Communications Review

THE CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF NELSON
REQUEST TO APPEAR AS A DELEGATION

DATE: October 22nd, 2018, Committee of the Whole
TOPIC: City of Nelson Communications
PROPOSAL: Communications Review
PROPOSED BY: Jan Enns Communications
_____________________________________________________________________
ANALYSIS SUMMARY:
The City of Nelson has been working to improve how it can better inform and engage its
citizens. Communications and public engagement has been identified as key priorities in
the City’s Strategic Plan, Annual Reports and resource planning.
The City embarked on a Communications Review to identify the challenges and
opportunities associated with external communications.
BENEFITS OR DISADVANTAGES AND NEGATIVE IMPACTS:

The presentation is for Council and the public’s information.
COSTS AND BUDGET IMPACT - REVENUE GENERATION:

There is no cost associated with this presentation.
IMPACT ON SUSTAINABILITY OBJECTIVES AND STAFF RESOURCES:

Communications and public engagement has been identified as key priorities in the City’s
Strategic Plan.
OPTIONS AND ALTERNATIVES:

1. Receive and thank the presenter
2. Refer to staff with direction
ATTACHMENTS:
 Presentation working agenda
 City of Nelson Communications Review
 City of Nelson Communications Review – Appendix A Inventory
 City of Nelson Communications Review – Appendix B Interview Summaries
RECOMMENDATION:
That Council receives the presentation from Jann Enns Communications and thanks her
for the presentation.
AUTHOR: REVIEWED BY:
_______________________________ ___________________________
DEPUTY CORPORATE OFFICER CITY MANAGER
Working Agenda DRAFT
Committee of the Whole Meeting
Monday, October 22, 2018
Time Length Content
Purpose: Why Communications?
• Key reasons why comms is necessary
Introduction to process; What did we do?

• Brief overview of Communications Review - Purpose and
Process
• Review of exiting materials and channels
• Interviews with key staff
• What’s included – and what’s not (i.e. external
interviews)
• Intro Report and Appendices
Key Findings: What did we learn?

• Overview of key findings
• Current status sustainability
• Key areas for consideration
Recommendations: What does it mean?

• Quick overview of list
• Short term (low hanging fruit identified)
• Other recommendations (do external review – survey,
interviews)
Human Resources: How can we move this forward?

• Potential implications of current status
• Options for strategic and tactical positions
• Gradual transition – add half time 2019 budget, add additional
full-time 2020 budget
Next Steps: Where to from here?

• Q&A
City of Nelson
External Communications Review
PREPARED FOR:
City of Nelson
DATE:
October 22, 2018
PREPARED BY:
Jan Enns, MA, Principal
Jan Enns Communications
Email: jan@janenns.com
What does ‘good’
communications
look like?
(City of Nelson Interviewees)
What does ‘good’

communications
look like?
(City of Nelson Interviewees)
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CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................... 4
1. Communications Review: Introduction ............................................................................... 6
2. Methodology ....................................................................................................................... 8
3. Corporate Priorities & Policies Related to Communications & Engagement ...................... 9
4. Current Communications Resources ................................................................................ 11
5. Key Findings..................................................................................................................... 13
6. Section Overview: Recommendations, Inventory, Priorities & Resources ........................ 15
7. Recommendations............................................................................................................ 16
8. Identifying Priorities: 2018-2019 ....................................................................................... 25
9. Human Resources Allocation Options .............................................................................. 27
10. APPENDIX..................................................................................................................... 30
Appendix A: Communications and Social Media Inventory and Assessment ..................................... 30
Appendix B: Interview Summaries .................................................................................................... 30
Appendix C: Proposed Organization Chart with Communications Complement ............................... 30
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The City of Nelson has been working to improve how it can better inform and engage its citizens.
Communications and public engagement has been identified as key priorities in the City’s Strategic
Plan, Annual reports and resource planning.
Over the past few years, the City has grown a solid foundation for communications and engagement
that includes proactive public engagement campaigns, an active social media presence and
progressively streamlining the City’s outreach and brand.
More recently, the City has identified the need to develop a better understanding of its external
communications – how the City informs and engages it citizens. To that end, the City has embarked on
a Communications Review to identify the challenges and opportunities associated with external
communications.
This report provides an overview of the external communications and public engagement work being
done by staff – what and how they are communicating. While it does not include any audiences
analysis – how those communications are being received – it is intended to provide a high-level
overview of what’s working and areas
for attention. It is the first step of
many potential steps to improve how
the city can better inform and engage
with its citizens.
The Key Findings and

