MINUTES
SPECIAL MEETING
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 8:00 a.m.
2nd Floor Conference Room
Town Hall, 302 Main Street
Chairman, Robert Fish, called the special meeting to order at 8:00 a.m.
Members Present
Robert Fish
Bruce Sherwin
Jerry Brophy
Partner Group Members Present
Sara Keaney, Old Saybrook Land Trust
Heather McNeil, Youth and Family Services
Land Use Department Staff Present
Christine Nelson, Town Planner
Sandy Prisloe, Environmental Planner
Kathleen Noyes, Recording Clerk
B. Sherwin talked about Google analytics data and how he’s used it to assess usage of the Sustainable Saybrook web site. He said this tool could measure who is looking at the web site, for how long, and where people viewing the web site are from.
B. Sherwin said today’s information is measuring data from Jan. 7 to Feb. 6, 2012. On the average visit, the viewer looked at 8.85 pages of the web site, and people are spending an average of 10. 26 minutes on the site. These statistics show numbers of new visitors and returning visitors as well.
Also, important to assess is how people are accessing the web site, either through the home page or through a web search on a specific topic. Although some people are accessing the web site through the home page, 42% of visits are the result of web searches on Yahoo, Google or Bing.
Based on the analytics, R. Fish suggested that public safety be added as a Sustainable Saybrook web site priority. He said Police Chief Spera spoke to him about it the night of the Selectmen’s presentation.
C. Nelson said the police department has a lot of initiatives, particularly public outreach initiatives, which already fit into some of the existing priorities consistent with sustainability.
C. Nelson said the analytics information could help to determine which topics should be further developed and enhanced.
B. Sherwin said it’s very important to link the Sustainable Saybrook site to other relevant sites and to then have a link back. He also said if the group chose to, they could pay through auction for keywords to increase visibility of the web site. He said the web site has been registered with both Google and Bing.
B. Sherwin talked about the Sustainable Saybrook presentation to the Selectmen which was on January 24, 2012. He said the selectmen were supportive, however, they want to be careful that this not be used as a political tool where web site content might be considered controversial.
B. Coffey interviewed R. Fish for The Harbor News after the Selectmen’s meeting. He said he’s hoping the article will be out in this week’s issue.
S. Keaney suggested putting an article in the Saybrook Events magazine as well.
B. Sherwin suggested the group talk about what their goals should be going forward.
R. Fish asked about putting a survey on the web site to see what the public’s interest is. B. Sherwin said there is a survey on the web site now. There are not many results from the survey, so it doesn’t look like it’s being used.
S. Prisloe suggested putting a single question on the web site, which would change frequently, like a “quick vote” question such as “Do you compost?” “Do you use LED bulbs”? He said it would encourage people to come back to the site.
B. Sherwin said putting out a survey would help the group get feedback on the potential plan, and it would encourage people to come back to the web site for information on other sustainable topics in the future.
C. Nelson suggested that of the two CCOCSS’s monthly meetings, one be a regular business meeting. She also suggested the group get feedback from the partners to be sure their needs are being met.
J. Brophy suggested opening this up to the school system, by encouraging the kids to weigh in on various issues and to provide feedback. He said if we can reach the children, we could reach their parents and build web site visibility.
R. Fish asked the group to concentrate on putting together a list of action items for the next meeting which will be Tuesday, February 21, 2012 at 8:00 a.m., Town Hall, 2nd Floor Conference Room, and to consider what they’d like to do next.
B. Sherwin asked both the Old Saybrook Land Trust and the Conservation Commission to put a link on their web site to Sustainable Saybrook.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathleen Noyes
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