Smarter Technology, a popular website dedicated to technological innovation, has conducted a nationwide search to find companies that provide innovative technology to help government better serve taxpayers (and save taxpayer dollars.)

The site has chosen Wahi as one of the top four latest innovations helping officials embrace a more open and interactive federal government.  Highlighted for its successful gang-prevention videos, Wahi is being utilized by government officials to improve the quality of life for both present and reformed gang members and concerned citizens.

Government agencies are also turning to other technologies including Spigit for Government, readMedia and RightNow Cloud Monitor to stay abreast of the current trends.

Click here to read the full article, and don’t forget to leave a comment! We’d love to hear what you think. Excerpt below.

Government Going All A-Twitter?

By: Dennis McCafferty
March 2010

Say goodbye to the stereotype of the stodgy bureaucrat. Government agency managers now are getting totally “with it” when it comes to using social media tools to provide better services to taxpayers.

For government bureaucrats, a casual conversation often involves terms such as “request for proposal,” “government-wide acquisition strategy” and “protocols for enterprise management procurement.”

In other words, not exactly the kind of chat that would win you any points at a singles bar. So it’s difficult to believe that these agency managers are now embracing the same popular social-media tech tools that are all the rage on the Web these days.

But that’s exactly what’s happening. Thanks in part to President Obama’s call for a more interactive and open federal government, and the greater inclination of localities and states to embrace the inevitable, agencies are now using Facebook, Twitter and other social media tools to better connect to citizens. Here are some notable examples:

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• Tallahassee, Fla.-based Wahi Media has introduced a video-based social media online platform in which Tampa Bay police officers, educators and other active community members are interacting with gang members online to get a sense of how these members get recruited so as to come up with better ways to execute early intervention. Because the interaction is one-on-one, face-to-face (virtually, at least), police officers are able to hold the attention of a gang member longer (as much as 8 to 10 minutes at a time), unlike traditional social media outlets where users quickly click from one conversation to another. So far, more than 5,000 one-on-one conversations have been conducted with gang members. Other Wahi clients include police departments for Atlanta and Tallahassee.

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In the earliest planning stages of every wahi, we use an approach that we find very useful in answering this question. We begin each production by researching and determining a very deliberate balance of education (message delivery) and entertainment. We call this our edutainment ratio and it drives the scope and design of each wahi. Starting with this ratio provides a clear focus for scripting, graphic design, casting and every other piece of the project.

Many of our early productions began with an 80/20 or 70/30 education/entertainment ratio. In some cases, depending on client wishes, it may have been higher. In many of our recent productions we’ve had the opportunity to create a more balanced 60/40 or even 50/50 ratio. Most of these productions have been public awareness initiatives, in which there is typically a large amount of vital content to be delivered. Even so, the balance is key to ensuring the users remain engaged and retain the information.

Of course, the success of any ratio truly depends on the goals of the initiative, the content being delivered, the target audiences being addressed, among other variables. It’s always an exciting challenge to figure out the best approach for different target audiences, specifically when you’re dealing with sensitive information.

Here’s what we know:

1. Even when you have a large amount of vital information to be delivered (80/20 education to entertainment), you can still make it “feel” like the reverse. We’re working on a new production now in which content dominates (and it’s pretty sensitive, personal information). However, we’ve been able to design an approach that makes the content itself the entertainment. There are secrets shared by the cast members that users need to find out and remember. There are stories, filled with key information about the subject matter that audience members can use to continue into new areas of content.

2. You have more than 100% to deal with. The conversation can be fully entertainment and fully educational. Despite my use of ratios above, you really do have more than 100% to deal with in terms of education to entertainment. The way you deliver the content, the style, the language, the opportunities for audience participation, the cast you use; all can be designed for edutainment. Think outside the box.

3. Motivation is THE factor. Your approach to the edutainment ratio can be solely based on user motivations. If this is content that users are genuinely seeking without additional motivation, you have more flexibility to deliver your message directly and there is less need to entertain. However, if your audience is not seeking this information and may even be resistant to it, entertainment is not only needed, but required to have any impact.