Recommendations are based on the
information gleaned from interviews
with teams of key department
contacts and Mayor and Council
members. A high-level review of the
inventory of current communication
and engagement systems, channels
and tools was also undertaken to
determine what was working well and
areas for attention.
The Key Findings identify common

themes from the interviews and
opportunities for improvement. The
Key Findings are included in the body
of the report. The interview
summaries are included in the
Appendix.
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The Inventory and Assessment provides observations about the tactics being used, including the nine
different social media sites being run by the City and its departments/affiliates (e.g. Library, Police,
Fire, Transit). The Inventory and Assessment is included in the Appendix.
The Recommendations address the themes, challenges and opportunities voiced by interviewees, the
assessment of the communications inventory, and supported by leading practices in the field of
communications and engagement. These Recommendations speak to Council priorities, assigning
resources, developing policies and procedures and providing opportunities to build core competencies
and tools to enhance the work being done by staff to inform and engage residents, business and key
stakeholders.
Finally, in order to assist with how the information might be considered, this report includes
recommended Short and Longer-Term Priorities on how to continue to build the strong foundation for
communications and engagement. It also provides options for Human Resources Allocation for
consideration on how to address these communication priorities.
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1. COMMUNICATIONS REVIEW: INTRODUCTION
Public engagement and communications is important to the City of Nelson. Nelson City Council
identified communications and engagement right from the start in their Strategic Plan and Priorities for
2014-2018 and again the 2017 Strategic Plan Update. More recently, “
Council and senior staff completed a strategic review where Achieve Excellence in
communications was identified as a key area for attention. Overall, the City Governance
goal is to promote a culture of social and public engagement to ensure A strong governance
that residents and businesses are informed, and provided ample model that is based on
opportunity to be part of Council’s decision‐making process. the principles of
openness, fairness, and
Over the past few years, the City has taken a number of proactive steps to accountability and that
improve communications, including reallocating a part-time ensures informed
Communications Coordinator to develop, implement and assist on a wide decision making
range of communications and engagement activities. throughout the
organization and draws
on the energies of citizen
Building on this foundation, the City has undertaken a Communications
participation.
Review. The purpose of the Communications Review is to identify how the
City currently informs and engages the community, and to assess the City of Nelson
Strategic Goals #4
quality and quantity of external communications and seek
recommendations for consideration.
To achieve these objectives the following was undertaken:

• Conducted a high-level review of the current systems, tools and efforts directed at the City’s
external communications.
• Identify challenges and opportunities to improve how the City communicates with external
audiences and stakeholders.
• Provide key findings, recommendations and priorities for consideration.
Why Communicate?
Investing in communications and engagement is a hallmark of organizational excellence (Grunig,
James E.). Communications is a strategic business and risk management planning process that helps
ensure delivery of accurate and consistent information and provides opportunities for two-way
communications and engagement.
Clear, consistent and relevant information also helps build trust and strengthen reputation. It
reduces time and resources spent on issues management, damage control and repair. The PR Rule of
Thumb is that for every hour you spent strategically and proactively planning communications, you
can save eight to 10 hours later. More and more local governments are taking steps to ensure their
communities are informed and have opportunities to be engaged on matters that are important to
them. Public demand for information about government decision-making is also increasing (BC
Auditor General).
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Please note, this report represents a high-level review of the City of Nelson’s key external
communications activities – how and what they communicate from the perspective of the people
interviewed, as well as a review of current channels and tools and leading practices in communications.
This report does not include audience market research or analysis – how those communications are
received. Those are additional activities that may be considered in the future along with other steps
that may include the development of communications policies, plans and procedures.
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2. METHODOLOGY
The following steps were taken to inform the considerations and recommendations provided in this
report:
▪ Review of current print communications materials created by internal departments including
posters, brochures, handouts, etc.
▪ Review of online communications materials, including the website, and the nine social media
sites hosted by different departments within the City.
▪ Review of communications and consultation policies, procedures, planning processes, resources
and training opportunities.
▪ Group interviews with Mayor and Council members, key staff from each department. (See
Appendix for list of interviewees and summary of interviews.)
The interviews provided a greater understanding of current

communication practices and identify areas for potential
improvement. They helped uncover individual beliefs,
perceptions and behaviours about communications practices
using a modified Appreciative Inquiry (AI) approach. Interview
questions were structured to identify what is working well and
what can be done to improve communication efforts with the
public. AI focuses on the positive to identify what the
organization wants to improve upon, as opposed to a focus on
the negative or what isn’t working.
The interview with Mayor, Council members and CAO was

approximately one half-day, while the department team
interviews ranged in length from 30 to 60 minutes.
In order to maximize the time available for each of the

