Campbell’s Congressional Web Site Wins Bronze Mouse Award
Thursday, 22 April 2010 07:43
WASHINGTON, DC — The Web site of United States Representative John Campbell (CA-48) was recognized last evening by the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF), for having an outstanding Congressional website. CMF analyzed all 620 congressional Web sites, including those of all Senate and House Members, committees (both majority and minority sites), and official leadership sites. Congressman Campbell’s website, www.campbell.house.gov, was one of only 135 Web sites commended by CMF in its 111th Congress Gold Mouse Project.
Upon receiving the award Campbell remarked: “I have long made it a priority that my staff and I perform at the highest level of constituent service and outreach. My website serves as a vital conduit for this effort, and I, along with my staff will continue to work on improving it and other avenues of communication.”
The 111th Congress Gold Mouse Awards are part of CMF’s Partnership For A More Perfect Union, which seeks to improve the quality of communication between Members and their constituents. For this project CMF partnered with researchers from the Harvard Kennedy School, Northeastern University, University of California–Riverside, and the Ohio State University to study how Members of Congress can use the Internet to improve communications with their constituents and to promote greater participation in the legislative process.
“One of the key reasons for the awards is to highlight best practices so offices can improve their sites by learning from those already excelling in online communications,” said Beverly Bell, CMF’s Executive Director. “Web sites like Congressman Campbell’s serve as a prime example that we hope other congressional offices will follow.”
“Mr. Campbell’s Web site shows that he understands how to meet the needs of their constituents online,” said Bell. “The Congressional Management Foundation congratulates Congressman Campbell and his staff for having a Web site that is among the best on Capitol Hill, and we are pleased to present the Office of Congressman John Campbell with the 111th Congress Bronze Mouse Award.”
“The 111th Congress report shows that Web sites continue to be a critical channel through which Members and congressional committees can communicate with, and hear from, citizens. The Internet is a vital tool for elected officials and the public to use in the give-and-take of ideas and opinions that has characterized the American form of government since its founding” Bell said.
Web sites were graded on how well they incorporate five core principles that CMF identified through extensive research as critical for effectiveness: know your audience, provide timely and targeted content that meets their needs, make the site easy to use, foster interaction both on and offline, and add value through innovation.
Using these core principles, an evaluation framework was developed by CMF and their research partners, which would be fair and objective while still taking into account important qualitative factors that affect a visitor's experience on a Web site.
Additionally, Congressman Campbell frequently writes a candid E-Newsletter, affectionately known as his ‘Laptop Report’, in addition to a widely read blog hosted by Townhall.com called ‘The Greeneyeshade Blog’. Campbell also maintains an active presence on Facebook, YouTube, and Amplify.
The 111th Congress Gold Mouse Project report, a full listing winners, and other comparative data is available on CMF’s Partnership For A More Perfect Union Web site at www.pmpu.org.
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