Have a Key Message

Before you get started, be sure that you’re clear about the main point you want the public to take away. Trying to cover too many topics at once can water down your message and make it hard for people to remember. Alternatively, one key message that you support through signage, promotional materials and talking points is more likely to have lasting impact.

Think About Your Audience

Now that your clear about your message, it’s time to think about where to deliver it. Is your information targeted to adults, children, homeowners, pet owners? Think about your audience and make sure you plan your event where they might best be reached. Considering budget vs impact is also important. Because outreach resources are often tight, you want to spend more of your budget on programs that have a wider reach and less on those for a smaller audience.

Get the Word Out

Promoting your event is also crucial to its success. You can start generating interest ahead of time through social media, website posts, media outlets, community calendars, etc. A little buzz can go along way!

Don´t Be a Wallflower

When it comes to the day of the event, it´s either go big or be invisible. So make sure you brand your booth with banners, table covers and other signage that stand out and deliver your key message. There´s no such thing as being too visible!

Make Your Booth the Place to Be

Giveaways are always a great way to attract people to your booth. To make them more meaningful, develop promotional items that tie in with your key message. For example, if you want to teach kids about water conservation, you could consider a colorful activity book with teaching points around the subject. To build the excitement, invite people in for a game with the giveaways as prizes. Educating the public through games and activities brings a sense of fun to the learning process and helps them remember your message. Be sure to follow the activities with a take home handout that reinforces your point.

Put Your Best Face Forward

Preparing your staff is key to making your community event a success. After all, these are the people that will literally be the face of your company. Make sure that they are well prepared with talking points that deliver a consistent message. Just as important is being a good host. Branded refreshments and a smile will make people feel welcome and more apt to listen your message.

Need more help with your community event? Goldstreet has developed outreach programs for utilities and agencies across the country. The activities and communication pieces we create will get noticed and resonate with your customers.

The post Maximize Your Community Event appeared first on Goldstreet Designs.

SOLUTION: To bring a sense of fun and excitement to the event booth, Goldstreet helped to create a Plinko game where kids won activity books and other promotional items. The colorful booklets taught kids about storm water and drought practices through mad libs, crosswords, decoders and other games. In order to engage children of different ages and learning styles, Goldstreet developed one book for 1st to 3rd graders and another for 4th to 6th graders. The agency also created give away items such as crayons, pencil sharpeners, sunglasses, water bottles and tote bags. On hand for the adults, were other printed materials on storm water and water conservation. El Centro reports that both kids and their parents were delighted with the Plinko game, books and other giveaways and often returned to the booth a second time. Over the past three years, they estimate a total of 25,000 drought and storm water themed promotional items have been given away at their community events.

“Goldstreet has been an invaluable partner in creating our promotional items. And they are marvelous during the communication process. They keep in constant contact with us throughout our projects.” – Tim Rogers, City of El Centro

The post Success Story: El Centro Storm Water and Drought Outreach For Kids appeared first on Goldstreet Designs.

1) Mobile Businesses

Carpet cleaners, pressure washers and painters are among the top three mobile businesses known to be polluting local waters. A moving target, they can be hard to reach, but here are a few tips:

• Increase the “Report a Spill” outreach efforts to residents, let them report the issues to you.

• Form a regional group with nearby jurisdictions to develop a regional campaign. Don’t forget to include the local business licensing office(s).

• Ensure you understand the audience before developing any materials. Market research can save you a ton of time and resources in the long run, and better ensure success.

2) Home Owner Associations

Private facility maintenance in residential areas can be difficult to enforce, but can have a high impact on water quality if successful. Inactive associations, high board member turn over, and lack of reserves are just a few of the hurdles.

• Find the list of associations in your area. In many states, home owner/neighborhood associations are required to file paperwork with the state, which could include a mailing address, contact person, and possibly even board members and annual budget.

• Request a timeslot at upcoming HOA meetings to give a presentation about “Local Requirements Regarding Your Stormwater Facilities” or “Help Available to HOAs to Maintain Stormwater Facilities”. This could be done broad scale if you have a mailing list, or just start by calling the few you have and keep working to improve your inventory of contacts.

• Offer an annual or bi-annual “workshop” for HOAs, making sure you plan to highlight the regulations, the issue, and tips or assistance for helping HOAs succeed in bringing (or keeping) their facilities into compliance. WORKSHOP TIP: Offer free snacks or free giveaway items as an incentive!

