Philadelphia Parking Authority launches social media campaign to bolster responsiveness, transparency and customer relations

Following quiet structural changes at the Philadelphia Parking Authority, the oft-criticized state-run agency announced today a transparency-driven social media campaign.

After news this month of staff sensitivity training and staff restructuring around customer service, the PPA will launch outreach efforts through Facebook, Twitter, QR codes and other tools.

Find the PPA on Twitter @PhilaParking and on Facebook here.

Tossing out an estimated 1.7 million tickets a year and forking over $99.6 million to the city and school district, according to a press release, hasn’t always earned the love of residents and visitors alike. The agency is famously the subject of the A&E reality show ‘Parking Wars,’ suggesting a divide between parkers and enforcers.

“While solving problems and addressing customer issues will be a major thrust, we will also use Facebook and Twitter to keep the public informed about parking emergencies during inclement weather – special holiday parking
discounts – parking at the airport during holiday rushes, as well as residential parking issues in our neighborhoods,” PPA Executive Director Vince Fenerty said in a press release. “Facebook and Twitter will help us better educate the public about parking regulations in the city, as well as our signage.”

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Michael Nutter answers resident questions on NBC 10 Ask the Mayor program [VIDEO]

In a unique town hall of sorts befitting of the times, Mayor Nutter answered resident questions by way of email, Twitter and Facebook put to him on NBC 10 this week, as we reported, during its Ask the Mayor program.

NBC 10 has since posted video of the entire hour-long event. Watch the first of five segments below and the rest of the segments here:

How to use Twitter to land your dream job

When he applied to be Krispy Kreme Philadelphia‘s next sales and marketing manager, Braden Young knew he had to stand out.

“I applied for so many jobs that I thought I was perfect for,” says Young who lives in Abington. “But I still wouldn’t hear a thing.”

Instead of sending a standard black-and-white resume and crossing his fingers like he did with his other applications, Young got to work. He created the @HireMeKrspyKrme Twitter account where he drummed up support from his Twitter community to help his cause of landing his dream job with the donut maker while making a cover letter to match.

After only a few days, Young said that complete strangers, many in Philadelphia’s technology community, were pestering Krispy Kreme on his behalf, demanding that he be hired. A WMGK DJ even forwarded the account to the KrispyKreme CEO.

After only a few weeks, the hard work paid off, and Young eventually was invited for an interview.

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The profane Twitter abbreviation that is a Philly staple and other Links

• Regional quirks: Datz phila on Twitter [Inquirer] — A Carnegie Mellon report shows ‘accents’ developing on Twitter, including Philly’s contribution: ctfa.
• David Bowen’s Data Sweep: Tech Meets Art @ Esther Klein [Geekadelphia]
• Ex-Philadelphia mag editor named Philly Daily News editor [Poynter]
• Phila. attractions promoted in N.Y., Washington [Philadelphia Business Journal]
• Check out that new Visit Philly campaign TV spot and check out their contest so you can finally get your handiwork onto a billboard.

Mayor Nutter opens a Twitter account

We can’t take credit for it, but Mayor Nutter is now tweeting.

When we interviewed him in July, we asked Nutter if he had ever considered the opportunity to connect with citizens on the microblogging site.

“It’s certainly something I’m taking a look at,” he told us.

No joke.

Yesterday, we heard from new social media communications rep Desiree Peterkin-Bell that the Mayor’s been hard at it. You can follow him @Michael_Nutter.

“He’s focused on engaging with residents as well as highlighting initiatives, programs and accomplishments of the Administration,” Peterkin-Bell said in an e-mail this morning.

Since launching October 15, the Mayor has about 330 followers. He’s been actively engaging users, using hashtags and sticking to proper twetiquette.

But, is it really him? Peterkin-Bell, officially the Mayor’s Director of Communications and Strategic Partnerships, says yes — except for photos and links. Admittedly, we never expected the man to make so many exclamations in his 140-character correspondence. He’s kind of a laid back dude, don’t you think?

Whatever the case, it sure beats the old days.

Startup Roundup: Local angle to Twitter’s Fail Whale; NuPathe sets IPO terms

Introducing Technically Philly’s Startup Roundup. Here, we’ll parse out the small pieces that make our greater Startup ecosystem thrive. We want to keep you in touch with the innovations that we can’t quite get to covering, but that deserve highlight. Follow along with the Startup Roundup’s dedicated RSS feed. If you’ve got news to share, get in touch.

DEFINITE READS

LTL Prints has been racking up partners weekly, according to the deluge of press releases we get, but that’s why not why we’re playing this one. The Old City-based wall graphics company has an interview with Twitter’s Fail Whale creator — and LTL featured artist — Yiying Lu. It’s not about failure at all:”I wanted to create a visual greeting – a visual ‘comfort’ for my friends back home for all the events that I was missing,” Lu says. Check it out if not for the story, for the original sketches.

