Radio and Television Contact the news or public affairs departments of your local stations. Tell them that National Public Works Week is coming up and that you will be glad to arrange interviews for their public interest programming. This would be a perfect opportunity for you to tell the public how you are increasing productivity and that the city needs to maintain realistic levels of expenditure to provide for adequate replacement and preventive maintenance programs. Write your spot announcements to highlight the accomplishments of your department and send them to all stations in your area.
cesses and emphasize how they benefit all citizens. Arrange to display your exhibit at libraries, community centers and shopping malls. You may be able to take advantage of a captive audience by exhibiting at a scheduled community event.
Open House or Tour An open house or tour offers participants a new perspective on public works and gives professionals an opportunity to discuss the daily operation at their facility. It also is a good time to gather community members’ opinions of public works projects and services.
Keep Headquarters Informed
Newspapers List five changes your department has made in the last two years to economize. Describe each briefly on paper. Could any of them be depicted in photographs? Call the editor of your newspaper, tell him or her that that you have a good feature story he or she might want to run during NPWW; then explain your economy measures and what they represent to your community in saved tax dollars.
Public Works Exhibit Create an exhibit to spotlight your organization’s recent suc-
Your ideas may be very useful to other members or chapters next year. Your feedback helps headquarters staff know what works and what doesn’t. Just go to the NPWW website at www.apwa.net/About/npww and click on “Tell us about your NPWW outreach.” To help you get your celebration off and running, APWA has created a web-based “How-To” guide. In this guide you will find a wealth of information to develop activities for your NPWW celebration. Just go to www.apwa.net/About/ npww/2009.
Computer-Based Testing NOW Available! APWA offered its first open block of computer-based testing for the Certified Public Fleet Professional (CPFP) and Certified Public Infrastructure Inspector (CPII) on March 16-27, 2009 at over 170 locations in the United States. Candidates received the benefit of taking the exam locally and receiving instant scoring!
2009 Open Testing Blocks July 6-17, 2009 (Eligibility Deadline: April 22, 2009) November 9-20, 2009 (Eligibility Deadline: August 26, 2009)
For more information visit APWA’s website at www.apwa.net/certification or contact Becky Stein at bstein@apwa.net.
April 2009
APWA Reporter
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