NC|Com NC3C’s Magazine for Communication Professionals
Fall 2012
Regional Networking
NC3C’s trying something new: A free lunch with your peers in a region near you!
Are You Excellent?
Show your boss, peers, and citizens that you are & apply for the Excellence in Communication Awards
Congrats, Savvy Winners!
NC3C members showed they were savvy at winning national awards
Should I...?
Join NC3C and get recognized
Volume Six. Number Six
NC|Com
®
NC3C’s Magazine for Communication Professionals
published by the Pitt County Office of Public Information for NC3C Volume Six. Number Six
nc3c executive officers president vice president secretary treasurer past president
Mandy Pitts, City of Hickory Gary Herman, Alexander County Kiara Jones, Pitt County Joshua Harris, City of Morganton Steve Hawley, City of Greenville
contributors writers
Mandy Pitts, City of Hickory Joshua Harris, City of Morganton Gary Herman, Alexander County
images
Digital Juice http://google.com http://www.ci.statesville.nc.us http://www.apexnc.org http://www.ci.jacksonville.nc.us
NC Com magazine, established in 2011, is published quarterly in Pitt County, North Carolina, by the Pitt County Office of Public Information for the North Carolina City and County Communicators (NC3C). Subscriptions: visit www.nc3c.com or the site of any executive officer for your free subscription. Magazine is published online only. To request a high-quality printed version, call 252.902.2955 or e-mail pittinfo@pittcountync.gov. Allow 10-15 days for delivery. For costs, contact the Office of Public Information. Advertising: Rate card available upon request from Publisher. © 2012 Pitt County Office of Public Information for NC3C (All Rights Reserved.)
Ahh, fall flowers. Don’t you just LOVE this season?
NC|Com
®
NC3C’s Magazine for Communication Professionals Volume Six. Number Six
In This Issue cover stories 7
The Regionals
9
Are You Excellent?
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Are free lunches that promote networking and NC3C membership growth considered championships? Maybe...
You do great work - now apply for an Excellence in Communications Award so others can see that!
Congrats, Savvy Winners
NC3C members are savvy, all right, and they have national awards to prove it!
fixtures 6 8 18
President’s Message Should I...? Shop Talk
leaves turn red from food that’s trapped inside. science, schmience - they’re just beautiful, right?!
NC
3C
North Carolina
City & County Communicators
www.nc3c.com Visit us. Then join us.
President’s Message
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Dear NC3C Members,
NC3C President Mandy Pitts
Dear NC3C Members, As we roll into the holidays, NC3C has exciting updates to share in this edition of NC|COM. We have regional meetings in December and January, NC3C Award of Excellence entries are due the first of February, and the 2013 annual conference will be held in March. The board continues to focus on the four goals listed below: 1. For the NC3C membership to use the communications tools in place to help members network and seek advice from peers throughout the year. 2. Increase participation in the “Excellence in Communications” awards program. 3. Increase NC3C retention and membership. 4. Hold three regional meetings. We are thrilled about holding our first regionals and hope that you will be able to attend and bring a prospective member with you. This is a great opportunity to network with peers and learn something new. As our organization grows, we learn more as we have communicators for cities and counties, transit systems, police and fire departments, economic development, experts in government television and video and more. We also had many North Carolina cites, towns, and counties bring home awards from the annual 3CMA (CityCounty Communicators and Marketing Association) conference in Portland that was held in September and we congratulate all the winners; many were NC3C award winners, too! Speaking of NC3C Award of Excellence, I know that all of you have been a part of spectacular projects in your organization so start writing your entries and nominate as many as you would like. I wish all of you blessed holidays and look forward to connecting with you soon. All my best,
The Regionals We made it! No, not to a championship, but to a series of lunches that can make you a communications champion
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All NC3C members and prospective members are invited to attend the first series of NC3C Regionals! There is no cost to attend and lunch is provided. The lunches provide an opportunity for members to get together between annual conferences and catch up on the latest projects, best practices, and experiences that only fellow communicators share. Some of these locations are more than an hour away from members, but hopefully you can find a way to go to a meeting, connect, and reenergize. Though the idea was to select common areas/regions to make travel easy, don’t feel restricted to attend a session nearest you. If that date doesn’t work for you, choose a lunch that does! Make a day of it if you’re able; after all, this is a professional investment. And the lunches are not only for NC3C members - feel free to invite potential members so they can see just how much our great organization has to offer. A special thanks to those who’ve volunteered to host our first ever Regionals. If you’re interested in hosting one in the future, please contact NC3C President Mandy Pitts at mpitts@hickorync.gov. See below for the schedule. See you there! Statesville Hosts: Nancy Davis (Statesville) and Annette-Privette Keller (Matthews) When: