INFORMATION SERVICES and PUBLIC RELATIONS

Annual Report Table of Contents
 Government Access Channel 15

Live Broadcasts

City Council meetings have been seen "Live" on Channel 15 all year. In November, the Board of Zoning Appeals and the Planning Commission began "Live" broadcasts on Channel 15. Scheduling of tape replays was modified to manage the additions.

Replay of Meetings

In September, the City of Morgantown began administering the replaying of tapes on Channel 15. Prior to September, video tapes of each meeting were sent to Adelphia Communications for replay on Channel 3, the area's Public Access Channel. Along with administering Channel 15, the City is now able to also begin scheduling and producing other tapes to be played on Channel 15.

Events

Over the last few months of 2000, special events like the Jerry West Blvd. dedication; the WWII memorial re-dedication; and the Hospital donation to the Rail-Trail project have been taped and broadcast numerous times. It is anticipated that a number of dedications, grand-openings, and donations will take place that can be videotaped and re-broadcast on Channel 15.

Monthly Productions

A number of City related, monthly video programs will begin in 2001. Currently, the Parking Authority, Fire Department, and Police Department have suggested the use of monthly programs to educate and assist residents. The Monongalia County Extension Office is also looking to produce a quarterly program that will provide information on various topics for residents.

Use of Franchise Grant for Equipment

Thanks to Adelphia Communications with their commitment to help develop a Government Access Channel, the City of Morgantown received a $50,000 grant from Adelphia Communications. Equipment purchased with this grant includes: 4 professional video cameras and lighting systems -

City Council Camera,

Library Camera,

Morgantown High School Camera, and

University High School Camera.

2 professional videocassette recorders and a monitor for broadcasting videotapes.

1 computer and video scanner to display bulletin board graphics.

1 Event Manager to control and schedule tape machines and computer generated displays

1 Tuner for audio over bulletin board (playing WNPR).

1 rack and emergency power supply and surge protector.

In the future, editing equipment and additional accessories will be needed to enhance the capabilities of the existing equipment.

Bulletin Board and Interaction with other Agencies

The City's "Government Bulletin Board" has been active since October, 2000. Each day the bulletin board is updated to remove past events and include new events. To make the bulletin board more attractive than a message board pictures are used and other special graphics.

Through the use of the bulletin board and the use of the video equipment, the City of Morgantown will be working closely with all of the following Government Agencies:

  • BOE / High Schools - Post monthly meetings and events and help with videotaping and production.
  • Library - Post monthly meetings and events on bulletin board
  • BOPARC - Post monthly events and area programs
  • County - Post monthly meetings and work with the Extension Office
WWW.Morgantown.com

The City of Morgantown Web Page is continuously updated. New features that have been added include :

  • Trail information and photos
  • Channel 15 Connection
  • Photo Gallery
  • Site Map for easy navigation
  • Counter with statistics available
  • Don Knotts dedication page
  • Jerry West dedication page
  • Guestbook Entry pages

    • In November, the City of Morgantown received the "Silver Website Award" from Hometown USA. Awards are given to community sites that meet a list of criteria for design, community interest, and functionality.

    Activity on Page continues to grow

    A web counter and statistics package was placed on the City's Web Page on July 26, 2000. Between July 26 and November 29, 2000, Morgantown.com Web Page received 37,990 hits (web page requests) from browsers. For the month ending November 29, 2000, the average number of hits per day was 267.55. As can be seen in the following graph, weekends show a drop in "hits" activity producing a jagged result across time. The drastic peak of 1,204 hits was on Wednesday, November 22, after the Arts & Entertainment (A&E) Channel broadcast the Don Knotts Biography.

    A further breakdown of the data suggests that Wednesday is the busiest day for observing the Web Page. The following table shows the percentage of hits for each day of the week.

    Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
    Total

    Count

    		2,526 5,006 4,384 5,233 4,883 3,985 2,307
    Percent %8.92 %17.67 %15.48 %18.48 %17.24 %14.07 %8.15

    Prior to the spike from the Don Knotts biography, Mondays were the busiest days to view the morgantown.com web page. Additional national exposure should have a similar reaction.

    New features to come …

    Continuous updating is an important part of a Internet Web Site. It will bring people back to the site and makes the site the best place to find information. To include everything the City would like to see on the site though will take time. Some Internet features that are possible in the next year include:

    • A history of Morgantown in photos and text.
    • Monthly Morgantown business web site featuring only businesses located in the City limits.
    • Credit card (on-line) payment of taxes and fees
    • Monthly e-zine that can be e-mailed to residents that subscribe for monthly mailing. This could keep residents and interested people up-to-date on City services, changes, and Council or other Board activities.
    • Search capability for just the Morgantown web site where a keyword can be searched throughout the Morgantown site.