1) Richard Ferrick from Panama City, Florida discussed how the city moved to using Google Apps after a server crash left their website unavailable. The transition to Google Sites took a few weeks to rebuild the design. 2) Most employees responded positively to the change, though some veteran employees took more training to transition from Lotus Notes. Google Apps provided increased security, mobility, and collaboration compared to their old systems. 3) Panama City is using Google Docs, Video, and Sites extensively both internally and externally. This has improved processes like remote interviews and increased citizen engagement. The cloud-based system has provided big cost savings versus their old on-premise systems.

1. GovLoop Chat Presented by Google 12/02/2010
Google Chat with Richard Ferrick, Network Administrator and Web Development,
City of Panama City
Megan Price: Hey Everyone! Thanks for joining us today as we chat with Google and Panama City.
Before we dive into the chat I just want to walk through how this works. Dan and Richard will give a few
words of wisdom and then we will open for questions. To ask a question just find my photo on the right
and private chat me your question. I'll put them up in the main window when we are ready for another
question
Megan Price: I'm really excited to begin this chat. I'd like to introduce Dan from Google, they have been
doing amazing things.
Dan Israel: Thanks a lot, Megan!
Megan Price: We here at GovLoop love using their apps. Dan I'll let you take it from here...
Dan Israel: Ok. Thanks to GovLoop for hosting this chat. (and for being Awesome)
Dan Israel: It's great to be back here & I really like this live chat feature. I want to give a quick
introduction for our man of the hour. Richard Ferrick is in charge of network administration and web
development in Panama City, Florida. Panama City is an early adopter of Google Apps for city government
and one of the first governments to start using Google Apps for Government. Richard has been doing a lot
of innovative things to make city government more transparent so we've brought him to GovLoop to
share some of his experiences & answer your questions. Without any further ado, take it away Richard!
Richard Ferrick: Hello All... and a quick thanks to Govloop and Google for inviting me to share my
experiences with Google Apps for Government here at the City of Panama City.
Megan Price: We are happy to have you!
Dan Rowinski: Richard, can you describe in detail the server crash you had on your government website
last spring?
Richard Ferrick: Total hardware failure...The last backup we had left us in a serious situation... It was at
that point we decided to look for an alternative. Hearing a lot about cloud computing we took a close look
at Google Apps. It addressed several areas that we were looking to improve upon. In no time we were
able to deploy the service and recreate our web site.
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2. GovLoop Chat Presented by Google 12/02/2010
Megan Price: Great seg-way into our next question: how long did it take to move your website to Google
Sites?
Richard Ferrick: That's a good question... We got most of the data transferred within a few days. The
hardest part for me was the design layout. That took a couple of weeks to reach a "happy point". Since
then... updates are quick and no hassle.
Megan Price: That’s great...ready for the next ?
Richard Ferrick: sure
Megan Price: How did Panama City employees respond to the change to Google apps? What kind of
feedback did you get?
Richard Ferrick: The "veteran" employees, about 10% had concerns. I took my time with their
transition. Others wanted the service ASAP. Most had Gmail accounts so they knew the service. They also
helped with training / answering questions from users within their department.
Dan Israel: What kind of training did you offer those veteran employees?
Richard Ferrick: I held training classes on the "core applications", email, contacts and chat. We took
Google Docs at a slow pace. These are Lotus Notes users with some it was the ONLY email they ever used.
Megan Price: That’s a tough growing pain...what other applications are you using besides Gmail?
Richard Ferrick: More and More we have moved to use of Google Docs. The "Powers" here at the city
decided they were not going to update Microsoft Office with every update that came out… Most users are
on Office 97...(that’s not a typo). The change appears to be working well for most all users.
Megan Price: 97 short time ago.
Richard Ferrick: Go figure... but that is the rule here.
Megan Price: Before moving to Apps, what systems were you using and what were the specific
malfunctions?
