OpenGov //. The Sunlight Foundation Year-End Wrap-Up

Still on-hold pausing to hear from Mesa City Hall, but other Year-End Wrap-Ups are streaming into the Email Inbox: here's one from The Sunlight Foundation affiliated with Bloomberg's WhatWorksCities that the City of Mesa joined in August 2015.
From Capitol Hill to city hall to parliament, Sunlight made an impact opening governments large and small, engaging citizens at home and abroad. Take a look at some of our accomplishments for 2015 below. (And follow along with our work in 2016 by joining Sunlight's opengov community here!) 

For the state and local team @ Sunlight here's what they had to say:

2015 has been a landmark year for Sunlight’s local team, as we launched our largest project to date: the What Works Cities initiative.
This ambitious, multi-year effort means Sunlight will work with 100 mid-sized american cities to advance municipal open data policy and practice at scale.
Since our first announcement of the program in April, Sunlight’s team has supported open data efforts in 13 cities and has played a key role in the adoption of four new open data policies in Jackson, Miss., Mesa, Ariz., Kansas City, Mo., and as of Wednesday, Waco, Texas.
Keep up with the local policy team's progress by following along on our blog.

See the entire OpenGov Year-End Wrap-Up here >> http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2015/12/18/sunlight-in-2015-looking-back-on-the-world-of-opengov/

Here's a link to a very brief 1:56 You Tube video on Sunlight's Transparency Camp that was uploaded on 18 September 2015
  https://youtu.be/GqT-BXBqiHc

As the sun sets on 2015, we here at the Sunlight Foundation would like to thank all of you for helping us on our journey toward making our government more accountable and transparent. We appreciate all of your support, and we wouldn't be able to do such important work without your support. If you've read an article on our blog, dug through our open data or just want to support the cause of transparency, consider making a donation to Sunlight today. Thanks, and onward to 2016!

OPEN HOUSE @ Mesa Chamber of Commerce

This just in the e-mail Inbox less than 40 minutes ago:

Music, Fun & Frivolity [Heh? Wotz that?]

ALL DAY 8-5

Who's the dude?

BizBash > Mesa Start-Up Crowd Mics

Back on March 4, 2014 reporter Mitral Sorrells published an article with this headline
New App Turns Smartphones Into Microphones
The new Crowd Mics app allows meeting and event organizers to turn attendee smartphones into microphones.
Ever attended a public meeting when you could not here questions from the audience? This app solves that problem . . . and two guys, the Holladay brothers - from Mesa did it.

Gathering audience questions and feedback at a meeting or event is usually done by positioning stand microphones around the room or by passing around a wireless unit. Crowd Mics, an iOS and Android app released last week at Launch Festival, provides a new option: it connects audience members’ smartphones to the room’s sound system, so every person has his or her own microphone.
Image and excerpts from article readers can see by going to this link >> http://www.bizbash.com/new-app-turns-smartphones-into-microphones/new-york/story/28005/#.Vngum5XSnIU

Phoenix Biz Journal had this report written by Hayley Tingle today
Dec 21, 2015, 6:36 AM  MST                   
This Mesa startup that turns your smartphone into a microphone just raised $1M in its seed round                    

The app turns smartphones into wireless microphones at live events.

Link >> http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/blog/techflash/2015/12/this-mesa-startup-that-turns-your-smartphone-into.html?ana=e_phx_rdup&s=newsletter&ed=2015-12-21&u=QU7bVbydM2U4wrdSLqhnXw091bba69&t=1450716508

 

So how does it work? The speaker on stage plugs a smartphone into the room’s sound system and creates a name and access code for the event in the Crowd Mics app. Audience members download the app and enter the code to join the event. When they want to ask a question or make a comment, they tap their phones, and the presenter will see a list of people who want to talk in the order they came online. The presenter can enable an individual microphone, mute a microphone, or put the system in “open mic” mode so anyone can comment. Audience members can also submit text comments to the presenter through the Crowd Mics app, and the system offers basic polling functions.

