Welcome
The public sector is facing unprecedented challenges in terms of limited resources and a pressing need to innovate. The City of Anaheim, guided by Mayor Curt Pringle, has built a leadership position in developing programs that support growth and quality of life. An example is the mayor's Technology Advisory Committee, a partnership between the public and private sectors to leverage the power of technology. We are excited to be part of the latest outgrowth of that partnership by assisting the city with the Great Anaheim Apps Challenge. The Challenge is a unique online competition where people are being invited to submit ideas for creative online "apps" that can help make the city's incredible resources even more valuable and accessible. This program is part of an overall trend as you'll read in our article on Facebook and government. We conclude this month with an overview profile of the economy that we presented recently to the Orange County Executive Network.
Click here to view video of the event. Sincerely, 
Sinan Kanatsiz Chairman / CEO KCOMM 
  
PS... the future is private and public partnerships! |
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Key Contacts:
Sinan Kanatsiz Founder and CEO sinan@kcomm.com (949) 443-9300 Jeff Montejano President of Public Affairs jeff@kcomm.com (949) 542-8954 Dave Holscher VP of Public Relations dave@kcomm.com (949) 295-5515 Resources: Anaheim Apps Contest www.anaheimapps.org Internet Marketing Assn. www.imanetwork.org KCOMM www.kcomm.com |
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The Great Anaheim Apps Challenge KCOMM Coordinates Leadership Advisory Council and Integrated Marketing Program 
The city of Anaheim, California in Orange County will launch an innovative online contest called The Great Anaheim Apps Challenge. This challenge will focus on encouraging the general-public to think of creative ideas for mobile "apps", or applications which will help make the city's services and programs more accessible and efficient.
The contest will feature five main categories - Water & Power, Parks & Recreation, Public Safety, Tourism/Sports/Entertainment, and "Anything Anaheim". Both residents and non-residents of the city of Anaheim, 16 years of age and older, can take part in the challenge. The contest offers over $5,000 in cash and prizes for the winner of the contest. Tuesday, September 29 is the official kick off date for the contest, and it will run through November 30th. Contest winners will be announced on January 5, 2010. For more information, please visit www.anaheimapps.org
Social Government 2.0 How Local, State and Federal Government Use Facebook Facebook's new interface and recent feature updates allows for greater control and networking potential for users who create "Pages", or profiles typically used to promote clubs, groups, bands, and government agencies. One of the more recent changes to Facebook Pages is the ability to post links and "status updates" on the profile's Wall. While this is a valuable and effective tool, it takes a greater effort to make such a page successful, since there's a need to update your Facebook status on a fairly regular basis to maintain other users' attention and interest in the content you post. 
In general, Facebook is a great tool for pulling traffic to existing websites or blogs, as well as creating a network of faithful users, but there are a number of best practices to consider when updating your Facebook Page.
One of the most important things to remember when updating your Facbook Page, is to make your status updates sound human. Users tend to avoid content that seems to have been generated by a machine. Users also need a reason to visit your Facebook Page. It's a good idea to treat Facebook like a portal to your website, where users have access to exclusive content such as pictures or videos that are not readily available on the main site. This will grab users' interest and keep them coming back to check for the latest update. Although you want to maintain a content rich profile, you should avoid overloading or over cramming it with content, as users tend to steer away from elongated text, or crowded pages. This also applies to Facebook applications, and using them sparingly. Ultimately, users should be sent to the Wall when they first load the Facebook Page, since this is where updates, content, and discussions will appear - it's essentially the center of social activity on Facebook. Conclusively, Facebook Pages are a great way to network and gain traffic; it simply takes a bit of care, organization, and appealing content to create a socially functional Facebook Page.
Economic Forecast 2009 A Special Presentation Given to the Orange County Executive Network 
With the talk of the current economic recession coming to an end, we begin to see signs of life on a global scale which point to a positive outlook. The Chinese economy is expected to post the largest economic growth in 2009. The Dow Jones in the U.S. is up from its March 2009 low of 6,594, leading forecasters to believe the nation is on the road to recovery.
The most profitable industries in 2009 are in networking and communications equipment, internet services, and pharmaceuticals. However, unemployment rates continue to rise, and are expected to increase throughout 2009. Recommendations for the future of our economy include: for businesses: keeping costs well-controlled in order for sales to rise; for government: understanding that budgets will continue to be under pressure, so short-term fixes will not suffice; for consumers: there will be the worry of unemployment, but take a measured view of the headlines. A plan for recovery is needed now, so it is expected for local governments and the federal government will begin to implement aggressive measures that will set the nation in the right direction. A detailed overview of the current state of the economy and our presentation can be found at www.kcomm.com/ocen2009.pdf |
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