METRO and HPD… join the blogosphere?
by David Benzion · 10/27/2006 6:38 amI can’t possibly do this story justice in the short time I have available for blogging before heading to work (it’s election season, you know), so I’m just going to throw it out there and count on you– LST’s readers– to supply the humor and insight.
From today’s Houston Chronicle:
The Metropolitan Transit Authority is hoping for heavy traffic — to its blog.
The agency plans to unveil a Web site before the end of the year to communicate directly with the public and has hired a full-time blogger, former Houston Chronicle reporter Mary Sit.
“Communication is something we’re always striving to improve on,” said Raequel Roberts, spokeswoman for Metro. “A free-ranging dialogue is important, and we’re hoping that we can establish this through a blog site.” [snip]
LoneStarTimes.com’s “Name the METRO Blog” contest has officially begun.
The endeavor will be the first for a Houston arm of government.
Though journalists, pundits and critics of every kind have saturated the blogosphere, the trend is only slowly gaining steam with officials, politicians and agencies across the country.
Marketing experts say the tool, if used properly, could help the agency counter regular attacks from Houston bloggers. BlogHOUSTON refers to the light rail as “Danger Train,” and Houston Views calls it the “WhamBamTram,” referring to the once-frequent collisions of other vehicles and trains.
“The power for those (government) blogs is going to be the ability to provide insight and background into plans, into why decisions are made and to put a face on an agency,” said John Wagner, president of Houston-based public relations firm Wagner Communications, who authors a blog about grass-roots marketing.
So why has government been reluctant to jump on the blogging train?
The main fear is of opening officials to direct debate with critics, said Steve Rubel, senior vice president of the Edelman public relations firm. Once something is out in the blogosphere, it can’t easily be erased.
“It’s an open forum, and a lot of governments are used to controlling the message,” said Rubel, who writes a blog called Micro Persuasion that explores how blogging and other interactive media are transforming marketing.
A blog can be time-consuming, but it’s also cheap and uses less manpower than other marketing strategies. So the benefits for government organizations usually outweigh the risks, Rubel said.
That’s why the Houston Police Department has discussed creating a blog, said spokesman Capt. Dwayne Ready. For now, though, it’s not a priority, he said.
“At this point, the chief wants to improve other services before he moves on to that,” he said.
Probably a good idea.
Regardless, LoneStarTimes.com’s “Name the HPD Blog” contest has officially begun.
I am really looking forward to reading Dr. Whited’s take on all this– don’t rush it Kevin, take all weekend to craft a masterpiece. This is a rare moment.
Laurence will probably have something interesting to say too. 
COFFEE SPEW UPDATE– That didn’t take long.
The only upside to this is that finally METRO will have something that can crash that won’t kill or maim anyone.
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24 Responses to “METRO and HPD… join the blogosphere?”Search
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Instead of threads they’ll have trains? Can they stay on track?
“The main fear is of opening officials to direct debate with critics”
snip…
“It’s an open forum, and a lot of governments are used to controlling the message,”
Ya don’t say….. So, now they are going to listen to critics. Right…. I wonder what boot licking lackey HPD will have manning the keyboard towing the company line. Get back to work peasants!
How about the “Repressed Peasant Forum”.
http://www.intriguing.com/mp/_pictures/grail/large/HolyGrail007.jpg
Best line of the story - “The main fear is of opening officials to direct debate with critics, said Steve Rubel, senior vice president of the Edelman public relations firm.” Heaven forbid a public official having a debate with a critic.
“The Houston METRO Blog, where we have more readers than riders.”
This is gonna be fun.
Whaddaya wanna bet that they moderate and nuke all comments that are the least bit critical.
“Metro Blunders Blog”
Sorry David, my post didn’t live up to that nice buildup.
As the name goes… DANGERblog, of course!
“The Houston METRO Blog, where we have more readers than riders.” Congrats. You win quote of the day. The elitists edict that the masses swallow the elitists waste of tax dollars while they destroy what used to be Houston’s mass transportation system.
I’d call it the Wham Bam Blog
How about this:
The Train Runeth Over
Poll question is up.
How about the “Go no where” Blog
I like this: “The Houston METRO Blog, where we have more readers than riders.”
Or “you can’t get there from here” blog
Or “just shut up and send us your money” blog
“can’t run in the rain” blog
“we’ll put where the heck we want” blog
“More readers than riders” wins, hands down. Brilliant.
New from METRO, it’s the blog you’ve all been waiting for, the World-Class Rider Reader!
Tell us your opinions and we’ll ignore them. Guaranteed!
In fact, we’ve shut down much of the internet to force you to our blog, and each visit counts as a rider for our system, so stop by and say hello!
Thanks for the congrats, but I really like “The Train Runneth Over” too. Think of the cool graphics you could do with that.
Here’s a question: will they make their own Wham Bam Tran counter?
(By the way, will the existing one get updated any time soon?)
New from the Houston Police Department, it’s the World-Class Sanctuary Blog!
Stop by and we won’t ask any questions.
Our web administrator is on hand for your queries Monday through Friday, but is unavailable on weekends.
Warning: Web cameras will monitor your behavior and $75 citations will be mailed out for flaming. Unacceptable criticism of leadership will result in an immediate Taser shock sent through your mouse.
I think this is the greatest irony of all
The Metropolitan Transit Authority is hoping for heavy traffic — to its blog.
I mean how do they think they can manage heavy traffic on it’s blog if they cannot manage traffic and bus routes in the city…
17 - bweldon - wonderfully ironic point.
Here’s another counter question: Will they make a counter of METRO riders AND Wham Bam Blog visitors, side by side? Guess which one will win? HA!
Are we gonna have some fun or what!?!
If it is anything like their buses it will break down
once a week and be terribly slow. and of course charge you for that pleasure. 1.00 for an all day pass or .$.25 a post
I finally rode the Tooterville Trolley the other day. It is great!
IF you work downtown and need to go to the Med Center.
IF you work downtown and want to go to the Hermann Park or the zoo and have a picnic.
IF you live off South Main and attend UH Downtown.
Would I have spent a Billion dollars on it?
IF I was a city with overblown delusions of grandeur.
” The only upside to this is that finally METRO will have something that can crash that won’t kill or main anyone. ”
I think it should say “..won’t kill or MAIM anyone”
Proof reading is our friend.
#21 Fixed.
Although I don’t know, maybe the Main Street line should be calld “main-ing” a pedestrian?
My proofreader is in Israel, shutting down for Sabbath.
No David you cannot pimp me out as their moderator.