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City of Portland wants to hire you to improve PortlandOnline

Portland isn’t willing to settle for second place. They know they can do better. And they realize that they’re sitting on a hotbed of creative Web talent in this town that could help them vault to #1, no problem. So, to get there, they’re asking for your help.

Rick Turoczy on June 8, 2009

[HTML2]You may not know this, but the City of Portland’s Web site, PortlandOnline, was recently ranked as the second-best city Web site in the nation in terms of “Municipal E-Governance.” (PDF) Who beat them? Washington, DC.

There’s only one problem: Portland isn’t willing to settle for second place. They know they can do better. And they realize that they’re sitting on a hotbed of creative Web talent in this town that could help them vault to #1, no problem. So, to get there, they’re asking for your help.

Yes, you.

No, really. Here’s your chance. The City of Portland has just released an RFP for Web Audit & Assessment Services that includes both usability-focused audits and begins to dip a proverbial toe into the realm of social media.

The City of Portland, Office of Management & Finance is seeking proposals for the following four service areas: 1) Information flow/architecture of PortlandOnline; 2) Functionality of content management system tools and training; 3) ADA accessibility; and 4) Use of social media. Deliverables will include audits and assessments based on industry best practices, citing specific examples in PortlandOnline, and recommendations for improvements, protocols, and policies in each area.

Sound interesting? I bet your Web shop would do an awesome job on this. And in the words of the City, “We’d love for small, local firms in Portland to apply.”

So why not submit a proposal? You’ve got two weeks. So get going. Proposals in response to the RFP are due Monday, June 22 by 5:00 PM.

And because you’re going to win, I feel obligated to tell you that the work is slated to begin in July 2009.

Now go get ’em tiger!

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Published by Rick Turoczy

More than mildly obsessed with the Portland startup community. Founder and editor at Silicon Florist. Cofounder and general manager at PIE. Follow me on Twitter: @turoczy

  1. Blipette July 11, 2009 at 5:32 am

    This is just so American. The employment rate is in the garbage can in Portland, the homeless rate is rapidly increasing and and the city wants to invest money in sprucing up its top rated site. When do city and state administrator s catch on to the disaster that is occuring. Gawd, where is Bud CLark when we need him. Chances are this comment wont make it to the site I suspect.

  2. Mike Donovan June 9, 2009 at 2:57 pm

    Seems like a great project—but, it’s a little disheartening to see that in spite of all this good work up front, they plan on having a “design contest” for the rest of it. Is it just me?

  3. Marshall Kirkpatrick June 8, 2009 at 5:20 pm

    Wow, that’s awesome!

Comments are closed.