Agenda - Council - 09/13/2000 - Laserfiche WebLink

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I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I Minnesota Cities Week 2_000 "Building Qualit7 Communities" Qctober 8-14 Getting Citizens Involved-- Getting the Media's Attention The goal of Cities Week is to promote the value of cities and the crucial role they play in developing communities known as our home towns. It's also a time to remind citizens that their involvement is essential -- from helping in planning efforts, to volunteering, to holding office, to simply understanding and caring about the government that's closest to the people. Getting the attention of your local reporters and editors is essential to getting your residents to participate in your Cities Week celebration, not to mention the city's daily news and events. Below are some points to consider when planning your event(s) and how you want to publicize them. Center your celebration on news, something important to all citizens (and the media) such as: · a recent city accomplishment or an impor-[ant capital investment; · community volunteers; · look back on a recent challenge and celebrate the successful conclusion or involve citizens in workin§ to solve the problem; or · the cooperation among citizens during a recent community project. · Contact your schools, chambers of commerce, the library and other community organizations -- expand the celebration and involve them in the planning. · Circulate a calendar of events to media, civic groups, city staff, local businesses, schools, and other citizen gathering places. · Get your reporters and editors involved in the beginning -- designate a city contact person; invite repoCcers to planning meetin§s. Remember radio, television and cable groups. Basically, the more community members and groups that are involved in your events, the more chance they will get the deserved attention. And if your events focus on the newsworthy, your reporters will want to cover them. So share the news! -177-