PlaceSpeak 2.0’s Geosocial platform authenticates online public consultation
Vancouver, British Columbia, January 15, 2013: Vancouver based, New City Ventures Inc., developers of PlaceSpeak, announced this week that it has launched PlaceSpeak 2.0, the next iteration of the location-based platform that authenticates public input providing verifiable evidence to inform public policy and decision-making.
The new design emphasizes the geosocial Participant experience with a cleaner, simpler layout for easy navigation encouraging increased civic engagement. This builds upon the original toolkit designed for Proponents conducting public consultations which provides them with defensible geo-verified feedback data. There are advances in overall functionality as well as the introduction of new features including an API for integration with third party applications.
“The new improved PlaceSpeak takes us one step closer to delivering truly authenticated public consultation online” says founder and CEO, Colleen Hardwick. “People want to genuinely affect the outcomes of local decisions, and proponents want defensible data to inform their policies. Aligning with this wina-win situation has taken us from prototype to beta to 2.0 within eighteen months,” continues Hardwick.
“More and more organizations are using PlaceSpeak everyday to connect with their communities, and at the same time citizens are contributing feedback with the knowledge their input is being taken seriously”.
“PlaceSpeak has served as a valuable tool for the City of New Westminster to engage with our residents and allow them to participate and share feedback on various issues in a practical and meaningful way,” said Blair Fryer, Communications Manager, City of New Westminster. “It also provides another way for us to connect with community members within specific areas to ensure we are hearing from those most affected by the issue being canvassed.”
“We are extremely proud of our new PlaceSpeak 2.0 platform and the collaboration in its development with FCV, one of Canada’s leading interactive, digital advertising agencies. PlaceSpeak 2.0 clearly reflects our position in the online public engagement arena,” stated Will Cadell, Chief Technology Officer at New City Ventures. “For Proponents, we have included new topic layout, easy access to surveys and a new streamlined consultation topic management feature, while providing a user-friendly and secure sign up process for Participants.”
“PlaceSpeak provides real-time, relevant, geo-specific data that transforms the way decision-makers are able to interact with the public.” says John Starke, President and CEO at FCV.
“It represents better than anything I have seen in modern public engagement the current trend toward convenient, social user experiences that truly engage participant users and provide extremely valuable data to decision-makers.”
You can check out the new site at https://www.placespeak.com
About PlaceSpeak
PlaceSpeak is a pioneering location-based public consultation platform that geo-authenticates participants on the one hand, and on the other provides proponents with verifiable evidence to inform decision-making and public policy development. The platform connects people’s online identities with their residential addresses so that they can voice their opinions electronically in a wide variety of forums and provide proponents with confidence that they are receiving feedback from the right places.
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Contact:
Colleen Hardwick, CEO New City Ventures Inc.
Phone: 778.999.7677 | colleen@placespeak.com
www.placespeak.com | Twitter: @placespeak | Facebook: facebook.com/PlaceSpeak
