In mid-July, the National Association of County Information Officers (NACIO) announced Macon-Bibb County’s Office of Communications earned top honors in five categories as part of its annual Awards of Excellence program. Each year, NACIO holds this program to honor “the innovative, creative, and outstanding work of county government communicators and state county associations communications departments.”
“These are just some of the projects we put in place that allowed us to help people and our community, from getting resources to people in need to raising money for the Children’s Hospital or just saying thank you to the people we work with,” says Chris Floore, Chief Communications Officer. “At every opportunity, our team puts the people around us at the forefront of our planning and storytelling, and that love and dedication shines through in all they do.”
These recognitions are 5 of the more than 50 individual, team, and project recognitions earned by the Office of Communications. They have been awarded by NACIO, the City-County Communications & Marketing Association (3CMA), National Association of Government Communicators (NAGC), PR Daily, PR News, PRSA Georgia, SeeClickFix, the Georgia chapter of the Solid Waste Association of North America, and Engaging Local Government Leaders.
2026 Firefighter Calendar
Category: Campaign, Social Media
From Survival to Stability: 5 Years of the Brookdale Resource Center
Category: Campaign, Public Relations
”Feet hit the floor; let’s go.” Stories from the Men’s Mental Health Meet-ups
Category: Campaign, Quality of Life
SNOW thankful for Team Macon-Bibb
Category: Writing, Long Article
https://www.maconbibb.us/snow-thankful-for-team-macon-bibb/
Fire Department welcomes newest class of firefighters
Category: Writing, Short Article
https://www.maconbibb.us/fire-department-welcomes-newest-class-of-firefighters/
“Being recognized nationally is an incredible honor, but what means the most is knowing these projects made a real difference here at home,” says Olivia Walter, Multimedia Manager. “Whether it is sharing the stories of people making our community stronger or celebrating the employees who serve Macon-Bibb every day, we have the opportunity to use communication to create connection and inspire action. These awards affirm that meaningful, people-centered storytelling can have a powerful impact, and that work happening right here in Macon-Bibb is worthy of national recognition.”
“National recognition is always rewarding because it reflects the dedication our team puts into every project,” says Emily Wilson, Digital Content Specialist. “Our goal has never been to create content just for the sake of content. We want every campaign to build trust, strengthen our connection with the community, and create a lasting impact.”
“Having the opportunity to tell the stories of our community is an honor, but seeing those stories recognized on a national stage is incredibly humbling,” says Communications Manager Edna Adams. “The real credit belongs to our departments and the people doing the work every day to make Macon-Bibb a better place. They deserve to have their stories told, and I’m grateful to play a small role in helping share them.”
“Communication is vital to our government and my administration because it’s at the core of building a strong team and engaging the community,” says Mayor Lester Miller. “I’m proud of our communications team for what it does to make sure people know and understand what we’re working toward and what we’re all accomplishing together.”
About the Office of Communications
The Office of Communications includes Emily Wilson, Edna Adams, Olivia Walter, and Chris Floore. Their charge is to find the best ways to let people know what the government and its partners are doing to improve the community through strategic communications, media relations, video & photography services, graphic design, a weekly e-newsletter, event planning, message development, social media, online content, crisis communications, and more.
Project Descriptions
From Survival to Stability: 5 Years of the Brookdale Resource Center
Category: Campaign, Public Relations
The story of Brookdale is one of compassion, collaboration, and community. In 5 years, nearly 5,000 people experiencing homelessness or lacking a safe place to live have walked through the doors of Brookdale for help and support.
To mark that milestone, the Office of Communications led a multi-week campaign to remind people of why the Center was created, who it served, and how people can help. As part of the ‘how they can help’ goal, there would be a call to action for people to donate volunteer time and needed items, and to share the information with other people.
The campaign resulted in increased awareness, several large donations of laundry detergent, and 25 Amazon wish list deliveries with an estimated value of $8,000. A typical month would only have 1-3 deliveries. Also, 229 volunteers donated 495 hours of service equaling more than $16,000.
”Feet hit the floor; let’s go.” Stories from the Men’s Mental Health Meet-ups
Category: Campaign, Quality of Life
Mental health is a national crisis gaining attention, especially for youth, women, and families.
However, the attention on men’s mental health has not quite followed the trend, and much of that can be attributed to the men themselves. Whether it’s from them not wanting to talk about it or the lack of outreach resources, many do not receive needed support. Macon-Bibb launched monthly Men’s Mental Health Meet-ups as a much-needed resource.
Feature stories were written for each meet-up to bring men “into” the meeting. It’s one thing to wonder if others struggle with similar issues; it’s more powerful to read and see them struggling and overcoming.
Attendance at the meetings has gone from 3-5 men per month to nearly 20. The meetings typically end later than the proscribed hour (some have gone to two hours) because of the depth of the discussion…and the deeper they get, the more the men want to talk.
The meet-ups have become the top result on Google and part of its AI Overview when searching for “men’s mental health groups in Macon.”
2026 Firefighter Calendar
Category: Campaign, Social Media
The challenge in marketing the 2027 Middle Georgia Firefighter Calendar was to get people interested in buying them without showing off the actual pictures being used. To do so, the Office of Communications took a behind-the-scenes approach.
They attended – and invited the media to – all aspects of the calendar’s development, from the judging to the photoshoots to the actual release. This gave them several months of content to help get the word out well in advance of them going on sale, as well as once they were available.
The campaign ended when all 2,500 calendars were sold, raising more than $20,000 for the local children’s hospital.
The campaign earned 17 media stories (including one Hispanic outlet), and 15 videos on social media had 3,388,102 views with 211,574 interactions. One of the media stories even focused on the creativity behind the promotion. Twelve stories in the weekly e-newsletter reached 52,761 people.
Because of that interest to the social media posts through comments, the plan to only sell them in person locally was changed to allow online sales and shipping. The calendars were shipped as far away as the United Kingdom.
Fire Department welcomes newest class of firefighters
Category: Writing, Short Article
https://www.maconbibb.us/fire-department-welcomes-newest-class-of-firefighters/
The Office of Communications has worked to humanize the Fire Department and showcase an aspect of being a firefighter all talked about: that it was a family.
At a firefighter graduation, in front of hundreds of friends and family…the Fire Chief and his senior staff spoke directly to the concept of the Department as a family. That by training together, the new firefighters had become brothers and sisters, and that they shared something with the other men and women in uniform. And then the Chief welcomed their family members into the larger firefighter family.
The Office of Communications was on hand to cover the event and write a feature article to help convey that message to the public.
SNOW thankful for Team Macon-Bibb
Category: Writing, Long Article
https://www.maconbibb.us/snow-thankful-for-team-macon-bibb/
When it snowed in January 2025, it had been more than 10 years since any had fallen. So when it did, our Emergency Management Agency – including all the departments working in preparation, response, and recovery roles – had to make sure they went above and beyond to keep the community safe.
The feature story on that work – “SNOW thankful for Team Macon-Bibb” – highlighted efforts and dedication of the departments that worked in preparation, response, and recovery roles, and to say thank you.