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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994 08-23 CTFACity of Brooklyn Center A great place to start. A great place to stay. • AGENDA Brooklyn Center Ad Hoc City Communications Task Force August 23, 1994 Conference Room B City Hall 1. Call to order: 7 p.m. 2. Roll call/introductions Linda Smith (excused) Alex Alexander (resigned) Dawn Sommers (excused) 3. Old Business A. Discuss brochure sales B. 1995 budget 5. New business A. Crisis management plan B. Image campaign by Chamber C. Customer service program D. Task force 6. Set next meeting date 7. Adjournment: 9 p.m. 6301 Shingle Creek Pkwy, Brooklyn Center, MN 55430-2199 City Hall & TDD Number (612) 569-3300 Recreation and Community Center Phone & TDD Number (612) 569-3400 • FAX (612) 569-3494 An Affirmative Action /Equal Opportunities Employer 'R Overview 0 Communications Work Plan City of Brooklyn Center June 1993-May 1994 After meeting with City officials, staff, the chamber, and realtors, one common goal prevailed. That is, to change the perception of the City by better communicating with residents and the press. Those interviewed feel that the City portrays a negative image because crime issues tend to be publicized more than other city issues. They do, however, feel that this has changed somewhat lately. I. City Objectives A. What does the City want to accomplish? The City wants to alter their negative image by relaying the positive aspects of the City. They also want to communicate better with residents by making their correspondence easier to understand, and they want their letters to provoke the correct response from readers. B. Who is the City trying to reach? Current residents and businesses as well as potential ones. C. What attitudes/images does the City want to portray? The City wants people to think of it as a good place to live or to open a business. They want people to know that they have all the offerings that any family or business could need or want. They also want to highlight the fact that the City is a good location for those working in Minneapolis. Also, the city wants people to know that city officials listen to residents and want their input at all meetings and on all issues. As a result, the City wants a proactive attitude towards communicating with residents, not reactive. (See attached communications plan dated January 15, 1992). II. Current Status A. What image does the City currently project? People tend to have a mixed feelings about the City. Potential residents seem to think • that there is too much crime in the area, whereas those who live here, think that it's a nice place to live. Some older residents, however, do feel that the City has deteriorated since they have been here. • Communications Work Plan Page 2 B. What types of vehicles does the City have to promote it? Currently, the City has a brochure that looks at least 10 years old. Because the information and the photos are outdated, it is not used by those promoting the City. It does, however, reside on the information racks in City Hall. When the Chamber of Commerce receives requests for information on the City, a map and statistical data is sent. The community development department, on the other hand, digs for any type of information they can find to answer inquires. Information requested from the police department is usually related to crime statistics. If such cases, an annual report is sent along with a customized report. C. What is the City's current budget for communication devices? To date there is no set budget for any new communications projects. However, the Community Development department has budgeted $20,000 for a literature system • that can be used. Additionally, Northwest Cable TV has given us a $2,000 grant to use in developing a city video. D. What types of documents does the City distribute on a regular basis? City Hall Most City departments send a variety of documents to residents on an as needed basis. For instance, if public works plans a project in an area, they will send a letter of explanation to those who live in that area. Same is true of the assessing department. Finance sends past due notices on an as needed basis, but send water bills on a regular basis. The City newsletter, City Watch, is sent to 11,500-13,500 residents every other month. The newsletter ranges in size depending on the information included. Additionally, the administrative department distributes an employee newsletter every two weeks. This goes to all past and present City employees as well as the local media. Police Department The crime prevention area within the police department distributes a neighborhood watch newsletter, as well as a community newsletter which is sent to specific • neighborhoods. Additionally, Crime Prevention Officer Dave Grass publishes a regular column in local newspapers regarding safety issues. • Communications Work Plan Page 3 Parks and Recreation Parks and recreation probably distributes more information alone than all other departments combined. Fliers promoting various functions are distributed regularly. Additionally, a schedule of all programs is sent quarterly along with the City newsletter and a Senior Happenings newsletter is distributed monthly to senior Community Center members. Parks and rec also has an advertising budget, thus they advertise programs as budget dictates. They also promote their activities through cable TV and local newspaper community calendars. Earle Brown Heritage Center Currently, the EBHC contracts a public relations firm to handle all their promotional activities. Because they are a profit center, they develop first-rate brochures and even have a video that they use to solicit business. The video and brochure promote the center, not the City. • III. Plan A. What types of communications devices are needed to accomplish our objectives? Brochure The immediate need is for a brochure that promotes the City and its offerings. Included in this brochure would be general and statistical data that give an overview of the population and other important factors. Statistical data should be kept to a minimum or generalized such that the brochure has a life span of at least 2-3 years. Whereas the aforementioned brochure will satisfy the needs of many departments, as well as the general information needs of the Chamber and the real estate community, the community development department has a further need. In addition to a general overview of the City, the department would like to be able to customize each brochure to meet the inquirer's needs. Thus, a city brochure should be developed first with the objective that it can eventually be part of an overall package developed for community development. The overall package would include a folder, as well as individual pieces that can be sent through the laser printer to customize the package. The city brochure should be developed this summer with the rest of the package to follow shortly. • Communications Work Plan Page 4 City Video Although a few people thought the idea of a video was a good one, they didn't think is was necessarily a