The winners of the 2023 Outstanding Awards program have been announced.
Thank you to the cities who submitted entries for our peer-judged awards program – you are all doing fantastic work!
The winning projects and honorable mentions in each category are highlighted below. We can’t wait to see the innovative projects you are working on for next year’s program!
Congratulations to the following cities:
Municipal Marketing Campaign (Population of 20,001 or More) Outstanding Award Winner
City of Port St. Lucie – PSL Solid Waste Crisis and Recovery Marketing Campaign
The city used different marketing tools – including automated robocall and text messaging systems – to help ease residents’ concerns regarding a new waste hauler the city contracted with, new service days, and limitations on curbside pickup. They also built trust and credibility in the municipality’s ability to provide consistent and reliable service to the community. This helped align with the city’s strategic goal of being Safe, Clean & Beautiful.
Municipal Marketing Campaign (Population of 20,001 or More) Honorable Mention Winner
City of Coral Springs – “Savor, Shop, Be Coral” Campaign
In order to support a strong post-pandemic rebound for our local business community, the City developed the #SavorShopBeCS Buy Local Campaign to encourage residents and visitors to venture back out into the community to support local businesses. The campaign encourages residents and visitors to Savor local restaurants, Shop at local businesses and Be involved in community events. They then encouraged residents to share their experiences at local establishments by posting on social media and using specific hashtags.
Municipal Marketing Campaign (Population of 20,001 or More) Honorable Mention Winner
City of Tallahassee – “4Ps of Cold Weather Safety” Campaign
The main goal of this campaign was to provide actionable tips, such as insulating pipes, that residents could use to help protect themselves and their property. The whole campaign needed to launch by the first forecasted hard freeze for our area, which varies from year to year. Sprout Social notes that message retention is 85% greater when watched on video versus read in text, so the team prioritized video content for the campaign.
Municipal Marketing Campaign (Population of 20,000 or Less) Outstanding Award Winner
City of Cocoa – “Choose Cocoa: Central Location, Endless Opportunity” Economic Development Marketing Campaign
The Communications Department supported the city’s economic development efforts of bringing awareness to the community about the city’s effort to bring more businesses to Cocoa. The team hosted a stakeholder event, created an economic development video that received more than 10,000 views, distributed samples of the innovative items being developed by local businesses, developed marketing collateral and set up a booth at events to promote Cocoa businesses.
Municipal Marketing Campaign (Population of 20,000 or Less) Honorable Mention Winner
City of Oldsmar – “Oldsmar in Orbit” Campaign
The goal of the campaign was to increase awareness of the unique Planet Walk and drive traffic to local parks. The city incorporated a NASA Astronaut as the face and voice of the program to bring authenticity and credibility to the campaign. They also aimed to promote the importance of public art to the community, highlighting the installation’s significance as a permanent addition to the local cultural landscape. These goals were the driving force behind the launch promotions for “Oldsmar in Orbit.”
Podcast Outstanding Award Winner
City of Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau – Sanibel Causeway reopens ahead of schedule
The Outstanding Award for Best Podcast Episode goes to the Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau for its Shellcast Podcast episode on the reopening of the Sanibel Causeway.
The episode “The Sanibel Causeway reopens ahead of schedule” was crucial in informing the community, stakeholders, industry partners and tourists of the status of the causeway after Hurricane Ian completely washed it away.
Listen to the Podcast Here
Podcast Honorable Mention Winner
City of Sanford – Vacuum Sewer System 101
The goal of the podcast episode was to educate and inform Sanford residents about the vacuum-type sewer system which was undergoing upgrades due to the historic nature of the City of Sanford.
Publication Outstanding Award Winner
City of Coral Springs – Neighborhood Schools Guide
The City of Coral Springs took home the Best Publication Award for their Neighborhood Schools Guide, which they did in partnership with the local school board. The guide helped current and potential future residents learn about the quality and quantity of the schools within the community. The guide was printed for the schools to share, distributed to local realtors, and posted to the city’s website, where it received more than 92,000 page views.
Learn More
Publication Honorable Mention Winner
City of North Port – Parks & Recreation Department’s 2022-2023 Winter/Spring Playbook
Produced twice a year, the North Port Parks & Recreation Department’s Playbook provides residents with a comprehensive guide to all the events, programs, activities, amenities and facilities available from the City for them to enjoy.