interviews, a handout was prepared summarizing the inventory
of external communications examples including strategic communication practices, implementation
and resources. This was reviewed by and with the interviewees as a starting point for the discussion.
The introduction also included a brief discussion to clarify a common understanding of what is meant
by “communications,” and what communication tools they currently use (e.g., web site, news releases,
newsletters) to start the process.
There was a high level of energy and engagement amongst all participants, providing for robust and
diverse conversations. Mayor, Council members and all the employees interviewed are passionate
about their work, their vision and their desire to improve how they can better inform and engage with
their respective publics, and the quality and quantity of the communications and engagement they
provide.
The summary of the interviews can be found in Appendix B. The key themes are reported in this
document as Key Findings and Recommendations.
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3. CORPORATE PRIORITIES & POLICIES RELATED TO COMMUNICATIONS &
ENGAGEMENT
The City’s Vision, Mission and Values clearly identify sustainable service delivery and good governance
as key business drivers, recognizing the importance of stakeholder relationships – both internal and
external to the organization. Of Council’s four strategic goals, the goal to ‘Achieve Excellence in City
Governance,’ most closely addresses communications and engagement. In addition, communications
and engagement is integral to achieving all strategic goals.
Key actions related to communications and engagement in the Strategic Plan include:
• Develop strategic partnerships and positive working relationships with businesses, community
groups and many government organizations who work with, for and in Nelson.
• Employee training that supports the implementation of strategic directions.
• Encourage citizen and neighbourhood engagement so that residents contribute to the affairs of
the whole community.
• Provide volunteer programs that engage and retain volunteers in a way that reflects the
changing nature of our community.
• New public engagement opportunities and initiatives that increase public participation,
including expanding our social media presence.
• Improve customer service and enhance efficiency and effectiveness through innovation, high
customer service standards, and a commitment to continuous improvement.
• Focus on the City’s customer service values and their
Organizational Excellence
application across departments and services.
• Continue to grow on-line options to allow customers Research in the field of public
to do business in the City. relations shows that excellence in
management works hand-in-hand
with excellence in communications.
Currently, there are limited policies or procedures in place to
Studies by the International
support these priorities. While there are guidelines for
Association of Business
managing and responding on social media, there are no
Communicators (IABC) and the
formal policies in place to provide direction for staff on
Canadian Public Relations Society
communications and engagement. Nor are there
(CPRS), show that practicing
organization-wide procedures in place on how to implement
excellence in communications and
communications. The use of brand guidelines are evolving
public relations helps organizations
with the use of simple templates for ads and posters,
achieve overall goals and objectives.
although this is not consistent throughout the organization.
Establishing a culture of
communications and engagement as
That said, there are a number of communication and
a way of doing business can help the
engagement plans developed for high profile, high impact
City of Nelson achieve its strategic
projects. These are used to successfully guide and coordinate
priorities and tactical goals.
communications and engagement activities related to that
specific project.
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City of Nelson Vision, Mission, Values and Actions, 2014-2018
Source: 2017 City of Nelson Council Strategic Plan Update
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4. CURRENT COMMUNICATIONS RESOURCES
The City has a limited number of communications resources to support Council’s Vision, Mission,
Values and Actions. These include:
▪ One part-time position for internal, external and Council communications (PTCC: Ginger Lester).
▪ Department staff contacts for social media administration (City, Library, Police, Fire, Youth Centre).
▪ Department staff time used for communications on various projects such as Official Community
Plan or Neighbourhood Plan consultation, public notices, etc.
▪ Customer Service Representatives that function as a ‘one-stop’ source for information about City
programs and services.
▪ One part-time position for Nelson Hydro’s EcoSave Program Coordinator.
▪ Staff resources for the Nelson and District Youth Centre and Youth Employment Centre.
While there are a few positions allocated to communications, such as the Part-time Communications
Coordinator or EcoSave Program Coordinator, there are also a number of staff who are doing
communications and engagement work for their projects. The amount of time spent on
communications carried out by department staff is unknown, however conversations suggest that it is
noteworthy. The budgets for each of these functions are part of that specific department’s budget and
the true cost of resources for communications, both human and financial, is unknown. Concentrating
these communications in one or two specialists can reduce the time spent by department staff.
In addition, the City has engaged outside contractors and consultants to leverage the capacity of the in-
house team. This may include graphic designers, videographers and other communications consulting
services. While adding consultants is often necessary, especially for communications and engagement
on major or ongoing projects or tactical work such as graphic design or video production, it does
require staff time for onboarding and providing content.
Suggestions for increasing the staffing complement to meet desired communications outcomes are
included in the section 9. Human Resources Allocation Options.
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City of Nelson Organization Chart May 2018
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5. KEY FINDINGS
This report focuses on external communications – how each department within the organization is
connecting with its publics, whether print, online or in-person, from the perspective of Council,
management and staff.
A number of themes about communications and engagement emerged during the interviews and form
the basis for the strategic and tactical recommendations. These included the following:
Solid Foundation
There is a solid foundation for the communication program, with many proactive
communications practices already happening.
▪ Good use of multiple channels (website, social, media).
▪ Variety of well-established tactics in use (news releases, newsletters, video, signage,

branding).
▪ Strong relationships (media, publics, Council, internal).
▪ Part-time Communications Coordinator as key resource.
Link to Strategic Priorities “How do we make it

