, he kind of just sat in a corner. But, you know, I mean, kids would come up.
00;29;38;10 – 00;29;56;10
LORI
It was really actually a really just – it was a he was kind of a social tool for us, you know, Cornell kids that are, you know, away from their pets. They would come up and like, can we see City Kitty? And he was such a sweet boy.
JEN
He was. I loved getting a couple pets in with City.
00;29;56;13 – 00;30;14;26
JEN
And we even did some photography of City Kitty.
LORI
You did do a photo shoot.
JEN
And then we launched the website and within, I don’t know, I want to say it was within a day or two, but maybe I’m making that up.
LORI
Yeah.
JEN
City passed so RIP City Kitty and still on the website? You know, like lives in infamy?
LORI
He’s still on the website now, we still have City Kitty up there
00;30;14;26 – 00;30;36;08
ALICIA
In memoriam.
LORI
Yes. Yeah, we miss him, but.
JEN
But I love that. That was just such a unique thing, you know? And this is like, this is small town Iowa, right? Like, there’s a there’s a cat at City Hall.
LORI
I love they named him City. I thought that was one of the cutest
ALICIA
Full name City Kitty.
JEN
First City, last Kitty. City Kitty was great.
00;30;36;09 – 00;31;01;02
JEN
Well, I’m sure he’s missed by everybody.
LORI
Yeah.
JEN
So to recap what we’re all talking about today. You know, city websites are just they’re different than, a business website. You know, it incorporates all of this public information while at the same time, you know, needing to be sort of your city’s brochure at the same time for future residents, current residents, visitors.
00;31;01;05 – 00;31;23;28
JEN
So to, to us, it was really important that we balance that balance that need. Lori, what were the most important aspects to you in this project that we that we tick those boxes on?
LORI
For me, it really was just and I think for everyone at the city is just that communication and having it all in one place in an organized fashion.
00;31;24;01 – 00;31;45;27
LORI
We were kind of all over the place with everything: our website, our ticketing system. So I think it was just all encompassing. And just again, that communication tool was huge for us.
JEN
And even though, I mean, it took it took a lot to get this over the finish line with the team. Right. And and getting that out there, you know, in the end, our goal was to make your life easier.
00;31;45;27 – 00;32;06;16
JEN
So temporarily probably made it a little bit harder as we as we went through the process. And for some people it was easier than others. But, you know, in the end we want to provide support to the communities that we work with and give them something that is that’s really helpful to them in the long run. And, and I think we achieved that with this, with this project.
00;32;06;16 – 00;32;27;01
JEN
So it’s one of the we’re really proud of it. Obviously we talk about you guys all the time.
LORI
No. Absolutely. I mean, the end product has been awesome. And it’s nice because we are building it still. Right? There’s always things that we’re updating and changing. And you guys have been so instrumental in embracing those changes. When I bring something to you and I’m like, hey, can we do this?
00;32;27;01 – 00;32;46;17
LORI
And, you know, Alicia’s like, I’m on it. If I can’t figure it out, I’ll, I’ll, I’ll look into it and research it. So it’s just been it’s been such a great relationship and it’s just been such a phenomenal tool for us.
ALICIA
I think that leads into I mean, we kind of talked about the website support that we provide, but we also provided support for the communications tool ongoing because we don’t want to launch it.
00;32;46;17 – 00;33;04;03
ALICIA
We don’t set it and forget it. You’re still learning there’s going to be changes and updates. So we want you to have that flexibility to, hey, is this something we could add or oh, we’re not really using this as much. Let’s replace this with this functionality. So I think that was another piece of it too, to just keep it moving and evolving based on your needs.
00;33;04;05 – 00;33;23;01
LORI
Well, and we used to send out a quarterly newsletter, which is a task in itself. So we’ve eliminated that – mailing out that paper copy. So now it’s all on the website. And Tasha Whitman has just done an amazing job with that. Embracing that because it’s it is a it is a it is a learning curve. And she is just kind of run with that.
00;33;23;01 – 00;33;40;07
LORI
So it’s been nice just having our newsletter in one place. And we’re not sending out a bunch of mailings. It’s, it’s it’s just been really good for the city.
