Over the past year the number of monthly meetings broadcast on Channel 15 has increased to six. The most recent meeting to begin live and replayed broadcasts is the Morgantown Traffic Commission.
Replay of Meetings
Over the last year, the City has videotaped a number of special events that have taken place throughout the City. The events are then replayed so residents that were not present can enjoy them. Events included the Governor’s Presentation of Grant Awards, Town Meeting per September 11, 2001 events, and the Olympic Torch Press Conference.
Monthly Productions
Two monthly programs started in October of this year. These programs will educate and alert residents to the services provided by the Morgantown Police and Fire Departments.
Morgantown On Patrol
Hosted by the Police Department’s Public Relations Officer, Gina Panico, this program
highlights recent crime trends, crime prevention tips, and interviews fellow Police Officers.
Interviews are to help residents know the people and dedication behind the badge.
Silent Sentinels
Each monthly program will highlight two different teams that are setup within the
Fire Department. Each team will provide residents insight into the preparedness of the
Morgantown Fire Department and educate residents about possible services. The first
program began with Fire Chief Fetty introducing the program and the Public Education
Team.
Equipment additions and upgrades
In September of 2001, the City purchased an editing system that has made the monthly programs and titling possible. This equipment is also necessary to provide video on the City’s Web Page. Continued development of this equipment will provide numerous opportunities for the City to better communicate with residents and visitors.
Interaction with other agencies
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 events
The City of Morgantown Web Page is going through continuous updating. The City provides a new look to the main page every 6-9 months.
The News Notes portion of the sidebar (bottom left portion of the screen) is updated daily. This helps to keep residents or interested viewers informed of local events or City Hall news.
New features that have been included
• Local FYI / Resident Corner -With one click off the main page, residents can see a list of links to meeting agendas, minutes, schedules, forms, and documents available online.
After only a few months, nearly 6,000 requests for this page have been made. Over time, this page should become an easy location for residents to follow City business.
• Streaming “Video of the Week” – Each week a new short video will be available to view. Events such as the Governor’s Grant Presentation, Morgantown On Patrol clips, Silent Sentinels clips, or just a few minutes of activity in Morgantown that has been captured will be available to visitors.
• Guestbook additions. The guestbook page continues to be a popular page. Residents and visitors to the web site leave interesting comments for everyone to read.
Activity on Page continues to grow
As of December 7, 2001, the Morgantown.com Web Page has seen 130,106 hits (web page requests) from visitors to the page. For the last six months, ending December 7, 2001, the City of Morgantown web site averaged 255 hits per day. As you can see from the following graph, weekends show a drop in activity producing a jagged result over time. The very low valley, circled in red, in the graph reflects down-time of the company hosting the counter and was not included in the daily average.
A further breakdown of the data suggests that Tuesday is the busiest day for observing the City Web Page.
| Day |
Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Saturday |
| Percent |
9.70% |
16.76% |
16.92% |
16.85% |
16.19% |
14.67% |
8.91% |
New features to come …
Continuous updating is an important part of an 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 residents or visitors would like to see on the site will take time. Some Internet features that are possible in the next year include:
• Resident polls that can change weekly or monthly
• A history of Morgantown in photos and text
• Business of the Month Link – Each month a different Morgantown business web site would be featured. This would only apply to 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 sign-up for monthly mailing. This could keep residents and interested people up-to-date on City services, changes, and council or other board activities. A live Internet-cam from City Hall that would provide a 24-hour view of downtown Morgantown. Internet cameras tend to attract a large group of Internet surfers that would not typically view a City-oriented web site.