AboutThe 2025 Vermont Legislative Session is Being SmartTranscribed
The first three days of 2025 legislature are now history – and SmartTranscripts for committee and floor discussions are all on https://goldendomevt.com.
Unlike video, SmartTranscripts enable keyword and speaker-specific searches, allowing users to quickly find relevant content. By highlighting text in a transcript, users can instantly view the corresponding video clip. This combination of text and video ensures accuracy and adds valuable context through body language and facial expressions.
Early users include reporters pleased to find an immediate transcript of Governor Scott’s inaugural address, bloggers watching the newly reconstituted committees closely, and state employees tracking the committees whose actions affect them.
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Here's the press release:
For Immediate Release
Contact: Tom Evslin
Phone: (802) 798 8069
Email: [email protected]
GoldenDomeVT.com Launches with SmartTranscripts for 2025 Vermont Legislature Meetings
Unique SmartTranscripts Empower Vermonters to Affect Legislative Action at the Committee Level
Stowe, VT – January 9, 2025
GoldenDomeVT.com introduces a groundbreaking way for Vermonters to engage with their legislature. For the first time, anyone can access free, searchable SmartTranscripts of House and Senate floor meetings and committee sessions, transforming how citizens, reporters, and officials stay informed and involved.
The first SmartTranscripts for this year were posted yesterday following floor meetings of the House and Senate.
Unlike video, SmartTranscripts enable keyword and speaker-specific searches, allowing users to quickly find relevant content. By highlighting text in a transcript, users can instantly view the corresponding video clip. This combination of text and video ensures accuracy and adds valuable context through body language and facial expressions.
The website https://www.goldendomevt.com is now in open Beta mode with SmartTranscripts of meetings from the first three days of the current legislative session, as well as a selection of SmartTranscripts from the end of the 2024 session. New meetings are added as soon as their videos are posted—usually immediately after the meetings end.
User feedback during this Beta phase will help refine the platform and make it more useful. Feedback, including bug reports and suggestions for improvement, can be sent to [email protected].
GoldenDomeVT.com is a free service requiring no registration, is free of advertising, and does not request or collect personal information. The code used to create SmartTranscripts and the website will be released as shareware on GitHub, enabling others to build on the platform or adapt it for their local use.
Technical Details
- The website is hosted on AWS (Amazon Web Services).
- SmartTranscripts are created using Deepgram's machine-learning transcription technology.
- Speaker identification leverages OpenAI's ChatGPT.
- Meeting videos, hosted on the Vermont Legislature's YouTube channel, are linked to but not modified.
About Tom Evslin
Tom Evslin is a retired high-tech entrepreneur, former Board Member of both the Vermont Jornalism Trust (VTDigger) and Vermont Public as well as a former Vermont Secretary of Transportation and stimulus czar. He currently develops shareware to aid in local news reporting.
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