Thursday, December 6, 2012 11:00a – 2:00p Where: Historic Statesville City Hall, 227 S. Center St., Statesville, NC Special topic: Engaging Citizens in the Budget Process: What Works in Your Community? RSVP by December 3 to Nancy Davis at ndavis@statesvillenc.net or 704.878.3586 Apex Hosts: Stacie Galloway (Apex) and Deanna Boone (Cary) When: Wednesday, December 12, 2012 11:00a – 2:00p Where: Apex Town Hall, 73 Hunter Street, Apex, NC (ample parking at Town Hall) Special Topic: Emergency Communications with a Focus on Social Media RSVP by December 5 to Stacie Galloway at 919.249.1135 or stacie.galloway@apexnc.org Jacksonville Host: Glenn Hargett (Jacksonville) Friday, January 11, 2013 11:00a – 2:00p Where: Jacksonville City Hall, 815 New Bridge Street, Jacksonville, NC Special Topics: What’s New in Video Production, and Staff Assignments in a Small Shop RSVP by January 4 to Glenn Hargett at 910.938.5220 or ghargett@ci.jacksonville.nc.us
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Should I...
Join NC3C and get recognized?
Well, of course! Why join NC3C? Well, for one thing, at only $50.00 for a membership, it’s really affordable. Also, NC3C helps you network and build relationships with other communicators in North Carolina. And in addition to those two excellent reasons, a membership in NC3C gives you the opportunity to participate in our Excellence in Communications awards program. The NC3C Excellence in Communications awards program is designed to foster achievement among members, showcase high-quality work and promote sharing and learning. The program is modeled on the national City-County Communications and Marketing Association (3CMA) Savvy Awards. The application process is very similar and the hope is that once you have applied for and won an NC3C Award of Excellence, you will be prepared to apply for and win a Savvy. You can apply for recognition in categories including TV and Videos, Printed Publications, Communication Technology, Marketing Tools, Special Events, Citizen Participation, Community Visioning, Most Creative Activity with Least Dollars Spent, and more. Entries are judged by government communication professionals who have previously won first or second-place in the national Savvy Awards. And perhaps most importantly, winning an NC3C Excellence in Communication award isn’t easy. Awards are only given to entries that merit the recognition. NC3C Secretary Kiara Jones has firsthand experience on how our Excellence in Communications awards program can prepare members to get recognized on the state and national level. Kiara has been a member since 2008 and she has won four Excellence in Communications awards … so far. Here is a quick Q&A about the awards program. Q: Kiara, why did you join NC3C? A: Back in 2008, Steve Hawley told me about a new organization for communicators like us. I felt it was important to be part of a group of your peers who can provide professional support and help you be successful at your job; especially since I was just starting out as the PIO for Pitt County. OK, that wasn’t about the awards program. That was a plug for NC3C. Here is the Q&A about the awards program. Q: What did you think of the application process? A: It’s pretty rigorous; I had to learn the importance of documenting my achievement. Although you may have a great product, you need to be able to articulate why it’s great and how you set and reached your goals. The first time I submitted an application, we didn’t win anything. After I learned how to document our projects, we started winning. Q: Did the Excellence in Communications awards program help you better prepare for the 3CMA Savvy Awards? 8
A: ABSOLUTELY. The Excellence in Communications awards application questions mirror the 3CMA application questions, so I was pretty much able to use the same info for both. The Excellence in Communications awards program was built to prepare members for the Savvys, and it does just that. I have no doubt that my experience applying for NC3C awards helped us win the Savvy. No doubt. Q: How does it feel to win a Savvy? A: Great. It’s funny, because when I went before our Board of Commissioners to report that we’d won two statewide conference awards, our chairman told me to bring back a national award next. Well, we were able to do that. We’ve been so blessed. Q: What recommendations would you give to members who are applying for one of our an Excellence in Communications awards or a Savvy? A: Prepare well before it’s time to submit. When you start a project, begin documenting milestones, achieved goals – everything that makes your project successful. Believe that your project is award-worthy and learn from the past. If you applied and didn’t place in a category last year, then review your materials, the judges’ comments, and the winning projects to see how you can improve next time. Remember, it’s not just about getting the award, because you may be able to better serve your citizens by incorporating what you learn from your review. And … apply. You will never win if you don’t submit an application! Winning an Excellence in Communications Award and any of the Savvy awards is a big deal. The awards reinforce the fact that you are doing good work. The awards remind your supervisor that you are doing going work. And the awards give you a goal to work towards. Since no one is likely to toot your horn for you, you might as well join NC3C and win a few Excellence in Communications awards. It does feel good to have your work recognized and awards will almost always impress your supervisor. It’s a win-win. Joshua Harris|City of Morganton Joshua is NC3C’s Treasurer.