In our case, we have the ability to use the wahi platform to design specific education to entertainment ratios depending on audience responses throughout the conversation. So, we can actually design a conversation to increase the entertainment factor for a given set of responses or be more direct about the information if responses indicate the audience is open to it. We can determine their acceptance or resistance to a topic and change the ratio. It’s all extremely exciting. So, as you are thinking through concepts and ideas, start with the motivation of the audience(s) and then set an edutainment ratio to shoot for. I think you’ll find it very helpful as a measurement to go by throughout the designing, building and implementing phase of any social marketing initiative.

Ever wonder what teens are up to these days in the State of Florida?  You might be surprised by what you learn.  Wahi Media has begun production for The Florida Department of Health Wahi on Healthy Teen Choices.  What began as a strictly abstinence wahi has now morphed into helping teens avoid several pitfalls such as stds, pregnancy, alcohol abuse, drug use, and more.  We’re trying to let teens know that there is more to life than sex, drugs and well, you get the picture.

One other exciting element of this wahi, is the new format in which the user interacts with the dialogue.  “I like to call it interactive drama,” says Dr. Glenn Hallam, Executive Producer and Screen Writer of the DOH wahi.  It allows wahi users to “get real” with the drama, by interacting with teens in everyday life situations.  Males for example, find themselves in the midst of a party, visiting and contemplating the good life with three friends;  while females are in a girl’s room, laughing and talking, and playing games like, “I’ve never, ever…”.  Citizens get to visit a local coffee shop and see real live teens and ask them questions; and parents, well they get to see and talk to real parents, some who may have made mistakes, but are committed to developing a positive relationship with their child.

This is a huge step forward in the wahi development.  We are excited about both the talent in the wahi and the progress and creativity that is put forth to make it happen.  The female and male branches are in post production right now and the parent and citizen branches are in the final casting stages.  We are predicting a late October release.  In the meantime, enjoy a behind the scenes look by browsing our on the set photos at Facebook | Wahi Media.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=109757&id=54629608386&l=92c7ad772a

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=110165&id=54629608386&l=6fda298a17

When visiting VirginiaGangStory.com you’ll be able to engage in an interactive discussion with people like you, who have stories to share and information to help you. You can speak with a former gang member who can tell you about his experiences or a parent who deals with this issue every day. Not only has the Governor joined the conversation, but you can also hear from other community leaders such as Secretary John Marshall of the Department of Public Safety, Virginia Delegate Paula Miller, Mentor and Professor Julius Hayes and Captain Tom Martin from Virginia’s Fusion Center. This wahi was created to be a one stop information resource for the citizen’s of Virginia and we thank Governor Kaine and Secretary Marshall for their innovation and desire to address this issue proactively in their State. Governor Kaine’s words on this issue are included below in full and we are honored to have worked with his office and the Department of Public Safety to create VirginiaGangStory.com.

The Tampa Police Department held a press conference on July 15th to announce the launch of their newest anti-gang initiative, TampaBayGangs.com. The project uses the wahi technology to created an interactive conversation about gang activity in the Tampa Bay area and is focused on education and outreach to prevent gang activity from the start. Chief Hogue of the Tampa PD spoke of the vision for this initiative. “TampaBayGangs.com aims to discourage young people from engaging in the lifestyle. The site doesn’t look like it comes from a government or police agency because that kind of look might turn off the people who need guidance about gangs. We want to get to those children before the gangs do,” he said.

Hillsborough County Sheriff, David Gee called this “the missing piece” in their fight against gangs. “There are not enough cops around to deal with it from an enforcement side.” he said. “The smart money is on reaching kids early to keep them out of gangs.” Mayor Pam Iorio was also at the launch and says that “many young people go to gangs because they feel that there’s something missing in their lives. They go down a path that’s very destructive once they join a gang.” She said, “In order to reach them you have to have effective marketing. Marketing that they can relate to.”

This is where the interactive approach and technology provided by Wahi Media comes in. With the support of local celebrities like NFL running back Warrick Dunn and an outpouring of community support, the TampaBayGangs.com wahi was created to empower parents, kids, educators and other citizens with the knowledge they need to resist and defeat gang activity in their area. Not only will they learn about gang acitivity, but the wahi technology provides each audience member the opportunity to say what they think about the issue and how it’s impacting them. This is extremely exciting! With the launch of TampaBayGangs.com, an entire community is coming together to open a discussion on gang activity and work together to find a solution. Wahi Media is proud to be a part of this initiative!

