In this conversation, Kristen Bryant, City Clerk for the City of Gainesville, Florida, reflects on how eScribe transformed the city’s meeting management processes. Kristen discusses the challenges Gainesville faced with its old system and the efficiencies gained through eScribe, particularly in minute-taking, records management, and community engagement. She highlights the role of change management, both internally with staff and externally with the public, and praises eScribe’s customer support as a game-changer.
What is your role with the City of Gainesville, and can you walk us through some of your most common day-to-day responsibilities?
Sure thing. I’m the City Clerk for the City of Gainesville. One of the major things I’m responsible for is managing public meetings—like our City Commission meetings, workshops, and special meetings. We’re also the point of contact for the city for public records. We oversee our advisory boards, and we’re kind of the first contact for our neighbors when they’re looking for domestic partnerships, proclamations from the mayor, recognitions—those kinds of things. Oh, and elections! That’s also a major piece of it.
How long have you been with the City of Gainesville?
I started with the City of Gainesville in March of 2019. I was an Executive Assistant supporting our City Commission, and at the time, I had the pleasure of being the EA for our current mayor when he was a commissioner. In September of 2023, I was promoted to become the Agenda Coordinator, and then in July of 2024, I became the Interim City Clerk. I became the permanent clerk in January 2025.
Were you a part of the process of implementing eScribe, or did you come in after the system was already in place?
So, before eScribe, we used a legacy system that wasn’t very integrated. I was in charge of advisory boards, so I was adding items to the agenda. I also helped with minutes for subcommittee meetings. The old system was very text-driven and not very intuitive. I wasn’t involved in the RFP process with eScribe, but I did assist our Deputy Clerk during implementation. I helped with our initial training with eScribe, rolled it out to super users in other departments, and helped transition our Commission meetings to the system.
What were some of the pain points you experienced before implementing eScribe?
The lack of integration was a big frustration. For example, when recording votes in the legacy system, you had to type everything manually. With eScribe, you can use drop-down menus and pre-populate text and votes, which saves a lot of time. Compiling minutes used to take over an hour; but with eScribe, if you manage the meeting using the system, your minutes are practically written for you by the time the meeting is over. You just need to clean up a few things. Before, it was all manual data entry.
Was there a breaking point when the city decided, “Okay, we need something different”?
I wasn’t heavily involved in minute-taking back then, but anecdotally, people felt the old system was outdated. The search capabilities were frustrating—you’d search for something and get like 60,000 results, making it hard to narrow down. It was clunky, and after attending conferences and seeing what other options were out there, it became clear there had to be something better. That’s when the decision was made to explore different solutions, and eScribe seemed the most intuitive and the best fit for our needs.
Do you recall what the vendor comparison process was like, and when you decided to go with eScribe?
During the RFP process, staff helped test different systems. eScribe stood out because it was intuitive and easy to use. Its integration with Microsoft Office and Word made it familiar and user-friendly for staff. That familiarity is important when managing change. Getting people to shift from paper-based processes or to learn new software always comes with some pushback, so having something that feels smooth and easy is essential.
Were there any challenges when getting everyone on board with eScribe?
Yes, we faced challenges. The reality of using a new system hit when we started reshaping internal processes and timelines. We wanted input from other departments since they’d be using the system, but that feedback was slow to come. Once we launched, departments realized, “Oh, we need this and that,” which would’ve been helpful to know from day one. We were still learning the system ourselves, so there was a transition period with feedback like, “It would be great if we could pull reports like this,” or “We need to adjust workflows.” Setting up proper access and permissions was also part of the learning curve.
What was the training process like for onboarding with eScribe?
We did about six to eight months of training. We started with internal training for the Clerk’s Office in January 2022. Then, in the spring, we trained our super users, who worked with advisory boards over the summer to get them onto eScribe. During the summer of 2022, we ran parallel systems—using the legacy system while duplicating efforts in eScribe so people could get used to it. In September 2022, we fully transitioned to eScribe.
How long did it take to start seeing results after implementing eScribe?
I saw results pretty quickly, especially with meeting minutes. That was the big selling point. In the old system, we’d take notes during meetings, then retype everything afterward. With eScribe, you manage the meeting in real-time, record votes as they happen, and by the end, your draft minutes are almost done. You just do some post-meeting cleanup and push the draft to the next meeting—often within 24 hours, which is a huge time saver.
Has eScribe changed how the public engages with local government?
Change has been hard for the community. They were used to accessing records a certain way, so we had to educate them—especially regular meeting attendees—on how to find information in the new system. We’d get calls like, “I can’t find this,” and I’d walk them through the process, showing them how to use new filters for more precise results. After that, they’d usually say, “Oh, I see it now.” So, it took some legwork to make sure the community felt confident that eScribe provided the same level of access as the old system.
Where have you been able to prioritize your time now that you’ve saved time with meeting management?
Shortening the time it takes to finalize minutes has a ripple effect. The City Commission makes decisions, and staff rely on those decisions to implement policies. With eScribe, staff can pull resolution pages almost immediately, showing commission directives on contracts, ordinances, or internal policies. That quick access helps move projects forward faster.
If you had to sum up the benefits of eScribe in one sentence, what would you say?
Using eScribe is intuitive and helps my team meet the expectations of our community and Commission efficiently.
How would you describe your experience with eScribe’s customer support compared to your previous vendor?
It’s night and day! Our legacy system’s support was cumbersome—we had to submit tickets and sometimes waited a month for a response. With eScribe, if I submit a ticket, I hear back within an hour, sometimes within minutes. If it’s an emergency, they’ll even hop on a call and screen-share to troubleshoot. Their support is amazing—they make us feel like our needs come first.
What would you say to other city clerks considering eScribe?
It’s been a success for the City of Gainesville. The system is intuitive, our staff has fully bought in, and the community has adjusted well. It’s a great time saver, improves reporting, and meets the needs of local governments.
If eScribe were discontinued tomorrow, how would you feel?
My heart would be rent in two! We rely on it every day. Losing it would mean scrambling to find something that could even partially meet its capabilities.
To learn more about eScribe, check out our overview brochure.
