TAMIO Thoughts -

16Dec 2020 by Lauren

A Farewell to Tom Bryson

Uncategorized

Tuesday night, the TAMIO Board of Directors honored Tom Bryson with the organization’s prestigious Cheryl A. Soward Communicator of Distinction Award for his more than 30 years of service and leadership to government communication. The Board originally planned to present this at TAMIO’s 2020 conference in Arlington, but coronavirus had a different plan. So, instead, the award was presented at Tom’s last city council meeting. The change was fortuitous, as the entire Farmers Branch City Council and many of his colleagues were able to see the impact Tom has had on government communication that has reached far beyond the city limits. Like so many of us, Tom started his career in journalism covering local news and city government in northeast Louisiana, east Texas, and the Dallas-Fort Worth area. After six…

03Dec 2020 by Lauren

Going Through a Website Upgrade and Migration

Websites

Working through a website upgrade and migrating to a new vendor can be quite a challenge, but it can also be a rewarding endeavor and benefit to the citizens of your community. First, you will review presentations with different vendors to see what they have to offer and view demonstrations of their product. You should also go through a consultation with your current vendor to see what new features they may have to offer. It’s much easier work through redesign with your current vendor than to contract with a new vendor. Once you have chosen the vendor you want to work with, you should negotiate the services and charges. It’s always good to negotiate and not accept the first quote they give you. Many times, you can negotiate a lower…

12Nov 2020 by Lauren

Challenge Your Assumptions About What Works on Social Media

Social Media

Even before I worked for the City of Round Rock, I knew their social media game was the stuff of legend. When I joined the team in 2018, I realized that just about everything I thought I knew about social media was wrong. I’ve been fortunate to work with Austin Ellington, who is the member of our team who specializes in social media, and serves as one of our TAMIO teammates. Last year alone, he handled 27,048 inbound messages (including comments and direct messages) on Facebook, and a recent post that he put together on a new development in town had an organic reach of more than two million people! Although all of our shops are different, here’s what I’ve learned working alongside Austin that might help you too: Ditch…

16Sep 2020 by Lauren

Embracing Change, Whether You Want to or Not

Change

To be honest, if you were to tell me 10 years ago that I’d be writing a blog post about how change can be a good thing, I would have laughed at you. I’ve never loved change. I can vividly remember each time my parents told me we were moving out of state and how I thought my life was over, that it was all downhill from there. Not surprisingly, my life was not over in the third grade when we moved, when we moved again during high school, or after the other big changes in my life (and I’ve been through some big ones). No doubt, 2020 has given us all a new perspective. For us public information officers, the challenges seem to keep coming in what will perhaps…

14Aug 2020 by Lauren

The Power of “The Plan” – Thriving in a Year Like 2020

Strategic Plan

As we turned the corner into 2020, most of us had fresh visions for the new year with plans and goals to pursue. Aaaaahhhhh… but 2020 had other ideas! How many memes have we seen (or created) to define and describe this “unprecedented” year? Yes, that’s on the list of words we never want to use again. Our job is to adapt, pivot, and find ways to thrive, not just survive! Haven’t we witnessed the efforts of local restaurants in our communities to adapt to the world of “curbside or takeout,” and build an entirely new fan base with their efforts? Who would have dreamed that drive-in movies might make such a dramatic comeback? And don’t you wish you had bought stock in Zoom in 2019? I watched my local…