Award-winning science communicator. Medical writer/editor. Host and founder, National Assoc of Science Writers freelancers business meetup. Speaker and moderator. Plain language expert. Founder, WeGotThisSeattle.org
Social media win for Washington State Department of Transportation! I've long enjoyed their posts--doing some social media for Seattle Children's taught me a lot about the reach that engaging posts can have. Excited that this type of outreach is being appreciated--congrats! I also see this as a win for #PlainLanguage (I give talks to state agencies and STEM academics about the importance of plain language, best practices/principles, and techniques to improve your writing reach a broader audience). Did you know the average US adult reads at a 7th grade level? The average parent needs health information provided at a 6th grade level. The more complex the info, the simpler the language should be.
I was in a work meeting today when my notifications started going off left and right. What the heck? Well, it turns out lots of people were letting me know that WSDOT was just awarded the Social Media Team of the Year award at the Government Social Media LLC awards at their yearly conference in Palm Springs, the biggest conference of its kind in this country. To say I was surprised and humbled would be an understatement. I normally don't care much about awards, but this was a really big deal. You hear that what you're doing is admired but you never really know what that means. So for our team to be recognized by people I have so much admiration for, have learned a lot from and many of whom have become good friends, is really special. I'm so proud of the work that DeAnna Dailey and Sean Quinn have done over the past year, but really, I've always said the success of WSDOT social is a huge team effort. Most of the communicators at the agency play some role in social media, while lots of content comes from field crews. Jeremy Bertrand established what WSDOT social would be long before I got there, and leaders like Kris Rietmann Abrudan cleared the way and provided trust to allow it to thrive. I'm just so proud to have been a part of it. Here's what they said about the team (huge thanks to my good friend Bronlea Mishler, MEd - who won the Social Media Leadership Award at the conference - for sending some of the details to me and snapping a picture): THIS YEAR’S WINNING TEAM HAS BEEN AT THE FOREFRONT OF MAKING SOCIAL MEDIA FUN FOR GOVERNMENT FOR YEARS. WITH A RATHER UNIQUE STYLE OF VISUALS, THEY LED THE WAY IN HELPING THE PUBLIC UNDERSTAND OFTENTIMES LESS-THAN-INTERESTING INFORMATION THAT WOULD IMPACT THEIR DAY-TO-DAY. INFUSING HUMOR INTO THEIR STRATEGY, THEY’VE SHIFTED FROM A TWITTER-CENTRIC PRESENCE AND HAVE SUCCESSFULLY INTEGRATED TIKTOK AND INSTAGRAM INTO THEIR TOOL BELT. ALTHOUGH THE TEAM HAS EVOLVED OVER THE LAST YEAR, WITH A FAN FAVORITE LEAVING THE TEAM AND ANOTHER WELL-KNOWN SOCIAL GOVIE JOINING IT, THEY’VE CONSISTENTLY WORKED TO ELEVATE THE PROFESSION, SERVE THE PUBLIC AND SHARE THEIR EXPERIENCE AND EXPERTISE WITH THE WORLD THROUGH UNIQUE BEHIND-THE-SCENES BLOGS ON HOW THEY DO WHAT THEY DO #socialmedia #socialgov #goldenpostawards #gsmcon2024
