BLACK MAY

The Story of How Gov. Dave Heineman Got Punk'd and an Entire State Was Shamed

The Horror is Unleashed

On a dark Monday in May (the 4th), the Nebraska DMV opened up an online survey for citizens to vote on the next Nebraska license plate.

• Two choices were losers from the last vote six years ago (top left and bottom right)
• One choice was "professionally designed" by the state’s license plate material vendor (probably over a lunch break) (top right)
• The other was done by Motor Vehicles Department staff members with input from the governor. (bottom left) Ha ha ha haaa!

Reaction was mixed overwhelming. People hated the designs. Comments flowed into the Journal Star and the paper agreed in an editorial. The Omaha World Herald issued a call to "Step up to the plate" and contact the Governor.

By May 15th, firms like Oxide Design (Drew Davies) in Omaha, Arch Rival (Clint Runge & Charles Hull) in Lincoln, and Bailey Lauerman (Jim Lauerman) of Omaha/Lincoln had offered to help if the Governor would scrap the four lousy designs. In response, a spokeswoman for Gov. Dave Heineman said he stood by his praise for the "attractive designs" and had received just one critical comment.

And they say politicians don't listen to the people!

The Hanky Panky Begins

Since the intertubes are populated with nothing but charitable, benevolent souls, a website run by such people called College Humor decided they should help us pick the best design! How helpful!

But of course the internet is actually more like an infinite cesspool. The College Humor guys actually were more interested in "Ruin a Nebraska: Everyone vote design 2 so Nebraskans get boring license plates" then helping us.

They instructed their readers by the thousands to vote for "number 2" because they thought it was so ugly it was funny!

Guess which plate Gov. Dave announced on May 19th as the winner? That's right, Number 2!!!

Naturally, the College Humor guys were glad that they could help: "NebraskPWNED!"

A Government Bureaucrat Lies To Us. (Shocking, right?)

The voting came to a close on May 19th just as the outrage over the College Humor fiasco was crescendoing.

The question is: did the College Humor prank skew the voting?

"We were aware of the site the day the link went up," said Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles Director Beverly Neth. "I don’t believe it affected the voting in any significant fashion."

You "don't believe"? It sounds like you don't know. Of course, it would be easy to check the results database and see how many voters came from (referred by) College Humor. That is, if the survey was set up that way. (We'll get to that.)

"The state tracked how users of the site voted on the survey but did not block them from voting, Neth said. Those users voted evenly among the four plate designs, she said."

The College Humor Votes Were Never Thrown Out

Checking Google's cache of the survey shows NIC (the company that is contracted to run the site) used a pre-made code package called phpESP to handle the survey. I downloaded the code, looked through it, and determined that the package (without alterations) only uses the referring site ("referrer", College Humor) to be able to give you a link to return to the site you came from after you finish the survey.

It does not (without alterations) save the site you came from to the results database (phpesp_response).

Therefore, once the DMV was aware of College Humor it was already too late to go back and remove those votes. Also, there's no way now to tell how the College Humor votes broke down.

The statements that they "tracked how users of the site (College Humor) voted on the survey" and "those users voted evenly among the four plate designs" are false.

Unless they modified the pre-made code package ahead of time in anticipation of this hanky panky (which they didn't - prove me wrong DMV) they did not and could not track how College Humor readers voted on the survey.

They have no idea how the College Humor visitors voted. "Those users voted evenly" is B.S. to get us to go away and accept this crap plate.

The only real way to clear this up is for the DMV to give us a copies of the survey's php code and database to show they're telling the truth (that they know which votes came from where and the College Humor votes were even). Or we can get the files by FOIA/Sunshine Law. Anyone want to help with that?

It's Not Over

This plate won't roll out until 2011. No matter what "they" say there is plenty of time. Write to the Governor, Lincoln Journal Star, Omaha World Herald, pass this link around on Facebook and by email. Get the word out and keep it going!

Fan Mail

Seriously, do you have nothing better to do with your time? Your life is so insignificant that the only thing you have to worry about is what your license plates look like? Must be nice.

Your website is pathetic and you apparently forgot to take in to account that each individual you mentioned is a human being.

Maybe you should focus your efforts on something positive like finding a cure for cancer, something that actually is important to people with real life problems instead of 'OMG I don't want my license plate that is a completely insignificant part of my life looking like that!"

The Opinion of One Prominent Local Professional

I am writing to express my opinion on the recent license plate design and selection process. As a professional designer, I can tell you that I am extremely disappointed in how the State has handled this matter.

Please understand that this is not an issue about whether the four plates currently being displayed are good or not. My concern with these license plates lies in the process, not the designs. Complaining about the options provided isn't going to solve the problem; we need to work towards a true solution. The State of Nebraska should hire the services of a professional designer/firm and compensate them for their time and expertise, just like they pay their accountants, attorneys, and other professionals. You wouldn't possibly think of holding a public competition to solicit free legal advice, or free building design. Holding a public design competition indicates to the people of Nebraska that you believe professional design has no value whatsoever.

Some say we shouldn't spend precious tax revenue on projects like this. If this is a budgetary/tax dollars issue, then why spend the time and money resources on a public voting charade at all? If you're foregoing a professional designer to save tax dollars, why are we using State resources to design various license plate options, post a web site where people can vote on the plates, and promote the process? If it's only about saving tax dollars, just select the most effective option internally and implement it.

It's also been suggested that people should understand that the primary function of the license plates is vehicle identification for law enforcement. As an information designer, I agree whole-heartedly. But if that's the primary argument, why is there a design competition at all? Why not just red letters on white plates, the way they used to be?

The way in which the State has handled this matter has been a slap in the face to professional designers across the state. These same designers are creating a huge economic impact on the state, and raising the image of Nebraska both within the state, and across the nation. I hope future actions are more carefully considered.

Another Prominent Local Professional

Here is our opinion on how the state should approach this now and in the future:

Select a number of qualified instate design firms or independent designers, and send them each an RFP that asks for a fee quote to produce the following deliverables:

1. Strategic brief that outlines their thoughts and ideas for the new Nebraska license plate and why those ideas will be effective.
2. 7 -10 design concepts based on the strategic direction set forth in the brief
3. Consumer testing of concepts with both instate and out of state residents to judge consumer impressions and overall takeaways.
4. Four final proofs of the most successful concepts, along with a concept statement that describes the ideas embodied in each design.

Based on the responses to the RFP, the state could then select the firm who they feel is the most qualified and the most cost effective. The selection committee should be comprised of marketing and design professionals who can make an informed selection.

This would then give the state four great options to present to the citizens of Nebraska for final voting and selection. This is the point where citizens should have a voice.

Yet Another Very Prominent Local Professional Weighs in

The other interesting angle is that the domain for "Nebraska.gov" is not actually administered by anyone at DMV or the State. It is run entirely by a private company that makes money off the fees charged to citizens making use of online tools through the site.

So the one that won was the one that promoted the site the largest. Not our state but their site is the most prominent feature.

And guess who put together and hosted the survey for DMV? Same company.

If you check out the byline at the bottom of any of the Nebraska.gov sites, you will find a link to the webmaster and are directed to an email at the following domain - http://www.nicusa.com/. The interest here is NOT promoting Nebraska - or even providing safe, readable license plates - but driving additional revenues to its web sites. I get the value proposition for the State - but the result is that we let this whole process unfold ENTIRELY within the confines of an outside vendor (no, not the license plate supplier) who had a vested interest in promoting the website which will be prominently display (oddly enough, the one that won) on every vehicle for the next 6 years.