Crowd Mics is free for audience members. The event organizer, presenter, or venue pays for access to the system based on the size of the crowd. It’s free for 20 people or fewer, and then starts at $25 for 50 participants.
[that information above, excerpted from the BizBash article, may have changed]

Check out the Holladay brothers on Twitter: https://twitter.com/crowdmics?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

 

2 hours ago - View on Twitter

We are excited to announce our $1M seed round led by @Sandhillangels! #eventtech #eventprofs aztechbeat.com/2015/12/cr…

News: State Quarterly Personal Income, Q1 2015 - Q3 2015

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) has issued the following news release today, EMBARGOED UNTIL RELEASE AT 8:30 A.M. EST, Monday, December 21, 2015
State Personal Income: Third Quarter 2015
State personal income grew 1.3 percent on average in the third quarter of 2015, the same pace as in the second quarter, according to estimates released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Personal income grew in every state with third-quarter personal income growth rates ranging from 0.6 percent in Alaska to 2.2 percent in Nebraska and South Dakota (table 1).
Not much, but some subject to the usual post-quarter revisions, momentum to report [to use a favorite phrase by mayor John Giles - but this was noted in the release:
The largest percentage increases in the third quarter were in Arizona and Oregon where nonfarm earnings grew 1.6 percent.
Readers can see the entire news release by going to this link >> http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/regional/spi/sqpi_newsrelease.htm

Here are some details extracted:

Earnings in professional services grew 1.7 percent in the third quarter following a 1.8 percent rise in the second. 

This industry contributed the most to personal income growth in California, Michigan, and Utah.

Earnings in health care grew 1.6 percent in the third quarter following a 1.4 percent increase in the second.  

Health care was the leading contributor to personal income growth in New York and North Carolina in the third quarter.

Earnings in finance grew 1.5 percent in the third quarter following a 1.6 percent rise in the second quarter.  

Finance was the leading contributor to personal income growth in Arizona, Connecticut, and Delaware in the third quarter.

Earnings fell 1.9 percent in mining in the third quarter, after falling 5.5 percent in the second quarter and 0.6 percent in the first quarter. 

This subtracted from personal income growth, particularly in North Dakota, Wyoming, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Alaska, Louisiana, and Texas.

[Quarterly state personal income estimates for 2015:I and 2015:II have been revised]

Next quarterly state personal income release – March 24, 2016, at 8:30 A.M. for fourth quarter 2015 and preliminary annual 2015.

All-In One Sunday Afternoon > New Urban DTMesa

Ex-mayor Scott Smith used to say about downtown Mesa that "Boring was OK".
Every single time your MesaZona blogger walks out the door most every day onto the streets on/off Main Street he's always excited and surprised what's in the panorama of the cityscape.
High expectations are one thing, but then again when you're feeling mellow on a sunny crisp Sunday afternoon stepping-out to see what's-there-to-see it's no problem at all avoiding crowds or dodging traffic - and finding a random act of kindness by "a group of friends" from Chandler for the homeless on the streets

Wot About Those Year-End Wrap-Ups? . . . Have You Heard from City Hall?

Here's a checklist of elected and appointed officials  who swear to open government, engaging the public, transparency, and being held accountable for what they do, and have been doing in 2015:
Mayor John Giles
City Council Members Glover, Kavanaugh, Finter, Richins, Luna and Thompson
City Manager Chris Brady
Ass't City Managers Kari Kent and John Pombier
City Econ & Development Director Bill Jabjiniak
Housing & Community Director Liz Morales
City Chief Technology Officer Alex Deshuk
Have they taken the time to inform residents and taxpayers of their accomplishment for this year? What got done - not promises, projections, challenges or opportunities.

If not, readers are invited to contact City Hall [see how easy it is]
http://www.mesaaz.gov/city-hall

Time for TED > The TED Radio Hour

Whatever happened to radio in this digital in-the-cloud Internet of Things time?
It's alive and doing very well, thank you very mucho for asking, dear readers.
Always good at this look-back/look forward time of the year to take the time to listen and lend an ear or two listening to National Public Radio's The Hero's  Journey.

From the Odyssey, to Robinson Crusoe, to Star Wars — why are we drawn to stories about heroes?
And what do they tell us about ourselves?

This hour, TED speakers explore what makes a hero's journey - and why we can find a hero in ourselves if we really take a good look.

Where do some people get started?
Find out >>
Dame Ellen MacArthur's journey began when she discovered sailing. . . Setting off in 2004, Dame Ellen MacArthur sailed 26,000 miles in 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 33 seconds — becoming the fastest person to single-handedly circumnavigate the globe. She was made a dame by Queen Elizabeth II in 2005.
During her record-breaking solo sail, Dame Ellen came to a realization: our survival as a species depends on our reliance on a finite supply of resources.
In 2010, she launched the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, which works with government and business to transition from a largely wasteful linear economy to a regenerative circular economy.
Here' a link to listen to and watch the 5:45 video >>
http://www.npr.org/2015/12/18/458508346/how-does-a-heros-journey-begin

Readers can access the whole playlist here >>
http://www.npr.org/programs/ted-radio-hour/