Conshocken-based biotech firm NuPathe — read our Q&A with the company, which is developing a migraine treatment patch, here — has set the terms for the debut of its initial public offering, at between $14 and $16 per share, hoping to raise $75 million with the offering.

We’re way psyched to see this one come through the pipeline: ZVRS, a company which is taking advantage of iPhone 4′s Facetime to provide translation services for the hearing impaired launched launched at Hard Rock in Center City. Remember that, ahem, social entrepreneurship thing here in Philly we’ve been writing and talking with folks about? Yeah, cough. It’s happening.

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10 Twitter users every Philadelphian should follow

Some people count how many friends they have, and some people count the value of their friendships. On social media — and the web generally — we have the same kind of experience.

We can count just about everything online, and so it should surprise no one that as social media has boomed, so too have the comparisons between Facebook friend counts and Twitter followers.

But there’s so often a nuance that raw numbers can’t show.

It’s easy enough to track who are the most followed Twitter users in Philadelphia, but everyone is trying to figure out how those figures measure in influence — or ‘resonance.’ Suppose we want to see who are the biggest Philadelphia voices in the Twitter conversation — not spam accounts with big follower numbers, but those people who you should be following, whose opinions matter and are being heard.

Simply, what Philadelphia Twitter users matter most?

Find the rest on the Philly Post of Philadelphia magazine.

Drexel digital media seniors project tweets on seven story-tall display

It was only a matter of time until Philadelphia’s graffiti scene was given a digital upgrade.

At least, that was the thinking behind Drexel University’s Social Graffiti project, which projected digital animations and interactive messages on the side of the university’s Nesbitt Hall early this month.

Team leader Matthew Morton, who just graduated last week with a bachelor’s in digital media from Drexel, worked with five other members of the media school to develop the project. Inspired by Comcast Center’s video wall, the team used 3D animation and videography techniques to creatively—and temporarily—alter the building’s facade.

Optical illusions, like one scene where it appears as if the walls of the building are being pulled back, revealing its inside, were used throughout the projections.

Most notably, folks could “paint” the building with custom messages, the heart of the graffiti project. Anyone could tweet text to the project’s twitter account, which would be displayed on the side of the building at 33rd and Market.

“The Twitter messages were the next step in finding out how the piece could be interactive,” Morton says. In order to display the tweets, the production team used Twitter’s API to automatically broadcast 140-character messages directed at the Social Graffiti account.

Launched on first of June, the team was only able to run the event for a week. After all, the projector, a Christie Roadster HD 18,000 lumen monstrosity, cost about $11,000 per week to rent.

The project needed an extremely capable rig, since the projector shot from across the street in the Pearlstein building, 180 feet away. In order to fit the tall, thin facade of Nesbitt, the team turned the projector on its side to cover a greater portion of the wall.

Funding for the project was raised within the university and the team also tapped local tech companies to fill gaps. On three displays installed for the occasion above the entrance of the building, sponsors were given credit for their donations, Morton says.

It wasn’t a hard sell to university administrators. The team has even been trying to find funding to permanently install a similar projection system on campus.

It could be a valuable addition, Morton says. The project is a unique way of combining digital arts with the natural urban environment. “You engage an unsuspecting audience that way. No one coming down Market Street would have heard about it unless they came across it,” Morton says.

Much like graffiti of yesteryear.

Watch a video about Social Graffiti below…

Event Highlights: June 7-13, 2010

It’s cool people. Don’t fret. We’re bringing the Flyers back home for the next one. Chill, dog.

And hell if it isn’t a good time to be in town. Philly Beer week is already raging (if the PBC truck at Liberty Lands park on Saturday was any indication), and there’s some great technology events around town, too. Grab a beer. Head on over to one of the community happenings. And do a night cap from your favorite local brewery.

This week, Twitter’s in town, there’s fun to be had at Agile Philly’s hack night and there’s an evening dedicated to process improvement. We’d make fun of that, but geez, we love productivity as much as the next guy.

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How would Twitter have changed the Constitutional Convention?

If Twitter was around in 1787, maybe we’d have a little more insight into the secret proceedings of the Constitutional Convention where our forefathers signed that all-important ancient document.

But at least we can pretend and be enlightened with a little history while we’re at it.

In anticipation of the 223rd anniversary of the signing of the Constitution, Independence Mall’s National Constitution Center is tweeting daily fictional observations as a secret delegate of the convention. [Full Disclosure: Technically Philly's staff is in discussions on collaboration with the National Constitution Center].

The identify of the secret delegate—whose thus far has noted that in 1787 Philadelphia was still as diverse place as it is now and that no, Rhode Island was not present for the convention—will be announced on Constitution Day, September 17. Folks can email their guesses to organizers.

Some of the tweets were sent by an iPhone, which adds another dimension to the imaginative tweets:

Would Ben Franklin have been a Droid or an iPhone guy?