The Brookdale Resource Center Communications Plan and Trash Talk have earned a Blue Pencil & Gold Screen Award from the National Association of Government Communicators (NAGC). This awards program recognizes superior government communication products and those who produce them, and the exact award will be announced on May 11 at the NAGC Annual Conference.

Trash Talk was a video series put together as part of the solid waste collection services transition to help let people know about the changes and the best ways to use the service. The videos in the series were short, informative, and engaging, and earned widespread recognition and support online and in the community.

“The quality and amount of communication Macon-Bibb put in place for this major transition was stunning, and Trash Talk had us recognized around the community,” says Ryland Environmental Managing Partner James Lanier. “This series was able to show people the best way to place items on the curb, and we have seen the results of that during our weekly collections.”

The Brookdale Plan will be recognized in the Public Affairs Outreach Campaign category and included efforts to let people know of the services provided, how they could help (whether by volunteering or donation of funds and/or supplies), and, most importantly, stories of people using the services. The plan included media relations, e-newsletters, video features of partners, social media, infographics, branding, partner relations, and more.

“We, as a community, must help the people who need us the most, and that’s what we did with the Brookdale Resource Center. We needed a strong communications effort to make sure people know how to get those services and how our community could help,” says Mayor Lester Miller. “I’m proud of the work staff at the Center have done and will do to help people, and I’m proud of our Communications Office for the role they played this past year.”

“Chris and his team found a caring and proactive way to tell the story of what we were doing and how people could, and that made a huge difference in the success of this effort,” says Emergency Management Agency Director Spencer Hawkins, who led the overall effort for the first year.

The Brookdale Resource Center Communications Plan was recognized nationally in March 2022 by PR News in its Nonprofit Awards program by being named the the winner in the Crisis Campaign category and earned an Honorable Mention in the Advocacy Campaign & Lobbying Efforts. PR Daily also recognized it in December 2021 with Honorable Mentions in two categories of the PR Daily Awards for its Brookdale Resource Communication Plan: Cause-Related Marketing Plan and Crisis Communication Plan.