Mobile Monday Boston joined Mayor Thomas M. Menino and the City of Boston last night to celebrate the release of Citizens Connect 2.0, the app that’s aiming to better connect Boston locals with their city government. Mayor Menino himself came out to Ned Devine’s to share some words with MoMo’ers and express his excitement for Citizens Connect and what it’ll do for the city.

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Giving the crowd enough time to first sip some beers, mingle, and network, Mayor Menino entered through the side entrance only to be greeted by a tray of spring rolls – he promptly ate some (see photos). After saying hello to some guests,  Menino joined Matt Gross,  founder of MoMo Boston, and others on stage.

The Mayor talked about how Citizens Connect is empowering residents to play a more significant role in keeping Boston beautiful by reporting neighborhood blemishes such as potholes, graffiti, and broken traffic lights. Many of the updates to the 2.0 release on Citizens Connect were also discussed, including live report sharing with other Boston residents, what Menino referred to as “Tweeter” integration, and Android support (slight cheer from the crowd). See our recent review of Citizens Connect here.

Boston boasts one of the most active mobile tech communities in world, so it seems fitting that Beantown’s very own government would be one of the first to jump into the mobile game by launching the first ‘citizen-sourcing’ app of this kind in the nation. In fact, Menino mantioned that Citzens Connect (2.0) has peaked the attention of around 100 other cities, who might also be looking for an update on the Hotline-based tip service many cities offer (but do citizens use them?).

Our friends at 3Play media are using their technology to provide a video and transcript of Mayor Menino and the other speakers shortly here on BostInno – so stayed tuned!