Arlington, VA – 06/26/2019 – The Media Borough Monthly eNews has been named a Second Place Winner in the eNewsletter category in the National Association of Government Communicators Blue Pencil and Gold Screen Awards program. The award recognizes superior government communication products and those who produce them. NAGC named the 2019 award winners at the NAGC 2019 Communications School in Sterling, Virginia (https://nagc.com/2019-communications-school/), the only event of its kind that provides invaluable networking opportunities and practical educational sessions to help government agency communicators enhance engagement with citizens and stakeholders. The Media Borough monthly eNews is an emailed newsletter with a reach of over 16,000 people per month.
In 2018, Media Borough recognized a need to enhance communications with residents and visitors. They needed a better way to share information about borough improvements, news, and events. For many years, the borough distributed a twice-yearly newsletter while maintaining a website, Facebook page, and Twitter feed. These tasks seem small but can sometimes be overwhelming for smaller organizations. While local municipal information was shared in earnest, it was often difficult for residents to find and failed to reach much of its intended audience. With its current rate of growth, the Media Borough Council knew they needed to inform a growing population more effectively.
Recognizing this need, the council contacted Dandelions Digital to help them organize a communications plan, the keystone of which is the monthly Media Borough eNews. Since the implementation of Dandelions Digital’s upgrades, the borough has noticed an increase in user traffic to the website by 55%. The subscription rate to the digital borough newsletter has increased by over 500% percent, and social media reach for the digital newsletter is 16,000 to 20,000 views per month.
In addition, with the advertisement of Borough events, participation in community events has increased. Most importantly, the Media eNewsletter gets government news out on time so that residents can stay updated on the happenings in Media Borough.
“This annual national awards program recognizes superior government communication products and those who produce them,” said NAGC President Chris O’Neil. “The Blue Pencil & Gold Screen Awards honors the creative excellence of federal, state, and local government communicators and demonstrates to those who use our services we produce high quality and effective products,” he added.
The Blue Pencil & Gold Screen Awards competition opens at the end of November each year. Professional communicators are judges from around the country who volunteer their time and talent to team up and judge the categories. Award winners and Communications School participants are recognized during a special banquet at the annual school.