Where to start? The Portland Water Bureau, and specifically Jennie Day-Burget, their Public Information Officer, has done an outstanding job of using their website and blog, as well as Twitter, Facebook and Flickr, to educate Portland about their water supply and the PWB's role in keeping Portland's drinking water flowing safely and efficiently.
Their innovative use of technology has included campaigns to tout the virtues of drinking tap water, using various social media tools to promote awareness of how and where Portland obtains its water and maintaining daily dialogues through the Water Blog and Facebook to engage citizens in thought and conversation about water in general.
The PWB has been a leader among City of Portland bureaus in their use of social media to communicate with their customers through a number of channels. They have been open and willing to share ideas and help other City bureaus develop their own use of these tools. This collaboration has enhanced our organization's development of our blog and other social media tools, which are being used to reach out to and inform the communities we serve through previously unused methods. The PWB deserves recognition for not only using technology for good in their own organization, but for influencing technological advances for the public good in other organizations.
City Government