3) Internal Staff

With NPDES permit requirements and associated state requirements evolving, internal staff are raising to the tops of outreach specialists’ priority lists across the county.

• Meet with the managers of the staff you need to train to better understand their point of view. Find out more about the challenges you might face before you even begin to design a training program. Consider busy times of the year, varying schedules and access to computers.

• Videos are a great way to provide training to internal staff. Once developed or purchased, there is no longer a need to be there in person to train internal staff; a very efficient use of resources in the long run.

• Consider your tracking method before you begin training. How will you measure success and track your progress? Written or online exams can be a great way to do both.

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Though stormwater utilities are doing a great job including kids in their education programs, there is one opportunity that is often overlooked, 1^st through 3^rd graders. Setting the stage for future discussions that include pollution and water quality are vital. These young elementary school kids need to first understand the role water plays in our life, before they can begin to understand how pollution gets into the water, how our actions effect water quality, and how we can all become the solution to pollution.

The City of El Centro, California decided to address the issue in their jurisdiction by developing two kids’ activity booklets, one for 1^st-3^rd graders and one for 4^th-5^th graders. They both address stormwater and drought issues, are fun, colorful and engaging, but they each approach the issues from an age-appropriate point of view to make the greatest impact.

The 1^st-3^rd grade booklet:

• Introduces water as a vital resource for life
• Shows how we are connected to waterways through storm drains
• Provides basic pollution concepts
• Includes a variety of simple, fun and engaging games and activities

The 4^th-5^th grade booklet:

• Introduces water as a vital resource for life
• Shows how we are connected to waterways through storm drains
• Provides more in depth discussion about pollution sources
• Empowers students to become part of the solution in their own neighborhood
• Includes a variety of fun and engaging games and activities

The post Not All Kids Outreach is Equal: How the City of El Centro is Addressing the Issue appeared first on Goldstreet Designs.

I challenge you here to think differently. Have you considered focusing on kids? Some may immediately answer no, or maybe you’ve considered it but think that budgets aren’t available or are just unsure of how to go about it.

If presented correctly, reaching kids becomes a 2 in 1 outreach opportunity. How so? Well, if we, as professionals, can reach kids in an engaging and inspiring way, then those kids will go home and practice what they’ve learned. They will also happily tell their parents about it. Plus, parents may be more likely to listen to their kids and what they’ve learned than read the information on your website or in a bill.

Here’s a perfect example of how it works. Recycling programs are integrated into schools around the country. I can speak from experience that these programs not only educate kids on how to reduce, reuse and recycle, they also educate parents. How does this work? I lived it first hand through my children. Starting in Kindergarten they would learn what could be recycled and how to do it. Then, when they were at home, they would happily remind me when seeing me do it incorrectly at home. Kids are thrilled to share what they’ve learned at school; they also aren’t shy about correcting at the same time. It’s usually parents correcting and teaching kids, so when kids know something their parents don’t, the absolutely LOVE it.

There are many ways to go about reaching kids once you decide to do so. Providing age appropriate materials is critical to success. Also, focusing on content that kids can relate to is vital. When I say ‘relate’, I am referring to content that affects them. Kids, in preschool even, can recycle newspaper and cardboard. They can separate glass from plastics and paper. Kids can do these things and therefore the they get excited about being able to make an impact. Teaching 1st-2nd grade kids about hazardous waste disposal and oil running into storm drains is harder to get across because it is something they can’t do themselves or really even fix. So, picking content that allows kids to be impactful is important. Kids can help pick up dog waste and report if sprinklers are running on sidewalks rather than gardens and grass. Also, messages must be simple. All kids are different and like different types of activities. Some kids like to color, some kids like mazes, while other kids like seek and finds. Therefore, offer a variety so you get a wider reach of kids taking part in the activities.

As utility professionals, you may be inclined to want everyone, no matter the age to learn 10 things or everything about a topic, but we must be realistic. The goal should be more like 1 or 2 things for kids, at least to start.

To narrow it down a bit, keep in mind these 5 tips for kids activities and outreach:

1. What is the 1 thing you want kids to learn? Focus on that message

2. Provide a variety of activities to appeal to a variety of kids

3. Choose age appropriate materials

4. Keep it simple

5. Provide tips or actions to take

Hopefully you mind is opened to the opportunity of reaching kids and starting to create change in a younger demographic. Although some adults won’t change their ways, kids are learning so let’s teach them right from the beginning!

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