Public Information Officer: September 2024

Projects completed:

  • Supported Maine Climate Corps Coordinator in planning and logistics for the American Climate Corps delegate visit. Set up for Climate Corps Policy Roundtable at Viles Arboretum and supported the ACC's tour and visit of Maine Climate Corps programs in the greater Portland, Maine area. 
  • Heavy support, planning and logistics for AmeriCorps 30th Anniversary event at the Blaine House on September 27th including: design and ordering of commemorative items, engaged with Governor's staff to coordinate efforts, created agenda, engaged media and selecting/preparing speakers to meet day-of timeline. In collaboration with Grants Officer, helped manage logistics for secondary service project at Bond Brook.
  • Supported the commitment to service ceremony (a.k.a. swearing in of new members) which coincided with the Anniversary event described above. Effort included preparing certificates, working to select and prepare those who would lead the ceremony and managing the dual agenda.
  • Though engagement with the board and other staff during the Annual retreat, continued to become familiar with VM mission to better understand the support needed as well as build new working relationships within the group.
  • Manage social media, creating noteworthy posts celebrating accomplishments and in general promoting the VM missions and values to external audiences. 
  • Work with Task Force leadership to determine priorities and plan for collaborative efforts moving forward that meet mutual goals.
  • Created marketing collateral for use at the upcoming Maine Municipal Conference taking place the week of Oct. 1st.
  • Attended ASC and internal programming related meetings.

Issues to be aware of:

  • Lack of onboarding process for PIO's entering agencies creates some confusion that makes connecting with necessary resources difficult.
  • It has been difficult to establish routines for regular communication activities due to several challenges with technology, access to services and/or lack of documentation. Moving forward, it should be a priority to document systems/processes, even though it may slow down the work flow.

Major focus of effort for the next month:

  • The website is in need of updating. As the website is the public face of the organization, this task should become a priority.
  • Since starting in this post there has been a huge need to support a number of high profile events occurring in August, September and part of October. A major focus during the second part of October and beyond, needs to be in updating public facing information to ensure accuracy.