City Garden City Telegram
Tuesday September 18, 2018
Videos showing children standing in unity and a clown in a storm
drain won the City of Garden City two national “Savvy” awards for local
government communication projects this month.
A national network
of local government communicators, the City-County Communications &
Marketing Association, or 3CMA, administered and presented the awards
this month in Milwaukee. There were 700 entries in 40 categories,
according to a press release from the city.
Garden City earned a
first place award in the Video: One-time Special Programming category
for “Infinite Hope,” a video filmed at Bernadine Sitts Intermediate
Center, and a third place Award of Excellence in the Video: Public
Service Announcement category for “IT Stormwater PSA,” a video that
warned the public to be aware of what fell in their storm drains.
“Infinite
Hope” was made in response to letters fifth grade students in Shelburne
Falls, Mass., sent to Garden City expressing their shock and offering
support in the wake of last year’s failed terrorist plot to bomb Garden
Spot Apartments, the home of several dozen Somali immigrants.
Led
by Ashley Freburg, city communication and project manager, and Lauren
Lohfink, communications specialist, BSIC students in the video stood in
different locations throughout the school, reading the letters.“I
wish there was no people like this in the world but there just is, and I
assure you they don’t represent us. I wish we could all try to push
away our differences and those of others and come together,” students
read in the video.
According to the release, judges praised the
video’s script, production elements and creativity and called it
engaging and powerful. Text at the end of the video reached back to the
authors of the letters.
“Thank you, students of Buckland Shelburne
Elementary School, for caring enough to write to us. Continue
celebrating the ways differences can bring people together.”
The “IT Stormwater PSA” took a much more light-hearted approach.
Coming out a few weeks after the release of the film adaptation of
Stephen King’s “IT,” which features a scene where the evil clown
Pennywise drags a child into a storm drain, the video, blaring red,
slasher-style font, told locals to beware what fell into their own
drains. In the video, a strange arm in a storm drain threw out a
styrofoam cup, a tree branch, and a paper boat, before the camera panned
closer to see someone in a clown mask staring through the gap.
“Be careful what gets in your storm drain because ... IT could come
back to haunt you,” the video said, going on to explain pollutants in
storm drains could contaminate drinking water and clogged drains could
lead to water damage for property owners.
According to the city’s
release, judges said they appreciated the connection between a mundane
topic and culturally relevant movie.
City Manager Matt Allen praised Freburg and Lohfink for being able to excel in a pool of larger staffs and budgets.
“Receiving
two awards from the premier national organization for their profession,
and the fact that the two videos were very different in style and
purpose, is a testament to their creativity and overall talent,” Allen
said in the city’s release. “We are fortunate to have them creating new
and exciting ways to share public information and building a two-way
communications bridge with the citizens the city serves.”
Both videos are available on the city’s YouTube channel and Facebook page.