Diaster 7:55 - Wahi created for the Florida Department of Education

Wahi Media recently completed a production for the Florida Department of Education regarding Incident Command Structure training. This was a really exciting project because it provided new challenges and a new approach in which we’d be using a wahi for scenario based training. Unlike most wahis which are typically designed as linear conversations with targeted branching, the ICS wahi would be used in collaboration with a live facilitator.

Our challenge at Wahi Media was to design an effective, engaging and even entertaining wahi that would not only supplement a live facilitator’s curriculum in a large group setting, but also remain just as effective and engaging to individual trainees accessing it over the web for years to come. So, it had to be both collaborative and stand-alone in design. Also, we had to design the conversation to be relevant to both higher education institutions and K-12.

The kicker was that we only had a couple of weeks to produce the conversation as the training was set and the dates were locked. So, we had a one day cram session with our clients to learn about ICS and develop the concept of the conversation. In that session we had the Chief of Police from Florida State University, the Director of School Safety of Leon County Schools, several officers from the Palm Beach County Schools Police Department, Homeland Security officials from the Florida Department of Education, plenty of coffee and lots of food. It was a party and I must say one of the most productive meetings I’ve had a pleasure of attending.

We discussed anything from the basics of ICS, to the steps each role (Incident Commander, PIO, Logistics, Operations) would be responsible for in an emergency. We discussed and fleshed out different disaster scenarios that a district or university may be faced with and decided how they would unfold in the training. Once that meeting was over and we had those ideas, it was our turn at Wahi Media to turn it into an interactive conversation. Time to build a wahi! A few weeks later (skipping the gory details of our mad rush through production) we had a new, informative and engaging wahi for ICS training up and running. The live trainings held in early June were a huge success. The DOE and regional leads in Leon and Palm Beach Counties received great feedback on the interactivity and usefullness of the wahi and the collaboration between the facilitaors and wahi worked very well. We were able to learn a great deal from this experience and are now planning to enhance this wahi based on feedback and responses to increase its effectiveness in both live and online training situations. Overall, it was a very exciting project and the wahi continues to show its versatility.

NFL running back Warrick Dunn in the studio with Wahi Media

Warrick Dunn, NFL Running Back and citizen of Tampa, is our featured host of the Tampa Bay Wahi.

We are proud to be working with such an amazing and dedicated community figure. Raised by a single mom in New Orleans, Warrick has overcome many challenges in life and is now helping youth make their dreams a reality.
Come hear what he has to say at: www.exploretampabaygangs.com.

Or, check out his foundation at www.warrickdunnfoundation.org.

I think the original idea came from Clay … so thanks, Clay.

Obviously, we’re trying to keep the Wahi fresh and interesting for those of us who have worked on dozens of productions, but there are some legitimate reasons to bring in another speaker. The 3rd person can play devil’s advocate, anticipating resistance from the audience, and addressing their concerns before these concerns get in the way of the message. The 3rd person can create a sense of balance and realism in the message, so the viewer doesn’t feel like they are being just persuaded or sold.

We’ll see if the client likes it. We go before a script review panel next week, where two of us will each take a part and “act it out.” I’ll let you know how it goes.

Check out our new look, website, and latest demos at www.wahimedia.com

When we discuss our technology with people and describe to the them the possibilities of creating a true, two-way dialogue over the Internet they always start rattling off tons of opportunities and uses for this approach. And they’re right! The applications of this technology are endless. Training, recruiting, product knowledge, organizational communication (internally and external), leadership development, and on and on. We are working in those areas and they are exciting. The next question always intrigues me. “Why prevention?” My response, “because we can make a difference with this technology.”

Our technology provides a unique resource to engage people in conversations that may be difficult with any other medium. Talking about gangs, drugs, STD’s, bullying, alcohol abuse and the list goes on. With our approach and technology, we are able to engage many different audience segments (parents, youth, teachers) in one medium. We can target the message based on their responses to provide information valuable to them, specifically. We can also provide an opportunity for each audience member to provide feedback of their own. We know that we can make a difference in our communities and around the country. It’s as easy as starting up a conversation.