Franklin, TN: Right-Sized Agenda Management with CivicPlus® Agenda and Meeting Management Software

Located in Middle Tennessee, 20 miles Southwest of Nashville, lies the City of Franklin, a rapidly growing historic community. It boasts equal parts Civil War significance and industrial innovation and is home to residents who appreciate living in the type of city that offers modern-day opportunities with historic charm.

For Angie Johnson, PHR, City of Franklin Deputy Assistant City Recorder, keeping the City of Franklin’s residents informed and engaged requires access to scalable solutions to expedite the creation and distribution of information. Unsatisfied with the City’s previous agenda and meeting management software, Johnson and the City’s stakeholders made the switch to the CivicPlus Agenda and Meeting Management Select solution and are looking ahead to more collaborative and accessible document management and information sharing.

Before CivicPlus

Before transitioning to CivicPlus, The City of Franklin, Tennessee, used another agenda software tool.

“We struggled with technical problems that they never fixed,” said Johnson. “We also struggled with poor customer service. Eventually, we outgrew the software. It wasn’t moving, growing, or changing the way we needed, and it didn’t do what it had promised.”

To begin the transition to an agenda and meeting management software that better fit the City’s needs, Johnson researched seven different products, comparing the functionality of each. One such solution provider was a familiar partner for Johnson.

“At a smaller municipality where I previously worked, we had a [CivicPlus] website, so, I had experience working with its built-in Agenda feature. That functionality works for my previous municipality but is simpler than what we need here in Franklin. We require a robust, more complex tool, and it turned out that what [the CivicPlus Agenda and Meeting Management solution] offered aligned with our needs in an agenda management system. [CivicPlus’ solution] is big enough and robust enough to do the things we need it to do and do much of it automatically. It’s also intuitive, which leads to a better experience for all of our staff city-wide.”

A significant component of the software review and selection process that sold Johnson and her fellow stakeholders on their eventual adoption of CivicPlus’ Agenda and Meeting Management software was an on-site visit they made to CivicPlus’ headquarters in Manhattan, Kansas.

“We wanted to experience CivicPlus’ culture and see what the company is like,” said Johnson. “Service is an important aspect for us. The culture of CivicPlus and its sense of community really impressed us. It’s important that we are able to trust that when we needed something, we can find a real person to help and that its people have a passion for what we do in municipal government. It is clear that CivicPlus cares about helping the City of Franklin meet our goal of excellence.”

Implementing the CivicPlus Agenda and Meeting Management Solution

Today, Johnson is looking ahead to working with a genuine strategic partner and launching a robust solution configured to meet the City of Franklin’s needs.

“We’re at the tail end of setting the solution up,” said Johnson. “It’s been a great process; very smooth. It’s been easy to communicate what we’re asking for with our implementation team. We explain what we’re trying to accomplish, and they help show us how to use the software to accomplish our goals. It’s been wonderful how flexible the product is and how we can tailor it to fit our current processes. With [CivicPlus], we don’t have to change everything we do. We can keep the core of our workflows the same for the most part.”

Looking Ahead to a Better Partnership with CivicPlus

As Johnson and the City of Franklin complete their CivicPlus Agenda and Meeting Management solution training and begin to use their new system, they are optimistic and appreciative of the ease of use they will enjoy.

“The things that frustrated us about our previous software are not going to exist anymore,” said Johnson. “We are no longer going to waste time dealing with the things that drove us crazy but will be able to focus on our real job of serving our community.”