Macon-Bibb County’s Office of Public Affairs received two Awards of Excellence from the National Association of County Information Officers (NACIO) for its communication efforts. The winning entries were a Superior for its department logo designs and a Meritorious for its Tropical Storm Irma Debris Collection Infographic. The awards were announced during the NACIO Annual Conference in Nashville.
“Each year, we spotlight outstanding communications work that is meaningful in our communities,” said NACIO President Lori Letzring. “This year, our entries raised the bar for public communications even higher.”
“It’s an honor to have our Public Affairs team recognized on the national level, and I couldn’t be prouder of the way they pull together behind all of our projects,” says Assistant to the County Manager for Public Affairs Chris Floore. “We got to give something to our departments that they could identify with, and we could help them post-Irma by making sure people knew the best way to stack debris on the curb.”
There were four department logos created in 2017 and submitted: Bowden Golf Course, Facilities Management, Parks & Beautification, and Solid Waste. Working with each Director, the Office tried to determine what each department wanted to communicate about their work to the community. The logo was then designed around their department’s work and elements of Macon-Bibb County’s Seal, including the Fort Hawkins blockhouse, the slogan of Forward Together, and the year of consolidation. Other logos created for departments prior to 2017 include Board of Elections, Emergency Management, IT, Public Affairs, and Recreation, and for programs like the Youth Commission, recycling, and the weekly e-newsletter, The Hub.
Following the devastation of Tropical Storm Irma, there were nearly 100,000 cubic yards of debris that needed to be collected by Macon-Bibb crews and private contractors. With such a massive task before the crews, there needed to be a way to let people know how to best sort and place their piles of debris so crews could more easily get it picked up. A simple and straightforward infographic was created that could be used by local media when reporting on debris collection, posted and shared on social media, and handed out to people who had questions. Organizers of the collection process were very pleased with how the debris was placed throughout the process, and cited the infographic and communication around it with being part of that success.
About NACIO & the Awards of Excellence
The National Association of County Information Officers was formed in 1966 to bring together communications professionals to share and exchange information with other county public information officers across the United States. The Awards of Excellence is an annual competition for NACIO open to both members and nonmembers. This year’s contest drew 247 entries from around the country. The awards ceremony was held during the National Association of Counties (NACo) annual conference. As an active affiliate of the National Association of Counties (NACo), NACIO works to promote the value of professional PIOs to county governments, and also to promote a better understanding amongst the general public of the roles and responsibilities of county government.