Are You Excellent? Well let somebody know it! Apply for a statewide award NC3C began the Award of Excellence program almost five years ago to help us sharpen our skills and win more awards on the national level. NC3C uses the same principles as the 3CMA Savvy competition and this gives North Carolina government communication professionals a chance to nominate a project on the state level, and then the application is almost ready for the national level. All NC3C nominations are sent to juries of past 3CMA winners outside of North Carolina, which makes the process fair and equal. In 2011, more than 60 projects were nominated for NC3C awards, and this year, let’s surpass this by at least 15 – to make it 75; 100 would be even better. It’s a simple process and gives us an opportunity to think through projects done throughout the year and promote their successes as well as include lessons learned. All of us have several projects we are really proud of from 2012 so start thinking about them today - you have until the first week of February 2013 to turn them in. 9
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Congrats, Savvy Winners! Let’s see who brought home national awards
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Each year 3CMA recognizes the top three entries in each category with the highest award named the “Savvy,” the second place named “Silver Circle” and third place is named “Award of Excellence.” Most categories are broken up by population, depending on the number of entries. This year, NC governments brought home one Savvy, one Silver Circle and three Awards of Excellence. We hope to have even more winners in 2013! Marketing and Tools – Branding/New Logo/Government Service Delivery Savvy Tracy Dawson – Community Relations Coordinator - New Hanover County, NC Elementary School Civics Program – New Hanover County Serving our Community – New Hanover County Government plays a strong role in the community and provides many services upon which citizens depend. New Hanover County had attempted various outreach efforts to educate and inform the community, but decided a unique approach was needed to complement these efforts. Elementary school students were recognized as an audience that had yet to be engaged and could potentially inform and influence their parents. An interactive workbook with an accompanying PowerPoint presentation is used to teach students about New Hanover history, geography, budget, municipalities, county departments, mandated services, and citizenship. Concepts such as maps, percentage, and graphs are also included. This successful program was introduced to over 2,600 students this school year. Judges’ Comments: Outreach to students is excellent! Great idea. The letters from teachers and students helped show program success. Very impressive. Most Creative Activity with Least Dollars Spent Silver Circle Anthony Perrone – Marketing Coordinator - Buncombe County, NC Voter Lookup Campaign 2012 – In 2011 the General Assembly passed an Act that would substantially change the way our Board of Commissioners in Buncombe County was previously constituted. With these new changes, it was obvious that Buncombe County needed to come up with some sort of campaign that would help explain what was going on. In early 2012, we decided to launch the 2012 Voter Lookup Campaign. The campaign was designed to inform, educate, and assist all citizens with the 2012 election. Judges’ Comments: Excellent example of blending new technology with traditional tools for a desired result. Very good graphics lent to strong branding too. TV & Videos – Regular Scheduled Programming Award of Excellence Kiara Jones – Director of Public Information & Media Relations - Pitt County, NC A Walk in My Shoes – A Walk in My Shoes … and the supporting PSAs were produced to inform the public about the 2011 MS Walk, MS Awareness Week, and to raise awareness about multiple sclerosis. The pieces highlight a Pitt County sheriff’s deputy and teacher who have the disease and how they cope with it. Judges’ Comments: Raises awareness for disease and event; good editing, very stylistic choices, nice videography and lighting; Great production quality. Serious dramatic style is appropriate for submit, lighting is also very cinematic.
