Contact: Elaine Tricoli
Phone: (336) 373-2421

‘Conserve Water Now’ Campaign Honored by 3CMA

GREENSBORO, NC – (October 27, 2008) – The City of Greensboro has received two national awards for its recent “Conserve Water Now” campaign.

The campaign, which encouraged water conservation in the Triad area and statewide during the exceptional drought of 2007 and early 2008, was honored last week by the City-County Communications and Marketing Association (3CMA), a national organization made up of communications and marketing professionals from local government organizations. The campaign won two second place awards, one in the category of Marketing and Tools for a Community Issue and another in the category of Most Creative with Least Dollars Spent. The total cost of the campaign was $5,893.

Developed in-house by the Public Affairs Department with assistance from the Water Resources Department, the campaign featured four simple, yet powerful ads that were used on billboards, newsletters, posters, websites and television. The campaign was quickly adopted by other municipalities across the state to help conserve the dwindling water supplies. Eventually, the Governor’s office requested permission to use the campaign images, as well.

3CMA judges said the campaign was “both forceful (and) meaningful for constituents. Striking visuals helped enforce the messages without being overbearing.” Judges also said the ads worked well across a variety of platforms and praised the City for sharing the ads with others to help spread the message.

“We are flattered that our hard work was recognized by a national organization made up of our peers,” said Pat Boswell, director of the Public Affairs Department, “but the real credit goes to Greensboro’s residents and businesses, who were so diligent in conserving our water supplies during such a dire situation. So many people took their conservation efforts well beyond what was required by Greensboro’s water restrictions, and all of those efforts made the difference for our city.”

From the start of the campaign in October 2007 to the end of January 2008, City water customers reduced their water consumption by 21 percent through a combination of voluntaryconservation and mandatory water restrictions. This trend continued through March 2008 when Greensboro’s reservoirs approached normal levels and restrictions were relaxed.

 #  #  #

The City of Greensboro works in partnership with the community to build an increased quality of life for all residents by fostering an environment where inclusion, diversity, and trust are valued. As the seventh largest employer in Greensboro, the City has a dedicated professional staff of 2700 employees who maintain four core values of honesty, integrity, stewardship, and respect. The City of Greensboro is governed by a council-manager form of government where a mayor and eight council members act as the legislative body. For more information on the City of Greensboro, please visit us online at www.greensboro-nc.gov.