Social Media Outstanding Award Winner
City of Tallahassee – “Quick Questions, Short Answers”
As with the City’s overarching social media approach, the team aimed to use YouTube Shorts to educate and inform audiences about City services in an engaging way. Each video focuses on a single topic/question, such as the smell of natural gas or recycling plastic bags. Topics/questions are gathered from a variety of sources including social media, City departments and word of mouth (friends, family, people at events, etc.).
Social Media Honorable Mention Winner
City of North Port – Hurricane Ian Social Media Response
In response to Hurricane Ian, a near-Category 5 storm that struck Southwest Florida in late September 2022, the City’s Communications team implemented several strategies in support of its goal to connect, engage and inform the City of North Port residents per the guidelines set forth in its social media policy. The City utilized its main communication channels such as Facebook, Nextdoor, Twitter and Instagram to provide as much information as quickly as possible. At the start of each shift, the PIOs on duty would meet to determine the priorities for the day and determine the appropriate channels for the messaging and which platforms made the most sense for the information being shared.
External Video Outstanding Award Winner (Population of 20,001 or More)
City of Palm Beach Gardens – Stroke Wars: Stroke Awareness Campaign
The communications campaign helped educate the public about the signs and symptoms of a stroke, understanding the importance of calling 911 immediately and teaching residents the B.E.F.A.S.T. acronym. The city partnered with five local hospitals on the campaign and the video was released on May 4th which is nationally recognized as Star Wars Day. Social media posts and paid advertising, email blasts, and a quiz were all additional tools the communications department used to help drive the campaign. Click the image above to watch the video.
External Video Honorable Mention Winner (Population of 20,001 or More)
Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority – SR 528/SR 436 Interchange Conceptual Drive-through Video
The goals were to educate viewers about CFX’s Signature project – the reconfiguration of the SR 528/SR 436 Interchange at the north entrance to Orlando International Airport (OIA) and drive viewer awareness of potential travel disruption during construction. Objectives included among other things, reaching more than 25,000 OIA employees and millions of visitors coming to Central Florida through OIA; creating awareness of potential travel delays due to construction-related road/ramp closures and creating news coverage for the community on this project by providing the media with dynamic video for use in their reporting. Click the image above to watch the video.
Internal Video Outstanding Award Winner (Population of 20,001 or More)
City of Coral Springs – School Resources Go Back to School Video
Children weren’t the only ones going back to school in the City of Coral Springs last Fall, as the city’s communications department featured the return of the school resource officers in winning Best Video In-House Award for their School Resource Officers Go Back to School campaign. School Resource Officers are trusted members of a community, so when some retire, or move, it can lead to changes at schools. The campaign recognized the importance of the officers on new students, incoming kindergartners and their parents to understand who their resource officer will be for the year. The video featured the officers packing their lunches, picking out their clothes and hopping on a school bus, just like students would. The video reached more than 8,000 people and served as a great morale booster for the resource officers. Click the image above to watch the video.
Internal Video Honorable Mention (Population of 20,001 or More)
Pinellas County – Discovering Pinellas: Pinellas Trail
As the second episode in a new video series exploring high-interest topics to Pinellas County residents, this video aimed to substantially boost views for both the Discovering Pinellas series and engagement on the county’s YouTube channel.
Web Resource Outstanding Award Winner
City of North Port – Hurricane Ian Recovery
Our objective was to create a one-stop web resource for citizens to view the latest updates and information on Hurricane Ian. As it became clear in the days and hours leading up to and immediately after Ian, this would be a devastating near-Category 5 storm for our community, which required a singular webpage that could be home to essential information and resources that would be updated quickly and frequently by our Communications team as the situation developed.
Web Resource Honorable Mention Winner
City of Cape Coral – Growing Inspiration Capital Improvement Campaign
The goal of the website resource was to provide a single location for citizens to acquire timely and accurate information before, during, and after Hurricane Ian. Since the city had access to information from each department, it was easier to gather and then disseminate this information with the confidence that it would be accurate. The objective was to update this information as it changed. This could have been hourly, daily, or even weekly as our situation grew better. Overall, we hoped to be the voice of the city during the worst storm in history to calm and assist our residents.