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BRIGHTON GETS A NEW WATER TREATMENT PLANT: In the summer of 2022, Brighton embarked on its largest capital improvement project in the city's history - replacing its aging water treatment plant with a new one that'll provide quality, sustainable water for at least the next 20 years. To help utility customers understand the need for and benefits of the $155 million project, I led the marketing, announcements, and education pieces of the project. I created the web page for the project, wrote press releases including on the groundbreaking and changes in water rates, created a FAQ page, developed social posts, came up with the new plant's tagline and more.
CITY RECOVERS POTENTIAL FRAUD: In what could have been a very different outcome, Brighton recovered potential fraud of about $348,000 in March of 2021. For transparency with the public, I wrote the press release for this incident detailing what had happened and the lessons learned. I worked closely with the finance and utilities departments, city attorney and city management in the strategizing of the messaging.
IN THE MEDIA - BRIGHTON RECEIVES MONEY FROM DENVER BRONCOS SALE: Following the sale of the Denver Broncos in June of 2022, Brighton received $454,084 as part of the stadium lease agreement. The contract required the Metropolitan Football Stadium District to distribute a portion of the sale back to the communities, like Brighton, that helped to fund the stadium. City staff wanted to share the good news with the public, so I wrote a press release and shared it on social media. As one of the first cities to publicize our share from the sale, we got many media inquiries, which I handled. Among the requests was an interview that I did with the local Fox Denver station.
COVID PSA: Following a spike in COVID-19-positive cases early on during the pandemic, this PSA was a call-to-action urging the Brighton, Colorado community to follow the CDC's social distancing guidelines. I concepted, wrote, shot, edited and promoted this video on social media.
LAUNCHING BRIGHTON'S TIKTOK: I'm constantly in search of new ways to connect the different demographics, both in how and where I present information. To appeal to the younger, social media saavy public, I launched our Brighton's TikTok, using the tagline "Small town feel, big heart real." In my first TikTok, I tried to give our City Council a fun, neighborly feel in a video edited to the "Full House" TV show opening theme song - check it out here.
NAME THAT SNOWPLOW CONTEST: In an effort to engage the community, I helped to launch the Brighton's inaugural Name That Snowplow Contest in the fall of 2021. I helped to come up with contest requirements, judging criteria and developed promotional materials, like press releases and social media content. To reach our younger target audience, I created a fun promotional video featuring the city's Public Works Director dressed as a snowman!
BRIGHTON BASICS - HIDDEN HISTORY: To celebrate the rich history of the city dating back to the 1800s, I pitched and launched a video series called "Brighton Basics." These videos ranged from celebrating a centenarian of the city and the historic train depot downtown to the unique artifacts of Brighton carefully housed in the museum vault.
WHAT'S GOING ON AT THE POND? What's normally a quiet spot to fish in Brighton turned into a flurry of activity - boats and surveyors created a lot of questions from the public of what was going on. In search of those answers, I shot, interviewed, write and edited a video that explained what was happening and the future of the fish in the pond.
TALK TO US TUESDAY: This monthly Facebook Live chat with different city departments is a way to update the community with the latest on projects and initiatives. Since the start of 2021, I have been the producer and host of this series. I come up with timely topic, book department staff for the chats, prepare questions, moderate the live chats and facilitate questions from the public as they come in.
COVID TESTING SITE WALK-THRU: In September of 2020, Brighton's new free COVID-19 drive-thru rapid testing site at Eagle View Adult Center opened to the public. There was confusion coming from the public of how the process worked, so I decided to explain into this video what to expect upon arrival. I scripted, shot, presented, edited and promoted this video on social media and on the city's community access channel.
SURVEYING THE COMMUNITY: In 2021, the City of Brighton conducted the National Community Survey and I lead the project as the main point person for the city. I collaborated closely with Polco NRC (National Research Council) to come up with a timeline, wrote press releases like on the launch and survey results, created social media content, developed a web page of final survey results and collaborated with Polco NRC to help them prepare for their presentations to the City Council.
CELEBRATING EARTH DAY: To inspire action to preserve our Planet Earth, I developed a two-week long series of events to encourage our community to be more environmentally-conscious. Because of the ongoing pandemic during 2021, many of the activities were socially distant. Among the events were a sapling and seeds giveaway, a Zoom webinar on xeriscaping and an Earth Day-themed poetry contest. To make these Earth Day weeks happen, I collaborated very closely with the city's Open Space and Forestry Department.
A WATER SCAM SURFACES: Through Facebook neighborhood groups, Nextdoor and by word-of-mouth, we discovered door hangers left at the homes of Brighton residents that falsely claimed possible water quality issues that affected people's health. I worked closely with the City Manager's Office, the City Attorney and the Utilities Department to determine the main points we wanted to get across in our messaging to the public. Based on our conversations, background information and test calls to the number on the flyer, I drafted this notification:
IN THE MEDIA - SINKHOLES IN THE CITY: After sinkholes opened up in a Brighton neighborhood, I addressed media inquiries and developed notifications and updates on the repairs for the public. To prepare, I collaborated closely with the city's Utilities Department and anticipated questions that would likely be asked.
Watch: Denver 7 News reported on the sinkholes, interviewing a resident and myself as a representative of the city.
Notifications to the public:
BLOGGING FOR NLC SMALL CITIES MONTH: Like for many other municipalities, COVID pandemic presented many challenges to Brighton. To share our story and how we as a city were able to overcome, I penned a blog for the National League of Cities' (NLC) Small Cities Month. My goal was to show how Brighton thought outside of the box to keep a sense of community - Read the blog here.
VETERANS DAY TRIBUTE: This video honors the service, sacrifice and dedication of Brighton veterans through seven first-hand accounts. I conceptualized, interviewed, shot and edited this video.
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