QC
Parkland Director of Communications Todd DeAngelis (center) interviews Mayor Rich Walker for the City’s “Mayor’s Minute” segment.
PHOTO COURTESY OF CITY OF PARKLAND
MUNICOMM
MESSAGING
The Power of Video
Communicators find creative ways to tell their city’s story by Kara Irby Florida League of Cities
T
here are many ways to tell the story of your community. With a handful of planning, a dash of purpose and a pinch of creativity, municipalities large and small can use video to share their message effectively. Communicating the message of your municipality doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive, but it does require intentionality and effort. The power and impact of video are unparalleled. According to Medium.com, the average viewer remembers 95% of a message when watched compared to 10% of the message when read. Municipalities across the Sunshine State are using videos to communicate important messages to their residents and visitors. From weather updates to community engagement nights, municipal communicators are getting creative and using more than just photographs and flyers to share what’s going on in their city, town or village. The City of Parkland recently launched its Mayor’s Minute segment on social media channels and in the local newsletter.
“The goal was to put out relevant info, in the Mayor’s voice, in small digestible chunks,” said Todd DeAngelis, Director of Communications for Parkland. DeAngelis created a one-minute interview-style segment to promote exciting events and key initiatives taking place in the city. Naming the segment “Mayor’s Minute” ensured the segment would remain concise to hold future creators accountable. He encourages communities looking to adopt something similar to be intentional about the title of their segments and to think ahead of the video elements that will be used. “If you can’t be visual … it’s probably not worth doing,” DeAngelis said. He also encourages posting completed videos a couple of different times on social media to reach various audiences. Time and resources are also important to consider when it comes to video production in your municipality. From brainstorming to closed captioning, DeAngelis estimates it takes about 10 hours from content ideas to completion to produce the “Mayor’s Minute.” It cost FOURTH QUARTER 2021 | QUALITY CITIES 47