top priority. Since, however, we do have a $2,000 grant from cable, we should take advantage of this opportunity and develop a video in 1993. Cable should be able to do a good job of developing it, with our direction, of course. The video will then be used by those who need it, but will not necessarily be the main tool for promoting the City. The brochure will handle that Another advantages of having a video is that we can replay the video on our cable channel 37 on a regular basis. This will not only promote the City but may enable us to gain additional coverage of some of the other events publicized on that channel. This footage can then be used for our NorthWest Cities program or any other news shows. Logo/Image Enhancement City staff and officials were asked whether or not they thought the City logo should be changed. A very small percentage said yes, some stated that it's ugly but not a top priority, and others didn't care. Since the expense for changing the logo goes way beyond just the creation of the logo, and since we have many other much needed • programs to tackle, developing a new logo should be put on hold until after the brochure and video are complete. Since the brochure will have a life span of about two years, use of the logo will be minimal on the brochure so that it is not obviously outdated after its developed. Due to its expense and intensity, a new logo and image program should also be planned and budgeted for as a separate entity. This includes developing a comprehensive list of the items that carry the city logo. This list will be used to determine which items will receive the new logo immediately upon creation, and which can wait until they need replenishing or replacing. Since the brochure and video should be complete by the end of the year, planning for our new image program will begin in early 1994 with the new logo, letterhead and standards guide developed by September 1 of the year. In the meantime, however, there is a need to "clean-up" or polish our current image. Letterhead and other documents produced by the City should be redesigned prior to reordering so that they have a consistent and clean look. B. Who will be involved in the creation and approval process of these new vehicles? 1. Subcommittees will be generated to tackle each individual program. Each • committee will include the communications coordinator as well as staff representatives and task force members, when interested. Delegation of duties will be the responsibility of the subcommittee. • Y Communications Work Plan Page 5 2. The communications coordinator will participate on each committee and will be responsible for ensuring that the committee stays within budget, time deadlines and design standards. 3. To ensure the accuracy of each piece developed, city staff will be asked to review any information in the publication or video that pertains to their department. Additionally, the city manager, communications task force chair and personnel coordinator will review each vehicle prior to production. 4. Whereas, each subcommittee will be responsible for outlining, writing and overseeing the development of the brochure and video, outside vendors will be solicited to design and produce these promotional vehicles. This will ensure the quality of each piece produced. Which and how many vendors are chosen to quote on the projects will be determined by each subcommittee. C. What can be done to improve the effectiveness of our current documents and other types of materials that are regularly distributed by the City? To date, each department has submitted to the task force copies of some of the regular documents that they distribute . These documents should be reviewed to ensure accuracy and ease of understanding. Additionally, the documents should be examined to see if there is any overlap of information or to see if there are ways to jointly distribute information. All suggestions and ideas should then be sent to the appropriate department for implementation. D. What ways can the City improve communications with its citizens both collectively, and individually and within the guidelines of the City's purchasing policy? Currently, the City does an admirable job of relaying information to residents. Through the use of personal letters, city newsletters, cable tv programs, articles in the media, promotional fliers and outdoor signs, the City keeps residents aware of what is going on. Thus, the problem isn't the lack of communication, but the lack of effective communication. Information sent to residents needs to be edited so that it's easier to understand and more enjoyable to read. This will entice more people to not only read the information, but to take the appropriate action requested (i.e. attend the meeting, pay their bill, return the survey). Some of the departments have already solicited the communications coordinator to help prepare their documents. Other department's will hopefully seek input as well. In addition, an internal training session should be offered which teaches City employees how to better communicate both externally and internally. Communications Work Plan Page 6 E. How can the City improve communications, with, and among its employees, as well as councilmembers? In addition to providing training for employees, an employee function committee should be established which enables employees from different departments to work together. The committee's function would be two-fold-- to get employees from different departments to work together as a team, and to schedule events where employees can mix on a social level. Another way to improve communications, which has already been implemented, is to increase the frequency of the employee newsletter. Employees now receive a newsletter every pay period (every two weeks). This enables employees to keep up-to- date on all city happenings. Additionally, City Watch, the city newsletter, is now being sent to each department for routing and copies are also being made available in the break rooms. One final way to increase the effectiveness of communications with employees and especially councilmembers is to train department heads and coordinators on the art of preparing and giving presentations. For this purpose, a professional trainer will be sought. F. Is the current budget adequate to handle all our needs? Currently, community development has $20,000 budgeted for brochure development. Although a specific quote has not been sought, it is assumed that this is adequate for producing not only the generic brochure, but the entire brochure system including folder and inserts. Additionally, a $2,000 grant is available from cable for producing the video. These funds should also be adequate. If not, additional funds will be sought from the City Council. IV. Schedule Although each subcommittee will determine the exact production schedules for the video and brochure, it' s hoped that the general brochure will be completed by the fall and that the inserts and the video finished by year's end. The city enhancement program and logo should be complete by September 1, 1994 if accepted by the Council. •