TV & Videos – Public Service Announcement Award of Excellence Mark Boyer – Community Relations Coordinator New Hanover County, NC 13
Savvy’s continued Flu Shots – The New Hanover County Health Department was concerned about the low numbers of residents seeking free flu shots due to media reports about vaccine safety. The series of three public service announcements also aired on the local NCB affiliate which also donated several thousand dollars in airtime. By midJanuary, all doses of the vaccine had been distributed. Judges Comments – Entertaining use of word art … quick and to the point (pun intended) … lotta fun. Overall Website Award of Excellence April Craddock – Technology Trainer - Greensboro, NC Greensboro Website – The City of Greensboro’s website provides an updated, compelling visual design and information architecture, while meeting the needs of local residents and businesses. Driving principles of our community website include a focus on the needs of our target audiences; the ability to showcase the resources and services the City of Greensboro provides; and a web experience on par with other leading municipalities. Judges’ Comments: Judges love the use of the sliding icons on the front page. This system allows backend users to easily change out icons as new important topics arise that need to be marketed. Navigation is sound and allows for ample information which is easily accessed through the drop-down menus. The “Find Services” tab allows users to search the site in multiple ways. What a great tool! The color scheme chosen is warm and inviting. Terrific use of logo used throughout site.
Mandy Pitts|City of Hickory This “expert in training” is Hickory’s Communications Director/Brand Manager
2013 Conference Update
A quick lowdown on what you can expect at next year’s annual conference
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Make plans now for the Spring 2013 NC3C Conference, to be held in Greensboro from March 20-22! NC3C Board Members recently met with representatives from the City of Greensboro (Donnie Turlington and Jake Keys) and the Greensboro Transit Authority (Kevin Elwood) to discuss plans for the annual conference. The 2013 event is sure to be an exciting conference in the state’s fourth largest city. The host representatives have a lot of great ideas for topics, accommodations, restaurants, and more… but of course we want YOUR feedback. In the coming weeks, we will email a Survey Monkey link to the membership to determine what topics you’d like to see included in the 2013 agenda. Please mark your calendars for this worthwhile conference. As always, we will learn a lot and have a lot of fun. See you in Greensboro!
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Gary Herman|Alexander County Gary’s the VP of NC3C and helps plan the conference
Miscellaneous Jobs, invites, and more
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You are invited to attend The North Carolina Forum – All-America City Awards Revisited Co-hosted by David Bradley, Statesville NC Chamber of Commerce; Mandy Pitts, City of Hickory, NC; Hardin Watkins, Town Manager, Town of Garner, NC; and NCL Board member Dr. Jarvis A. Hall, Director, Institute for Civic Engagement and Social Change at North Carolina Central University. December 11, 2012, Tuesday, 11-2 pm at White Deer Park Nature Center - 2400 Aversboro Road, Garner, North Carolina (7 miles from Raleigh-Durham) A gathering of North Carolina-area All-America Cities and prospective All-America City applicants Learn about the promising practices of North Carolina All-America Cities. Come tell us your story of success. Share how you have succeeded since your All-America City bid. If you are looking for new ideas, you belong here. If you are going to apply for the All-America City Awards, you will get insights into the benefits of the program. Lunch will be provided by the Town of Garner. RSVP by November 28, 2012 to aac@ncl.org to register for the event and to reserve a lunch. Space is limited. Reserve your spot today. For more about the All-America City Awards see www.allamericacityaward.com. Call Gloria Rubio-Cortes at 303.571.4343 or email gloriarc@ncl.org - Mandy Pitts, City of Hickory NC Baptist Men Disaster Relief is adding a new component to their volunteer leadership structure, Public Information Officer. Each year, NCBM goes quietly about its business of sending teams to feed, construct and care for people who are suffering from natural disasters usually along the Eastern seaboard and overseas. Everything is funded by donations - usually through churches in NC. The organization only has a few staff members. Their work is done by volunteers with the focus on getting as much of every dollar donated to the people who need it - not using it for administrative costs. The organization has never tooted its own horn. Now, they would like to begin using volunteers to help them with media contacts at the scene of the disasters or from the origin of where teams are dispatched from. They are asking us as Communication Professionals to attend a focus group to help them discuss this idea and how it might work for their organization. If you’d like to be part of this effort see below