The City of American Canyon recently collaborated with Tripepi Smith to manage a major website upgrade, transitioning from Granicus’ Vision platform to the more modern OpenCities platform. This comprehensive redesign project, which culminated in a successful launch on July 2, 2024, focused on enhancing website usability, visual appeal and backend efficiency to better serve the community.
Tripepi Smith played a critical role in project managing the platform migration, leading efforts in design direction, content management and overall strategy for the new site. Senior Business Analysts Kaitlyn Wu and Kalee Cummings, Business Analyst Kayla Cao and Junior Business Analyst Avi Vemuri, worked closely with American Canyon’s Communications Manager, Jen Kansanback, to ensure a seamless transition.
“The switch to the OpenCities platform, supported by Tripepi Smith, has transformed our website into a much more user-friendly and efficient tool for our community,” said Jen. “Their expertise in project management, design and content strategy was instrumental in making this complex transition a success.”
The newly redesigned website features improved accessibility, streamlined navigation and a refreshed design that aligns with the City’s branding. Tripepi Smith’s graphic designers created custom graphics for the site and expanded the City’s color palette within its existing brand guidelines, resulting in a visually engaging experience that resonates with the community. Beyond just a visual upgrade, the transition significantly enhanced the website’s backend capabilities, empowering City staff to manage content more efficiently.
Since partnering with American Canyon in 2019, Tripepi Smith has played an ongoing role in managing American Canyon’s digital presence. Following the platform migration, the Tripepi Smith team continues to support American Canyon with comprehensive website content management, including creating new pages, updating information based on community and staff requests, reviewing staff-drafted content and optimizing search functions to ensure residents can quickly access the resources they need. Additionally, the team analyzes search report data to refine keywords and improve site navigation, further enhancing the user experience.
A significant aspect of the website redesign was the integration of a community feedback feature, which encourages residents to share their experiences with the new site. This feedback allows Tripepi Smith and the City to make continuous adjustments to ensure the website evolves in response to community needs.
Beyond website management, Tripepi Smith has been a trusted communications partner for American Canyon, delivering a wide array of services that extend the City’s digital outreach. From managing social media channels and creating engaging graphic designs to developing strategic communications, Tripepi Smith helps American Canyon maintain a cohesive and impactful digital presence. This holistic support ensures that the City can effectively engage with residents and share important updates across multiple platforms.
“It’s exciting to see how enhancements to American Canyon’s website and overall communication efforts are fostering stronger connections with the community,” said Kalee. “Tripepi Smith is proud to work alongside the small but mighty communications team in American Canyon to help the City amplify its impact, drive communications strategy and deliver essential updates and resources to residents.”
About American Canyon
The City of American Canyon, with its picturesque backdrop of rural rolling agricultural hills, is located in southern Napa County, about 35 miles northeast of San Francisco is the San Francisco Bay Area’s entry point to the Napa and Sonoma Valley wineries–areas internationally recognized for producing some of the world’s finest wines. The City of American Canyon was incorporated in 1992 and has a population of approximately 21,000 people. Their mission is to ensure a healthy and sustainable organization, deliver exemplary services that are responsive to community priorities, and work toward a shared vision for the future.
About Tripepi Smith
Tripepi Smith is a California-based marketing, technology and public affairs firm that serves for-profit, nonprofit and public agencies. Its unique mix of marketing and technology prowess provides a competitive advantage to agencies seeking to leverage the internet to achieve their communication goals. The firm provides full content creation services, including: ghost writing, collateral development, photography, video production, aerial imagery, search engine optimization, email marketing campaigns and website design and execution. Tripepi Smith clients include: City of American Canyon, City of Culver City, City of Cupertino, City of Daly City, City of Duarte, City of Grover Beach, City of Santa Paula, City of Indian Wells, City of La Cañada Flintridge, City of Lake Forest, City of Livermore, City of Napa, City of Paramount, City of Tracy, CalChoice Energy Authority, California Joint Powers Insurance Authority, Santa Clara County Fire Department, Costa Mesa Sanitary District, Rowland Water District, California City Management Foundation, Renne Public Law Group, West Coast Arborists, Scripps College, Blind Children’s Learning Center and Climatec.