Richard Ferrick: We were using Domino R5
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3. GovLoop Chat Presented by Google 12/02/2010
Dan Rowinski: Especially in the Spring crash, if I may interject.
Richard Ferrick: Domino R5 was the mail server and a separate web server running Server 2003. Drive
failure along with some software / configuration issues.
Megan Price: Have you had any tangible security threats since moving to Google Docs/Apps?
Richard Ferrick: None what so ever. Google recent FISMA certification is a good reassurance. Our view is
this... They employ some of the industries experts in Web and App security... 100 of which are dedicated
to Google Apps. That is a comfort to us knowing we have a team as opposed to 3 IT members and a PIX
firewall.
Megan Price: Very much so. Ready for the next ?
Richard Ferrick: sure
Megan Price: Are any of the Google docs used externally for city wide citizen use or just internally
amongst employees?
Richard Ferrick: Good question, we use them to post to our web site and share outside the domain.
Richard Ferrick: HR has an embedded spreadsheet on our employment site that lists vacant positions.
It's linked to a Google Doc that outlines the job description.
Megan Price: Have you had an increase in citizen engagement because of this move?
Richard Ferrick: Yes... to some extent. They get the information a lot quicker due to employees posting
straight to the web...
Megan Price: That’s really cool! What’s your favorite app?
Richard Ferrick: Google Video
Megan Price: Can you tell us how Panama City is using Google Video?
Richard Ferrick: We are using it to interview applicants for our City Planner position. Yesterday we
interviewed an applicant in Chicago...
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4. GovLoop Chat Presented by Google 12/02/2010
Dan Israel: That's a nice cost savings instead of flying them there, I guess?
Richard Ferrick: This morning we used it for a Gainsville applicant. Yes Dan. In fact, The City Manager
was blown away by the clarity AND FUTURE COST SAVINGS. It went over well. I’m doing a PSA
announcement that will be out later today…
Megan Price: I saw that you have a YouTube channel; why and how did you get this going?
Richard Ferrick: Yes. We are a "Trusted Google Tester". I asked if we could use the YouTube service to
host all city meetings as an archive. That allows Citizens to watch at their leisure. Big Hit here. We have
yet to brand the channel but it's on my list
Megan Price: That’s really neat. You'll have to let us know when you do!
Megan Price: You brought up the future cost savings, can you expand on that? What are the savings
estimates and what applications are helping the most?
Richard Ferrick: We looked at the totality of what we could get from the cloud. No hardware costs, no
maint. costs, very little administration on across the board. That leaves us time for other job
requirements tossed in our laps. Such as live streaming and now more time for training... Collaboration is
working well. Mobility is probably the best feature.
Martha Garvey: How do you think cloud computing will change your training, BTW?
Megan Price: So basically, Google Apps are efficient enough to create time to focus on other
tasks/duties?
Richard Ferrick: Very much so... I have opened a public training site for users here at the city.
Richard Ferrick: More on mobility. Before Apps users had to access via VPN and Remote desktop. Not a
good approach and we had to configure most personal devices.
Megan Price: Are employees accessing information from home or on their mobile devices?
Richard Ferrick: Now... they have true mobility... they like the ease in access, most users now access with
their personal devices such as smart phones. The city issued SOME users phones... but most everyone
uses their personal device. A saving to the city as they don't have to supply phone... for the most part
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5. GovLoop Chat Presented by Google 12/02/2010
Megan Price: I know you have an Android phone; what apps make your day to day better? and how?
Richard Ferrick: Android's voice to text blows my mind... I can open a Google doc on the device and talk,
translation is spot-on. People love this feature.
Megan Price: It is a great feature!
Richard Ferrick: We also broadcast video from the field to an intranet site created with Google Sites.
Megan Price: Alright - you get a mini break - next one is for Dan: are there any Apps in development that
focus on more local engagement opps now that they see what's happening in local gov?
