As part of our work to increase acceleration of application developments that enhance the provision of more effective public services, we provide resources for civic organizations that want to use SMS based tools to engage the public. We will also build a lot of our own technology around texting functions as well.
A Textizen Survey sign on the CTA encouraging riders to submit feedback on the Chicago Public Schools facilities plan.
Textizen
Textizen is an SMS based survey tool that civic organizations can use to get resident feedback. Organizations can create a survey campaign and then place the survey options on posters, postcards, or on screens during live events. Organizations can then receive real time feedback as people text in their answers.
Smart Chicago Collaborative is a local service provider for Textizen. Smart Chicago will work with you to design a campaign, signage advertising your survey, and help manage the campaign. There is no cost to organization for this service, but organizations will be responsible for their own printing.
We have already used Textizen to get resident feedback on the Department of Cultural Affairs new public art plan. Through this partnership, we have also assisted the Metropolitan Planning Council in getting public input from Logan Square residents on an upcoming project.
If you’re interested, please fill out our form here and we’ll be in touch with you shortly.
Twilio Outreach Tool
Smart Chicago uses a combination of lightweight web tools like Wufoo, Twilio, and Mailchimp in order to facilitate communication to residents. We use these tools to help organizations like LISC-Chicago send text message reminders to residents needing to sign up for the Affordable Care Act.
If you’ve never heard of Twilio, here’s a short demo below:
If your organization would like to send out SMS messages as part of your engagement strategy, we’d like to help. Fill out this form and we’ll contact you with more details about the program.
Media
Contact for press inquires.
