Want your input on a new project: BillTrakr

by Ben Martin, CAE on December 21, 2008 · 7 comments

If you have responsibility for communicating about government affairs, please take an early look at a new tool I’m developing called BillTrakr. Basically it’s a customizable dashboard for bills that an association is tracking. This version is displaying data for the Virginia General Assembly, but I can also make a dashboard for the U.S. Congress. Please leave a comment or drop me an email with your feedback. b at BenMartinCAE dot com.

{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }

Greg Melia, CAE December 21, 2008 at 6:29 pm

Cool tool Ben! One tweak I’d like to see is adding the bill name (or short description) to the bill number. Might make it easier for casual visitors to follow the issues, and spark interest in other bills for those who are tracking only one issue.

Reply

Cindy December 21, 2008 at 6:46 pm

My comment is same as Greg’s. Members don’t know the bill number and often the bill title isn’t even clear – so using few word summary like “sales tax on services”, “mandatory chimney inspections”, “transfer tax increase” or the like will make it much easier to follow. I like that you included the association position prominently and that the update date/time are so clear.

Reply

Maddie Grant December 21, 2008 at 6:59 pm

Looks suh-weet! Always one step ahead, you are. : )

Reply

Ben Martin, CAE December 21, 2008 at 8:27 pm

Thanks for the feedback, y’all. Yeah, I was thinking the bill name and/or a quick description would be helpful too.

Reply

Maggie December 22, 2008 at 9:20 am

This looks very cool–I passed it on to our Gov’t affairs department

Reply

Neil December 22, 2008 at 10:08 am

Seems like a nitch needing to be filled. Is this something that I could add to my Facebook page?

Thanks.

Reply

Jennifer Richards December 31, 2008 at 10:31 am

Hi! This looks like a really useful tool. Is it something that needs to be updated by the gov’t affairs department or does it automatically update itself? What would it take to put one together for the U.S. Congress?

Reply

Cancel reply

Reply to Neil: