Cook County just launched a new version of its website that was restructured to focus on helping residents quickly find the services they need. The old school way of designing government websites was to build an online copy of what existed in the physical world: a page for each office, agency and elected official. The new County website still has these pages, but its focus is on the services the County provides. With sections focused on residents, businesses and all sorts of subcategories, Cook County aims to simplify the process and connect residents as quickly and easily as possible.

A website is never done. Joel Inwood, Public Information Officer at the Cook County Bureau of Technology, will lead an interactive exploration of the website, and participants will generate suggestions for improvements the County could roll out with future updates. The session will also explore how Cook County can use its website to engage with its residents both online and off.

Demo Night is a monthly meet-up space for people interested in democracy and public engagement to share tools and insights, showcase projects and collaborate. Join the discussion every 3rd Thursday of the month!

Demo night is organized by The Greater Chicago Dialogue and Deliberation Community of Practice (CoP) Core Group. The CoP is a network of innovators dedicated to improving and transforming group decision making inorder to co-create wide collective action regarding public issues of interest.

*Registration is required for security check-in at the building. Please register at www.demonight.org.