07/20/2011 - Minutes City of Tigard
Neighborhood Involvement Committee Minutes
MEETING DATE/TIME: Wednesday,July 20, 2011, 7:00 p.m.
MEETING LOCATION: The Niche Building at City Hall (Brown Building by the Skate Park)
8720 SW Burnham St.,Tigard OR 97223
1. CALL TO ORDER
Chairman Christopher called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m.
2. ROLL CALL
Present: Chairman Basil Christopher, Sue Carver, Bev Froude, Connie Ramaekers, Cathy Olson,
Neighborhood Network Web Administrator Ed Hobbs,Area #4
Absent: Patty Anda
Staff. Joanne Bengtson
3. APPROVE MAY 18,2011 MINUTES
Bev Froude motioned to approve the May 18, 2011 minutes, seconded by Sue Carver, no
opposition.
4. HOW THE NEIGHBORHOOD BLOGS WORK(A DEMONSTRATION)
Neighborhood Network Web Administrator Ed Hobbs from Area 4 (near Metzger) attended to
give committee members a chance to talk to one of the web administrators and see some of the
newer blogging tips.
Joanne began by pulling up the West Tigard (Area 13) web page which is vacant right now, so it's
administered by Joanne until a replacement can be found. Joanne covered the basics of building a
blog and what we ask of residents when they sign up to blog for the neighborhoods.
Joanne recommended the button at the top of their screen called "View Next Blog" in order to get
a random sampling of the blogs that are available on the internet. No two are alike which led into a
discussion about ways to encourage neighbors to use the blog. Ed noted that giving presentations
to home owners associations and boards is a great way to build support for the neighborhood
pages.
An example of a project that neighbors could team up on came from Ed. He would like to see if
neighbors around the Senn Park Trailhead could advocate for a community garden. Joanne advised
checking the city's Park Master Plan to see what the city intends for the area.
Speak at neighborhood events, gatherings like HOA meetings, parades, parties, etc.
Add slideshows and movie shorts —linking to Picasa and YouTube
Neighborhood Involvement Committee Minutes — 7/20/11
City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 1 503-639-4171 1 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 1 of 2
Joanne stated that websites serve as a tool to communicate with residents in a formal and
comprehensive manner, a place to find an agency's detailed information on projects, plans and
municipal functions. Websites are like a phone book...you visit them in search of facts (not
entertainment) and frequent visitors value the structure and consistent look to help navigate the site
for information
Blogs, on the other hand, are a place to inform, connect and entertain through an unlimited range
of"gadgets" (clock, calendar, photo book, newsfeeds, games, etc.).
Some ways that blogs differ from a website:
The last post always appears first in the body of the page.
Visitors must scroll down to see other news — administrators can choose how many items to
show on the main page.
Maintaining a blog that visitors want to visit is great for sharing fun items, news, pictures
and/or things that wouldn't make an official agency site.
Visitors can leave comments attached to posts and share their own material
To learn more,Joanne shared the following sites which are popular with neighborhood network
web administrators: http://bloggerindraft.blogsl2ot.com/ I http://buzz.blogger.com/
http://bloggerfordummies.blogspot.com/ http://www.bloggertipsandtricks.com/
5. SOLICIT ANNUAL MEETINGS FOR ACTIVE STEERING COMMITTEES?
The committee asked Joanne to move ahead on contacting steering committees in order to set up
annual meetings.
6. OTHER?
Connie announced that Tigard High School has been awarded Red Ribbon certification, adding to
the list of only 53 schools nationwide.
This year Tigard High School earned the designation for their effective efforts in the prevention of
substance abuse among youth and their collaboration with youth, parents, educators and the
community as a team that promotes educational excellence. The public is invited to attend a Flag
Raising Ceremony at THS (October 21 at 10 a.m.)
The next regularly scheduled NIC meeting will be Wednesday, September 21, at 7 p.m. in the
library 2nd floor conference room.
7. ADJOURN
Basil adjourned the meeting at 8:25 p.m.
Neighborhood Involvement Committee Minutes — 7/20/11
City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 1 503-639-4171 1 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 2 of 2