By GARRET JAROS/YachatsNews
YACHATS – Staying current with all things Yachats is getting easier as the city steps up its communication efforts with increased offerings and stylish new publication designs and colors.
Spearheading efforts to satisfy the information appetite of locals and visitors while also appealing to a broader audience is city manager Bobbi Price, who collaborated with Brett Cambria of Cambria Designs.
“I think having a communication strategy that connects with branding and a style guide is essential for the city of Yachats to maintain a consistent and professional image to the residents and stakeholders,” Price said when introducing the strategy at the city council’s meeting in August.
Price said the goal is to deliver accurate and timely information that keeps the public informed about the city’s plans, programs and events in a timely and coordinated fashion.
“We will expand the general visibility of the city,” Price said. “Inform the city of public services and resources available to them, promote the city’s achievements and activities, celebrating volunteers, staff and events of significance.”
Joining Price in the presentation to the council was Cambria, who lives in Yachats. She showed examples of new color schemes and sharper photography along with typography and iconography intended to help people more easily navigate the city’s website. The public will see the new look in online and print publications.
“You will see a more modern (city) logo and color palette that reflects the city’s commitment to progress while preserving the current logo as a symbol of tradition and heritage,” Cambria said. By using both the city can “appeal to a wider audience and cater to the preference of different demographics.”
To improve the city’s communication efforts, Price posted a survey on the city’s website and emailed it to a sampling of people in July.
“Some of the most important information we got back was that the city is not the primary resource for information of what’s happening in town,” Cambria said.
Survey results identified YachatsNews and Facebook as the primary sources people use to get information about the city and local events. Comments from the more than 100 people who responded included not relying so much on YachatsNews, using more diverse means of communication, conducting more surveys to gauge citizen interests (the city currently has five out), weekly updates, regular Facebook posts and help in navigating the city’s website.
“A lot of people don’t know how to navigate our website or how to get information from the city,” Cambria said. “And all respondents universally preferred receiving information through email newsletters, social media and e-news blasts.”
To help satisfy those requests, Price and Cambria have created a content calendar, email and social media templates and media policies to provide structure and guidelines to ensure messaging is consistent, timely and aligned with the city’s goals and objectives.
“I think it’s going to look amazing,” Cambria said. “I look forward to seeing it come to life…”
The city paid Cambria Designs $3,500 for its work in creating the new design and communication strategy.
Creating calendars and content will be a collaborative effort by city staff, who will bring information and ideas from their jobs and share in the writing of various publications.
“My idea is that we will all work together on this to start, and we might need to eventually contract with somebody who can help us with some of the communication legwork,” Price said.
The strategy is in the beginning of its implementation with regular posts on Facebook and Instagram, Price said. There will be three to five posts a week on those platforms, twice monthly e-blasts and monthly mailed and e-mailed newsletters to 900 current subscribers – the first of which was Tuesday. To subscribe go to the city’s website here.
The city’s website and its reader board in front of the commons will also be updated as needed.
“This is exciting,” said Mayor Craig Berdie. “Let the communication begin.”
- Garret Jaros is YachatsNews’ full-time reporter and can be reached at GJaros@YachatsNews.com
