The traditional comms channels used by governments are slow,offline and restrictive, so we leveraged social media mechanics and mapping technology to create the online platform #GetTheMayor. This Future Platform for Citizen Engagement lets citizens get involved in helping shape the future of their city. How? By giving everyone the chance to influence the Mayor of Heidelberg’s weekly schedule and have him visit a place of their choice in order to put the cities focus on the issues concerning Heidelberg they are most passionate about! Within 4 weeks nearly 10% of Heidelberg's citizens have visited the platform, generating thousands of votes, leading to real meetings between the Mayor and citizens – and most importantly – giving the mayor concrete actions to focus on. And with 50% of the users being between 18 and 34, #GetTheMayor helped activate a younger demographic that has never engaged with the traditional platforms cities usually offer.

On www.GetTheMayor.com (German: www.HolDenOberbuergermeister.de) across desktop, mobile and tablet people can nominate a location and associated issue within the City of Heidelberg they would like the Mayor to visit, or vote for a location suggested by a fellow citizen. People are encouraged to share their suggestion or vote via social media (Facebook, Twitter & Google+) using the platforms hashtags #GetTheMayor and #HolDenOberbuergermeister to increase the chances of ‘Getting the Mayor’. The locations that receive the most votes on a weekly basis, will be visited by the Mayor himself – to explore the different ways that the city can help.

Within 4 weeks of launch nearly 10% of Heidelberg's citizens visited the platform (12,500+ unique visitors), generating thousands of votes/social media posts connected to the platform's hashtags #GetTheMayor and #HolDenOberbuergermeister, leading to real meetings between the Mayor and citizens – giving the mayor concrete actions to focus on. And with 50% of the users being between 18 and 34, #GetTheMayor helped activate a younger demographic that has never engaged with the traditional platforms cities usually offer. Plus: Within only 6 weeks of launch already three major German cities reached out and showed interest in adapting the platform for their cities!