AGENDA #5a
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: 2004-05 Town of Chapel Hill Communications Plan
DATE: October 11, 2004
This memorandum provides a summary of the 2004-05 Town of Chapel Hill Communications Plan, a guide to administrative action. A draft plan was reviewed by the Mayor’s Committee on Council Communications. The purpose of the plan is to provide an overall framework for planning, constructing and managing the wide variety of communications that occur within the Town organization. It addresses audiences, messages, media and evaluation. The goal of Town communications is to provide relevant, accurate and consistent information to the public.
BACKGROUND
The Town of Chapel Hill hired its first Town Information Officer in April 2004. The primary purpose of this new position is to increase awareness of Town Council goals, and interest and participation in Town government services and activities.
The Town recognizes that it communicates with the public in many ways, including web pages, brochures, recreation catalogs, bus posters, parking signs, letters to citizens, news releases, media interviews, and televised meetings on the government access cable channel. The Communication Plan determines the most appropriate vehicles to transmit general messages and specific information to the public.
The Town Information Officer will sharpen and expand the tools used in Town communications and use the Plan as a guide to continually assess the effectiveness of outreach. The Plan should help Town communications move beyond a reactive approach that only responds to inquiries toward a proactive approach that also aims to achieve established goals.
The Mayor’s Committee on Council Communications reviewed a draft communication plan on August 25, 2004, and gave input that led to revisions on September 24, 2004. The revised plan now is being presented to the Council.
DISCUSSION
In the first year of the Communications Plan, attention will be paid to creating systems to support the flow of information and the most apparent communication needs. Some of this year’s Action Plan items will become part of the regular and recurring activities of the Town Information Officer position in future years. Goals will take on a sharper focus as some program fundamentals are established.
Recent communication initiatives include:
- Town media distribution list (updated and expanded)
- Image library for photography and graphics
- Partnerships with area government information officers
- Billboard announcements for Cable Channel 18
- Pre- and post- Council meeting news releases
- Media interviews before Council meetings
- News release templates
- News release archive for the web
- News clips summary (Town in the News)
- Employee newsletter
- Media training for senior staff (workshop set for October 8, 2004)
- Public information on specific programs: stormwater management, parking
Within the Communications Plan, an annual Action Plan sets out a detailed list of objectives, a summary of which follows:
Future communication objectives include:
- Use print advertising more effectively
- Use the Town website more effectively
- Expand electronic distribution to citizens
- Make better use of the government cable channel
- Assist the media in understanding Town processes, issues
- Update the New Residents Guide to Services
- Create new publications to help explain Town services
- Report on the goals of the Council
- Coordinate Town messages
- Find ways to reach new audiences
- Form a Town Information Group
CONCLUSION
This Communications Plan is presented as a guide to achieve the communication goals of the Town of Chapel Hill. It will be updated periodically based on experiences and changes in needs. The Action Plan portion of this overall guide will be rewritten on an annual basis, and next year it will include an achievements section to evaluate goal attainment.
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