Connecting Bristol » Judges' Feedback on Connecting Bristol Bid

Judges' Feedback on Connecting Bristol Bid

March 21, 2007 Posted by Stephen Hilton in : Digital Challenge , trackback

Paul McGohan is a member of the DFES Transformational Government Team. He has been involved with the Digital Challenge at Government level since the start and sat on both judging panels. He was keen to provide our feedback, as he has been a “big fan of Connecting Bristol ever since our first presentation”.

These are Paul’s key feedback points (which I have checked with him):

Absolutely nothing wrong with the bid!

We scored above half way - near the top

Whilst both our presentations were good - Paul felt that our second presentation was more sober and ‘projecty’ than the first and that consequently, we lost some of the energy, creativity, passion and vision that had stood out so clearly when we made our first presentation

The judges were generally impressed by the extent of our community engagement; they liked our flexible working hub idea, sustainability/environmental focus and mentoring (Makala was seen as the role-model for all future mentors)

They liked the way the vision was presented but needed to understand more about how the projects linked together to form a strategy that would realise the vision

The judges felt that the Leader stood out as having genuine understanding of the issues and that the authority was really committed to making the bid happen

Paul urged us to keep going and not to give up

Paul is looking at ways to bring digital inclusion projects together more effectively within DFES. He is happy to stay in touch with Bristol as things develop.

I have also received some feedback from another judge, Jon Drori, who said, “On a personal note, one of the things I found most impressive about the Bristol bid was the enthusiasm and real sense of community on the day that I visited. That large group of people, drawn from so many local organisations was really something”

I am sure Jon won’t mind me sharing this.