Present: Chair Jenifer Tilton Flood, Jessica Nixon, Julia Fiori, John Portella, Bryan Roche
The Communications Task Force met electronically for its monthly meeting on Wednesday, September 9, 2020, The Task Force discussed during their regularly scheduled meeting the following:
Newsroom campfire
Tilton Flood asked the group if they had any news to present for Roche, the Communications Officer, to pursue. The group did not have any items that were deemed worthy of additional coverage or follow up. Tilton Flood used the opportunity to share coverage earned from Roche's press release on the Maine Volunteer Leadership Conference. The purpose of the newsroom campfire, which was discussed during the August meeting, is to provide Task Force members with an opportunity to share news, topics or items of interest that can be shared or pursued deeper by the Communications Officer.
Communications Officer updates:
Tilton Flood asked Roche to provide updates on his progress since the last meeting. Roche shared the following:
- Promotion for the Maine Volunteer Leadership Conference is underway. Roche distributed a press release that was picked up by the Kennebec Journal/Morning Sentinel (LINK). Roche also shared that a targeted Google Ads campaign is underway with a $250 budget. Finally, Roche reported that he added information about the conference to 14 community calendars, which are made available by media outlets across the state.
- The AmeriCorps rebrand will take place on Sept. 29. Roche shared that he has briefed grantees and recommended that programs engage in the rebrand process as soon as possible. Roche presented the information during the September 3, 2020 AmeriCorps Technical Assistance meeting. Roche and members of the staff team are coordinating a rebrand kit for grantees to help them with the endeavor.
- The new Volunteer Maine website is in the process of being built. Roche added that he has been in constant communication with the vendor, InforME, to ensure the success of the project. Roche thanked the Task Force for their efforts in helping to create a new website organizational structure.
- Press release on AmeriCorps funding cycle has been picked up by three media outlets, including a feature by the Fiddlehead Focus on the Van Buren Resiliency Project's AmeriCorps planning grant. (LINK) (LINK) (LINK)
- Planning for the next AmeriCorps virtual recruitment fair is under way. ADDENDUM 9/10/20: After the meeting, the targeted date for the fair has been moved from Sept. 30 to mid-October to allow for more participation from AmeriCorps programs.
- Messaging map subcommittee (Fiori, Nixon, Roche) update: Roche shared that he asked the subcommittee to provide some thoughts on current messaging in order to shape next steps of the messaging map project. The goal of which is to create a visual document that clearly outlines messaging and messaging priorities. Roche shared findings with the group. One common theme that was revealed was that simpler wording, based off of current messaging, is needed to better tell the story of Volunteer Maine.
With no additional business, Tilton Flood thanked everyone for their efforts and participation. The next Task Force meeting will take place on Wednesday, October 14, 2020.