ALICIA
I think that’s another piece we didn’t really touch on is this platform replaces a few other platforms for you. So it really just I think you had a separate text messaging platform and then an email platform.
00;33;40;07 – 00;33;59;00
ALICIA
So just bring it on to one place, one login just streamlines that process for your team.
LORI
Absolutely. I cannot emphasize that enough. Again, it’s in one space and that has just been really, really good for us.
JEN
Well, Lori, thank you so much for being here with us today and talking about two of our favorite subjects, websites and Mount Vernon.
00;33;59;02 – 00;34;19;22
LORI
No, I really appreciate you guys having me on as a guest. And I look forward to the ongoing relationship with de Novo.
JEN
It’s time for Power of Three, and we are making Lori sit in on this part, with us. So, Power of Three is where we talk about three, educational elements, sometimes of the topic that we’re talking about, that’s what we’re going to do today, sometimes other topics.
00;34;19;22 – 00;34;42;13
JEN
So, power three, what’s the first take away Lori, on City communications and websites? So the new website for me has just been such a huge communication tool along with HubSpot. So I’d say for the city, it’s just been the communication piece of that. And getting that information out has been huge.
JEN
Yeah, it’s that is its primary responsibility.
00;34;42;13 – 00;35;04;24
JEN
Your website is a communications tool. It’s not a piece of software. It’s not it’s not a technical tool. It is a communications tool. So Alicia, what’s number two?
ALICIA
Number two is communications driven by data. So we talked a lot about CRM how that platform can inform your communication. So sending out those emails seeing how people are engaging with them.
00;35;04;24 – 00;35;36;21
ALICIA
Who’s opening what links are they clicking on. So using the data that you learn from those things to really tailor your communications to your audience or your residents.
JEN
And I’ll take number three, providing visibility and transparency to your team with the CRM, but also to your community. When people are submitting tickets, whether they’re submitting a FOIA request, whatever it is they’re doing, being able to track that back and have that accountability, have those records of that, and it’s all stored within one platform.
00;35;36;27 – 00;36;01;23
JEN
I tell businesses the same thing: if you’re operating without a CRM, you’re you’re in danger, honestly, this is, to me, one of the most important business and municipal and government related issues there is, is that that transparency and visibility. And there you go. Power three.
JEN
So that’s a wrap on episode seven. And believe it or not, that is a wrap for our whole first season of Think Fresh.
00;36;01;23 – 00;36;22;16
JEN
So thanks Lori, thank you so much for joining us today.
LORI
Thank you so much for having me. This was fun.
JEN
And Alicia, this is your first podcast and your last before you have. But we’re going to say baby Jakoby, right. Like that’s the that’s the, the the working name right now.
ALICIA
We’ll see. Maybe nothing signed yet. Nothing’s happened.
00;36;22;16 – 00;36;42;08
ALICIA
But we’ll see where we land.
JEN
Well, thanks for joining us today. You both did great. Ryan and I will be back in your ears in 2025 with more great insights on marketing, creative and beyond. So take care friends, and keep thinking fresh.
JEN
Thanks for listening. We hope you enjoyed this episode of Think Fresh.
RYAN
And remember, the conversation does not have to end here.
00;36;42;12 – 00;37;04;22
RYAN
If you liked what you heard today, be sure to follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram. Review our show on wherever you listen to your podcast on, or share all your marketing trials and triumphs by shooting us an email at info@thinkdenovo.com with the subject line “Dear de Novo” so we don’t miss it.
JEN
And while you wait eagerly for our next episode, you can get your fix by checking out our blog at blog.thinkdenovo.com
00;37;04;22 – 00;37;21;17
JEN
Stay tuned for more engaging conversations, laughs, and of course, marketing brilliance and me making fun of Ryan in the next episodes to come.
RYAN
Here’s to fresh thinking, sparking creativity, and never being boring. Bye friends!
00;37;21;19 – 00;37;23;28
JEN
Are we swearing on this or no?
Links:
City of Mount Vernon Website: https://cityofmtvernon-ia.gov/