and let me know if you would like to participate. If you could not attend the focus group but would like to be a volunteer to help in the future - let me know as well. Your help would be greatly appreciated! Please indicate all of the following dates that you could participate in a focus group to help shape the strategy, goals, and objectives of this position: Dec. 13, Dec. 14, Dec. 20, or Dec. 21. The meetings will most likely be in Asheboro since it’s centrally located. However, the location may change depending on the location of the majority of participants. The time will likely be 10– 2pm with lunch provided. - Annette Privette-Keller, Town of Matthews Senior Public Affairs Specialist, Public Affairs/Water Management Under general direction of the Office of Public Affairs and Water Management Department, primary duties for this customer-focused role include development & implementation of social media strategies and messages for various departments throughout the City of Durham using appropriate media platforms. This role also leads the employee and public information efforts for Water Management; development, planning and communication about the department and its various programs, services, and activities through appropriate media channels. - Beverly Thompson, City of Durham (see more jobs at nc3c.com) 15
2012-2013 Membership Dues Invoice Please complete and return this form with membership dues of $50.00 to:
NC City & County Communicators
c/o Joshua Harris, Treasurer PO Box 3448, Morganton, NC 28680-3448
Make checks payable to NC3C
NC3C Tax ID Number: 26-0265279
Membership Information Name Title Jurisdiction Address City:
NC
Zip:
Phone E-mail Website
NC3C 2012-2013 Officers
President ............ Mandy Pitts ......... City of Hickory .......... mpitts@hickorync.gov Vice-President .... Gary Herman ...... Alexander County .... glherman@alexandercountync.gov Secretary ............ Kiara Jones .......... Pitt County ................ kdjones@pittcountync.gov Treasurer ............ Joshua Harris....... City of Morganton .... jharris@ci.morganton.nc.us Past President .... Steve Hawley ....... City of Greenville ...... shawley@greenvillenc.gov NC3C | North Carolina City & County Communicators | www.nc3c.com Treasurer: Joshua Harris | PO Box 3448 Morganton, NC 28680-3448 | jharris@ci.morganton.mc.us | (828) 432-2516
07/2012
Shop Talk Making a great holiday feast Contributed by Kiara Jones, Pitt County Ok, I know you’re used to this section actually being about tools we use in the communication trade, but because Thanksgiving is here and Christmas is right around the corner, I thought I’d take a break from that stuff and talk about something really important. Food. The holidays are filled with it. If you’re like me, you do more eating than cooking, but for those of you who actually use that thing called an oven, here’s a recipe that will help make your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner a fantastic feast. Rice Stuffing with Apples, Herbs, and Bacon 3 1/2 cups water, divided 1 1/2 cups low fat, low sodium chicken broth 1 cup uncooked wild rice 1/3 pound bacon 3 cups diced onions 3 cups diced celery 1 tablespoon water
1 cup uncooked long-grain white rice 1 3/4 cups currants 3/4 cup dried cherries 3/4 cup dried cranberries 1/2 ounce dried apricots 1 cup diced, unpeeled apples 1/2 cup chopped Italian flat leaf parsley 6 tablespoons dried mixed herbs
Directions 1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring 1 1/2 cups water and the chicken broth to a boil. Stir in wild rice. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 45 minutes. 2. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Reserving drippings, drain bacon, crumble, and set aside. 3. In the skillet with the reserved bacon drippings, saute onions and celery with 1 tablespoon water. Cook until very soft, about 20 minutes. 4. Stir remaining water, white rice, currants, cherries, cranberries, apricots, and apples into the wild rice. Continue cooking 20 minutes, or until wild rice and white rice are tender. 5. In a large bowl, mix the bacon and the onion mixture into the rice mixture. Season with the Italian parsley and dried mixed herbs. (allrecipes.com) While this recipe is going to taste great on someone’s table this year, I wanted to remind us about something that’s even more important than food - being grateful for what we have been blessed with. Our jobs, or families, our lives. Every day we can take a breath is a blessing, and we should be sure to use it wisely. And speaking of blessings, why not be one to someone else and serve this holiday season. Help out that elderly neighbor, or invite that family from church over for dinner, just to help them through a hard time. Send a stranger a gift; help someone who’s homeless or less fortunate than you. While we may get some great gifts this year, serving others will help you realize that it really is “more blessed to give than to receive.” God bless.
We’re looking for writers. If you’re interested in submitting an article for the Winter issue of NC|COM, just send an e-mail to kdjones@pittcountync.gov. Go ahead. Don’t be afraid. Share your knowledge with others. Go ahead. You can do it. Hit send already!