Philadelphia Parking Authority Goes Warm And Fuzzy With Social Media
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Philadelphia Parking Authority today unveiled the latest weapon in its charm offensive: it's turning to social media to change its image.
Think about how you feel when you come back to your car to find a ticket on the windshield. Now multiply that by 1.7 million -- that's the number of tickets the Parking Authority writes each year.
Sue Cornell, director of customer service for the PPA, sees the problem.
"Naturally, this has the potential to create some animosity," she says.
Customer service director is a position newly created to begin to battle back against the Parking Authority's image problems. And the newest effort is a Facebook page that will be so customer friendly, she says, that it may change your perceptions:
"This page is saying, 'This is us, this is the Parking Authority, this is who we are, this is what we do, this is how we do it, this is why we do it, and really the bottom line is, we want to hear from you. We want you to tell us what do you like, what can we do better?' "
Although, like many efforts by newcomers to an online community, there was a glitch. On the first day, the PPA's Facebook page could not be viewed without a login. That was quickly corrected once it was called to the PPA's attention.
Meanwhile, Cornell predicts that visitors to the page will be surprised at what a positive impact the PPA has on the community.
Reported by Pat Loeb, KYW Newsradio 1060
