Monday, December 04, 2006

Quick notes on first council meeting

I was a little late arriving so I missed all the initial fanfare and about the first five minutes of the Mayor's speech.

There were numerous copies of the speech available after the event was over and I just noticed that it's posted on City's website.

It strikes me as rather ironic that any good news in Windsor (ie. the Mayor's speech) is easy to obtain and distributed far and wide while anything else requires a trip to the dentist to pull a few dozen teeth.

icon 2006 Mayor Inaugural Address.pdf (80 KB)

1. I must say I was surprised at the turnout. I'm not sure what the total capacity of the Chrysler Theatre is, but the main floor was pretty much full.

2. Not sure if they were expecting a riot or anything, but I thought it strange to see 6 police officers strategically placed throughout the theatre.

3. Funniest line of the night:
" Until then, my plan is to start an e-newsletter, from the Mayor to the people of Windsor. It is the fireside chat of the twenty-first century."
I hate to burst the Mayor's bubble, but at best an email newsletter might be considered late 20th century but certainly not 'twenty-first century". Blogs, YouTube, MySpace page, Podcasting, RSS - that's a little more in line with 21st century.

Push versus Pull. Email is a push technology that most of us are seeking to reduce, not increase.

Councillor Halberstadt has the right idea. His blog and accompanying feed are just two examples of pull technologies available today. If the Mayor really wants some 21st century communication to start happening, he should consult with his youth council and ask them to help craft a communication strategy. Most of them could do it in their sleep.

I'll have more to say on the Mayor's speech later on, once I've had a chance to re-read it and check on a few things.