CHRISTMAS NEWSLETTER DECEMBER 2008
We hope you will agree that 2008 has been a busy and successful year and 2009 promises to be even more exciting. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for the fabulous work you have been doing to extend the value and reach of services on Looking Local over the past twelve months. We look forward to working closely with you again next year to make an even bigger difference to everyone who accesses the services you provide through Looking Local.
What a Difference a Year Makes
We have seen a number of new services launched this year. Choice Based Lettings (CBL) in particular has taken off, with many of you now extending the reach of CBL to include digital TV and mobile. Some of you are planning GP Appointment and Repeat Prescription Service launches and others are expected to follow innovative recent developments by individual authorities and their partners in areas such as payments, library services, housing repairs and many others.
What is more, many of you are involved with us in ground breaking new projects including Telecare & Telehealth via TV along with the PLINGS (Places to go, Things to do) pilot for younger audiences. Even if you are not involved in specific pilots in these areas we encourage you to let us know if you are interested in such work and we will be sure to harness that interest!
Huge Growth in usage
This time last year we celebrated a half a million hits on Looking Local each month. That has now more than doubled to well in excess of 1 million. This increase has been sustained, with the number of sites regularly reaching more than 2,000 hits a week jumping from about a dozen to nearly thirty. That's thanks to lots of new services and lots of effort promoting them. Such an increase in take-up was quoted as the reason for Looking Local's inclusion in the 2008 National eGov Awards, and we know that our activity has also been a contributor to Award Nominations for several individual local authorities during the year.
Be Part of the Buzz - the Looking Local Conference 2009
Looking Local is holding its annual conference on February 12th in Birmingham, and everyone who attends that will be part of the buzz around groundbreaking platform innovations we aim to talk about at the event. Our development team's design and technical expertise has been put to good use recently to achieve maximum appeal and usability for our platform solutions long term, and we are sure you will want to be there to see the results revealed.
On top of that we have lined up some influential and expert speakers for the conference to share inspiration, advice and experience on a number of topics you have expressed an interest in hearing about.
This conference is free, and if you haven't already signed up make sure you register your interest by contacting Caris on caris.stoller@digitv.gov.uk
Content for Christmas
Do remember that this season is the perfect time to add useful content to your site. During the festive holiday period we usually see an increase in traffic to Looking Local. Some examples of what this content could include are - Christmas Events, Carol Services, Council Office Opening Hours and a very popular piece of information from last year was - What do I do with my Christmas tree now?
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All that remains is to wish you a very happy and peaceful Christmas. We look forward to seeing you all in what looks to be a very interesting and exciting 2009.
