This weekend Aleberry will be participating & “community sponsoring” the Houston Writeathon along with some of our other mates!
On Saturday, writers, designers, data nerds, and civil servants will come together to improve government communication starting with our own beloved city!
RSVP here to be part of the awesomeness and help make a difference in the community:
http://www.houstonwriteathon.com/
*Oh and did we mention there’s a notebook bar! Amazing!*
Thanks to Open Houston for providing a few resources, tools, and sample projects:
If you’re into data visualizations or infographics, here are some tools that you can use:City of Houston Open Data PortalMany Eyes (web-based data visualization; requires Java)Google ChartsTableau PublicInfographic Templates from Graphic River ($)RSS Voyage (visualize RSS feeds)
You can work your own ideas, or you can pick from this growing list of sample projects:
Visualize the procurement process with an infographic. This is the best thing we have right now. And don’t forget about the Hire Houston First program!Visualize the variety of City of Houston social media channels, and what they talk about.Conduct an open data inventory by correlating the datasets on theopen data portal with this census.Tackle the dreaded parking sign and make it easier to understand.Visualize key data from the City of Houston’s recently “released” audit letters from the Controller’s office. Backstory here.Translate the Health Pets, Healthy Streets initiative into a marketing campaign.Redesign the Graduation Game Plan Toolkit from the Department of Neighborhoods. More info here and here.Rewrite Hire Houston First for an audience of small businesses who do not currently do business with the City.Visualize how to obtain a library card and the benefits you enjoy.Pull together all of the resources for relocating to Houston and map out a website.Create some quick and dirty maps using BatchGeo. Maps you can tackle are: dog parks, hiking trails, fitness centers, tennis courts,golf courses, bikeway trails, skate parks, community centers, andurban gardens, among others.Translate the City of Houston’s transportation ordinances into plain language, and explain what it means for competitors like Uber andLyft.Translate the minimum lot ordinance to show how residential neighborhoods can mobilize and protect the character of their streets.Provide a summary of dense research papers like this.Work with issue advocates to draft online petitions using the Change.org platform.Describe a light rail stop and the attractions surrounding it.Work with board members of the Houston Center for Literacydrafting their new strategic plan.Develop a new marketing campaign around the City’s 311 app, using the built-in rewards system to drive community engagement.Translate one or more City ordinances into plainspeak.Create an infographic for special event designations and filing deadlines.Provide written use cases and/or visualizations of all the things you can do with My City Maps & Apps.Create a written or visual document that shows all of the ways you can get to and from Houston’s airports.Create a what you can do to help marketing flyer, designed to the specs of a water bill insert.Set up a website of Houston facts and tag them with key pieces of information.Better written and visual information about how Houston residents can enroll in a health insurance plan.Come up with a marketing campaign for soliciting and incorporating website feedback for the City of Houston. (It has to be better than this!)Help communicate the One Bin For All vision, either through writing or visuals.Write an editorial tackling something you find in the recentPerformance Insights report from the Finance Department. We’ll publish here!
Open Houston will keep adding to this list as the event approaches, so be sure to check back!