Dan Israel: There are a number of things Google is doing. One that Panama City is using is Google
spreadsheet forms - for getting citizen input via surveys. You can create a form really easily & then post it
on your website. and it automatically creates charts/graphs with your results.
Stephen Peteritas: We could use that on GL!
Dan Israel: Would love it if you found a use on GL .
Megan Price: already brainstorming about it 
Dan Israel: another product that several agencies are using to engage citizens is Google Moderator. That
allows people to submit questions and other people to vote up or down - is this a good question or not the
best ones rise to the top. This has been used to choose questions for town hall type interviews with
President Obama, Canadian PM Harper, and others.
Megan Price: That’s very cool.
Dan Israel: Actually, on a fun note, Bon Jovi recently used moderator to let fans choose the playlist for a
concert. Lots you can do with that one to solicit public opinion
Megan Price: that would be fun - interact with seemingly unreachable people
Dan Israel: there are many other Google Apps that can help open up government
Megan Price: Richard - have you used Moderator for anything or have any plans to do so?
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6. GovLoop Chat Presented by Google 12/02/2010
Richard Ferrick: Yes... we use it internally for what to train on next :-)
Richard Ferrick: We are looking into an employee comment type use. There are a lot of "favorites" we
enjoy with the service. Another is our Employee Start Page which is iGoogle. It has recently been
customized to our user environment. I also communicate training using the YouTube service. Here's a
recent email sent "All City" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmNhS5op1mc. of course to watch at
your leisure...
Richard Ferrick: We have HR video and track users viewing by a Google Form they complete once
finished... It collects their user ID.
Stephen Peteritas: Archives the training too which is nice.
Megan Price: you mentioned iGoogle - can you expand upon what that is?
Richard Ferrick: It's a start page that all users have configured. They use it as a "Starting Point" into
Google apps. It loads as a default with the Chrome browser. Yes... we all use Chrome here. No Mail clients.
All 250 users. Employees have access to all the apps within the iGoogle page. Very convenient.
Megan Price: sounds like it
Dan Israel: really like that training video. Great idea to deliver directly to users in a way they can
consume at their leisure.
Richard Ferrick: The employees like the approach...
Megan Price: Have other cities approached you for advice training?
Richard Ferrick: Advise... Yes. They were curious as to how I did the layout for our web design. I had 3 or
4 cities and counties call. It was all done with tips from the Google help site.
Megan Price: That’s great! Must be nice being an early adopter! You mentioned collaboration amongst
employees as a great result of moving to Apps - can you expand on that?
Richard Ferrick: There are a lot of creative end users out their... It was doable. Google chat is great for
quick answers from staff online. They use that a lot.
Megan Price: Do you utilize the group chat feature a lot?
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7. GovLoop Chat Presented by Google 12/02/2010
Richard Ferrick: We are embracing Google's video chat now. I think that's going to be a big asset to our
city.
Megan Price: What are your plans for the city and the use of Google Apps?
Richard Ferrick: We are looking hard at video conferencing. I think we can save a lot of money with its
use.
Megan Price: Thank you very much for joining us today. I'm excited to see all the great things coming
out of Panama City.
Stephen Peteritas: Thanks!
Richard Ferrick: We are excited...
Megan Price: For all of those on the chat, the script and summary will be found in the Google for Gov
group
Richard Ferrick: thanks for having me... please contact me if any of you have questions
Megan Price: as well as further communication with Dan and Richard -- both of which are active on
GovLoop.
Dan Israel: Richard, thanks a lot for sharing your story with other GovLoopers.
Richard Ferrick: My pleasure...
Dan Israel: we expect more great things in 2011!
Megan Price: and to all the GovLoopers - thanks for chatting with us; if you have more questions jump in
the Google for Gov group and ask away -- have a great day everyone!
Richard Ferrick: Thanks bya
Dan Israel: Thanks Megan! Thanks everyone else for joining.
Megan Price: Thank you Dan!!
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