Present
Commissioners: Chair Zakk Maher, John Portela
Staff: Bryan Roche
The Communications Task Force met electronically for its monthly meeting on Tuesday, July 12, 2022. The group discussed the following:
Monthly report
Maher invited Roche to report on communications activities from the months of May and June, as the Task Force was unable to meet in June.
The May report be can be accessed by using the following link -- access May report.
The June report be can be accessed by using the following link -- access June report.
Communications plan impacts
Roche shared that activity is starting to ramp back up, mainly due to the hire of new Maine Association of Broadcasters Executive Director Tim Moore and established messaging for service ad campaigns and recruitment, "An Apprenticeship for Life."
Roche reminded the group that due to the unforeseen circumstances impacting the public service announcement program, the campaign was not launched in January 2022. An alternative radio campaign with Blueberry Broadcasting is running through August, expected to yield around $18,000 in match funding.
Roche acknowledges that some goals may not be accomplished by August but expects better results for FY 22-23 efforts.
Policy updates
Maher did not have any national policy updates for the group.
Non-digital advertising plans
Maher invited Roche to share early details on the upcoming service corps focused advertising and recruitment campaign, "An Apprenticeship for Life."
Roche shared that there will be a heightened focus on physical and traditional advertising. Roche cited difficulty around reaching target audience on social media. The goal is to find advertising partners that can put messages in high-traffic, hard to miss areas.
The initial efforts being considered, budget depending:
- Advertisement in Portland and Bangor airports
- Radio ads (match-generating MAB PSA Jan. 2023 start)
- TV ads (match-generating MAB PSA Jan. 2023 start)
- On-bus and transportation center advertising in Bangor, Lewiston/Auburn and Portland areas
- Heightened visibility at career and college fairs
- Heightened visibility at cultural fairs and events
- Digital:
- Google Ads
- Higher-traffic, non-paid social media alternatives, such as Reddit and Spotify
- Organic (non-paid) social media postings
- Earned editorial opportunities
Match reporting
Maher invited Roche to provide a report on match generation. Roche shared that Moore, upon taking the MAB executive director role, helped to uncover a majority of the missing affidavits from Q4 2021.
Roche shared that $79,493 of new match has been discovered, which will go to the VG2 grant.
Moore is working to find a few more of the missing affidavits. If Moore is successful, the added funds will also go to VG2.
Editorial ideas/new content
After discussion, the group decided to proceed with an op-ed that supports the "Apprenticeship for Life" campaign.
Portela suggested using examples of successful alumni that support the message. The group agreed in the approach.
Roche volunteered to put together the shell and talking points for the op-ed to get work started. Roche added that the framework could lead to multiple pieces.
Next meeting
Tuesday, August 9, 2022 from 3 - 4 p.m (Addendum: Due to scheduling conflicts, the August meeting has been rescheduled to Tuesday, August 16 from 1 - 2 p.m.)