One Government's Use of Twitter

Here's three uses for Twitter that our Port Authority has used.  I won't say these are revolutionary, but I think it fuels the idea that we like to fuel that we are a government innovator.

Use #1.  Advised to install a text message alert system by our insurance broker during a risk review, we explored such program options and were staring a pretty decent cost in the face.  We set up our Alert System on Twitter for free.  It's been in place for over a year now.  That's $3,000 saved and counting. 

It also works.  We've had a hazmat crew and several tornado warnings issued across the system since we installed it.

Use #2.  For two Holiday Open House events in a row, we've had our staff send Twitter messages with #hnlcpa in the message and display it on our SmartBoard for all to see.  It's a great, easy way to get more impact from our already-popular event.  In 2009, it was novel.  In 2010, it was popular.  We'll see what 2011 brings. 

Use #3.  When one arrives in our lobby, one will see a 60" LED-LCD television on the main wall.  It's our new Lobby Message Center.  And, as of this week, it shows the latest Twitter message from our Ohio Port account.  We also can show the last three tweets from our Ohio Port list of our customers' tweets that we can follow.  With it in our Lobby, our customers see we are following them and my staff stays up to date on the latest news of our customers.  All good.

Future Use.  By May, we expect to be administering two more lobby message centers in our new building.  We will offer our tenant customers in the building a chance to tweet a message that will, in seconds or as soon as the screen refreshes, show their message on the screen.  It's a quick and impressive way to greet visitors and do it on short notice.

Who said they couldn't see the use for Twitter?