LEARNING FROM CITIZENS' CALLS: USING THE BOSTON MAYOR'S HOTLINE

Dan O' Brien from the Boston Area Research Initiative invited us to this presentation on analysis of Citizen's Connect data, seemed like it would be really interesting for the data-minded among us. I'll leave the Meetup RSVP open, but you need to go through their registration process to ensure a spot.

The event is free and open to the public, but pre-registration is required. To register, click here or go to http://www.rsvpbook.com/BARI by Wednesday, June 12.

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Featuring presentations and comments by:

Nigel Jacob and Chris Osgood, Co-Directors, the Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics Dan O'Brien, Research Director, Boston Area Research Initiative Eric Gordon, Director, Engagement Game Lab and Associate Professor of Visual Media Arts, Emerson College Marie St. Fleur, Director of Intergovernmental Relations for the City of Boston Sarah Williams, assistant professor at MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Director, MIT’s Civic Data Design Lab Organized by the Boston Area Research Initiative (BARI), the Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics (MONUM) and Emerson College’s Engagement Game Lab, this event will focus on cutting-edge collaborations between policymakers and researchers to explore how citizens use the City of Boston’s Mayor’s Hotline and other systems, such as the Citizens Connect smart phone application, for requesting city services.

The evening will consist of two panels moderated by Nigel Jacob and Chris Osgood, who co-direct MONUM. The first panel will feature brief talks by local researchers who have been studying the use of the Mayor’s Hotline. Dan O’Brien, BARI’s research director, will explore what the database generated by the Hotline has been able to tell us about Boston’s neighborhoods and their residents. Eric Gordon, who directs Emerson’s Engagement Game Lab, will discuss the Hotline as an example of using modern technology to encourage greater citizen engagement in local neighborhoods. A second panel of local experts will respond to the earlier presentations in an open discussion among presenters and attendees.

The focus of the panel will be on how researchers, practitioners, and others can build on the research to better understand neighborhoods, improve public policy, and enhance the delivery of basic services. These experts include Marie St. Fleur, director of intergovernmental relations for the City of Boston, Sarah Williams, an assistant professor at MIT’s Department of Urban Studies who also directs MIT’s Civic Data Design Lab, and directors of similar government hotlines in Massachusetts.