From the Office of Utah Congressman Jim Matheson

MATHESON NEWS
Second Congressional District

For Further Information
Alyson Heyrend: (801) 455-5593 (cell)
www.house.gov/matheson

February 26, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Matheson Web Site Wins Bronze Mouse Award

615 House and Senate Web sites Examined in 2006 Gold Mouse Report

Washington DC-Congressman Jim Matheson's web site is being honored by the Congressional Management Foundation, a non-profit, non-partisan management consulting and research organization in Washington D.C. for being one of the best in Congress.  The site, www.house.gov/matheson was one of 615 evaluated in The 2006 Gold Mouse Report:  Recognizing the Best Web Sites on Capitol Hill, which analyzed all House, Senate, Congressional Committee and official leadership web sites.  In 2006, 85 Web sites were recognized, with 18 winning Gold, 27 winning Silver and 40 winning Bronze Mouse awards.

"Serving my constituents is the top priority of my Congressional office-both real and virtual. The CMF Gold Mouse report is an important barometer of how my Web site is performing, with respect to constituent service. It recognizes our efforts and improvements, and also gives us a goal to aim for," said Matheson.

"Rep. Matheson's Web site shows that he has identified the needs of his various constituencies and has developed easily accessible content that meet their needs online," said Beverly Bell, executive director of the Congressional Management Foundation. "Rep. Matheson is to be congratulated for being among the best of the best Web sites on Capitol Hill and the Foundation is pleased to present him with the 2006 Bronze Mouse Award."

Web sites were graded on how well they incorporate five basic building blocks that extensive research has identified as critical for effectiveness:  audience, content, usability, interactivity, and innovation.  Using these building blocks, an evaluation framework was developed by CMF and their research partners at Harvard, Ohio State, and the University of California-Riverside that would be fair and objective, while still taking into account important qualitative factors that affect a visitor's experience on a Web site.

"Bronze is nice, but Gold is definitely what I will be striving for in 2007," said Matheson.

A full copy of the report, the 2006 Gold Mouse Report:  Recognizing the Best Web Sites on Capitol Hill, is available on the Congressional Management Foundation's Web site at www.cmfweb.org

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Alyson Heyrend
Communications Director
240 East Morris Ave. #235
South Salt Lake, UT 84115
(801) 486-1236 (phone)
(801) 455-5593 (cell)
(801) 486-1417 (fax)