We had a chance to work with The Minnesota Municipal Clerks Institute (MMCI) for the 2021 continuing education program. The NineNorth team produced a mock city council meeting for the class of 39 students, representing cities across Minnesota. We want to tell you about the experience!
But first, a little more info about the awesome MMCI program!
This three year program has five days with 40 hours of curriculum. The accredited program awards the students points towards the Minnesota Certified Municipal Clerk designation. The students attended classes about open meeting laws, how to build relationships with stakeholders, accounting fundamentals, and participated in a mock city council meeting, where they created agendas, packets, and role played as the Mayor, City Council Members, as well as key participants in the meeting.
How did NineNorth assist the MMCI students?
NineNorth specializes in producing public government meetings, utilizing our Cassandar platform. MMCI reached out to us to see if we could show off our chops a bit and technically produce this City Council meeting. We were delighted! What did that look like?
1. Graphics
We had custom graphics made to tag each participant and their titles. This makes identifying the participants easier.
2. Streaming
Through our platform, we are able to stream, record, and store the meeting video anywhere the client wants. For this case, we kept it internal for teaching purposes only.
3. Guidance
We provided guidance on when to start and stop during the meeting to get the best video experience.
4. Directing
While the participants practiced, we switched cameras, adjusted audio, and integrated graphics to make the experience fun to watch.
We checked in with the students after their mock city council meeting. What were some of their key takeaways from the experience?
1. Propel the Meeting
Many of the Clerks agreed that having a Clerk that moved the meeting forward by prompting the participants, helped keep the meeting on track. Striking a delicate balance between moving the meeting along, and maintaining meeting etiquette was a skill they practiced.
2. Being Mayor is Hard
The Mayor keeps the pace of the meeting, and executes the agenda. Having a strong mayor can make the Clerk’s job easier. However, a new Mayor may need to lean on the Clerk for guidance throughout the meeting.
3. Zoom and Moderating
With meetings being conducted in a zoom environment, Clerks balance running the software with running the meeting. Gaining assistance in the zoom controls would help many Clerks.
Overall, NineNorth was ecstatic working with MMCI and meeting so many City Clerks. If you’d like more information about Cassandar, which we utilized in this program, check it out here.
