The City of Homestead took home eight awards at a national awards ceremony sponsored by the City-County Communications & Marketing Association last week in Anaheim, California . City and County governments from throughout the United States competed for awards in a variety of categories and were judged on how effective they were in communicating and interacting with their citizens. The City of Homestead was nominated for eight awards and took home two top prizes (Savvy Awards), two second place awards (Silver Circle), and four Awards of Excellence . This is the fifth year in a row that Homestead has received national attention for excellence in communicating with its citizens.
"Five years ago, Homestead's Mayor and Council challenged us to set a new standard for government transparency, information flow and public outreach," said Homestead City Manager George Gretsas. "The City's approach has been to focus on providing important information in creative ways without the usual government speak. Our staff has done an amazing job and it is great to see their work get the recognition that it deserves. Congratulations to Zackery Good, Josh Padgett, and Karen Franklin for a terrific year."
Below are some of the comments from the Judges in each of the categories that the City was recognized for:
Community Visioning
Award of Excellence
A Safer Homestead: Improving Community Relations & Informing Residents
Connected the vision of downtown revitalization to a new police headquarters. Homestead took on a far-reaching project and the result was the community coming together in a meaningful, highly visible way.
Marketing & Tools—Government Service Delivery/Community Issue
Silver Circle Award
A Safer Homestead: Improving Community Relations & Informing Residents
Great parade photos! Good detail and use of trilingual opportunities to reach your various audiences. Nice effort to give pride of ownership to the community and make the whole city feel involved. Improving relations between police and citizens is more important now than ever!
Special Events—One-Time Event
Award of Excellence
A Safer Homestead: Improving Community Relations and Informing Residents
Overall great event and great marketing materials. Nice event and great support from the community. Very inclusive event and social media engagement was impressive.
Special Events—Recurring Event
Award of Excellence
Military Appreciation Day Connects Military and Civilian Communities
Well organized and run; the objective was clear, as was the success of the event!
Video—Interview/Talk Show/News Programming
Award of Excellence
Inside Homestead: Keeping Residents Informed & Engaged
The production quality was excellent, and we loved the new set. Inside Homestead had a great use of graphics and b-roll, and the speaker was clear and engaging.
Video – One-Time Special Programming
Savvy Award
Inside Homestead Explores the National Parks Trolley
Terrific video concept. Made the judges want to come down and visit the national parks! Very professional footage with beautiful imagery. Host was professional without being over the top. A Savvyworthy production!
Video—Promotional Video
Savvy Award
Inside Homestead Explore the National Parks Trolley
Extremely engaging video. It successfully captured the beauty of the area and the value of the trolley. I'll be heading to Homestead to take the trolley tour!
Silver Circle Award
Homestead Public Servants: We’re Only One Call Away
Great way to help boost employee morale. Touching tribute to staff. If I were an employee there, it would make me very proud.
For more information on 3CMA and the Savvy Awards, please visit their website: www.3cma.org