In general, communications are linked to Council priorities as well easier for the
as Master Plans and OCP goals. Key messages are used to support community and Council,
these priorities and plans. so they can see how it
fits with the overall
Use Communications Resources Wisely
vision and goals – and
In order to build and formalize the communications program,
resources must be used for the highest and best use. This means that it fits?”
planning the most effective use of staff resources, external
contractors and consultants.
Formalize the Communications Program

While the foundation is set, it is time to formalize the communications program with policies
and procedures and an overarching communications plan to guide the communications work
with the organization and to provide direction for staff.
Organize for Success

Build on this growing foundation with easy-to-access how-to information for staff, including
templates, checklists and guides.
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Meet Citizens Where They Are
In order to foster community dialogue and ensure residents and businesses have the
information they need and want, the communications and engagement program will need to
find out where residents prefer to get their information and meet residents where they are.
This may be information, such as the content and the grade level, the channels they use, such
as the website or social media, or the physical locations easiest for them to attend.
Deal with Issues

When issues arise, it is important that staff are trained and
able to speak to the issues in the community and the media. PR Rule of Thumb
Proactive use of communications helps prevent the loss of For every 1 hour spent
time, resources and reputation.
planning
Develop Crisis Communication Plan communications
A crisis communication plan is needed for the areas of strategically upfront,
highest risk for the you can save 8 to 10
organization. This could be for a tangible as well as a hours in managing the
reputational crisis. issues and damage
control down the road.
Focus on Proactive Communications
As the communications program continues to develop, there can be a shift from reactive and ad
hoc communications to proactive communications. This includes strategically planning to tell
Nelson’s good news stories in unique and creative ways.
Set the Stage for Engagement

There has already been great engagement work undertaken in the community but the program
needs to continue to build and standardize. A larger number of staff need formal
communications and engagement skills.
Empowering Our People and Partners

Everyone who works for the City, represents the City or partners “ Communications
with the City is an ambassador for the City. Keeping these key should become a habit.”
contacts ‘in the loop’ with the latest information will expand the
reach, consistency, and credibility of the City’s message.
Exploring New Ideas

As well, the conversations inspired a number of new ideas are captured in this report.
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6. SECTION OVERVIEW: RECOMMENDATIONS, INVENTORY, PRIORITIES &
RESOURCES
Overview
The following Recommendations are based on the information in the Key Findings section and on best
practices in communications and engagement.
In addition to this section, an Inventory Assessment was also conducted of the existing
communications and engagement tactics. With the exception of the Social Media review, the
recommendations from the Inventory and Assessment are included in the following tables. The
assessment of specific social media sites were kept separate given the uniqueness of this channel and
the different organizations involved.
Next these Recommendations are summarized into suggested Short-Term and Longer-Term Priorities
for consideration.
And finally, a further overview of potential Human Resource Allocation Options are provided for
consideration.
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7. RECOMMENDATIONS
Key Findings Strategy & Tactics Recommendations
Solid Foundation
Continue to build on this strong ▪ Establish priority actions and resources. See section on
foundation. Priorities for suggested key action items.
▪ Establish a next steps and timeline for implementation.
Link to Strategic Priorities
Strengthen link to Council ▪ Create Council priority document and circulate to managers
Strategic Priorities, and Master and staff who work on communications.
Plans and Strategies. ▪ (In-progress) Create ‘Council Highlights’ document to be
released immediately following each Council meeting. Use this
document to promote Council priorities and decisions, and as
an information update for internal and external audiences.
Can also be used to help communications identify issues.
▪ Create key message bank to best reflect this connection and
help explain the ‘why’ behind City initiatives.
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Use Communications
Resources Wisely
Review communications ▪ Review Communications resources and consider at a minimum
resources and plan for highest increasing one Part-time Communications Coordinator to Full-
and best use of both internal time. Consider augmenting with communications budget
and external supports. currently within Departments. This position needs to be
closely aligned with Senior Management Team in order to
provide the maximum benefit of communications (a hallmark
of ‘Excellence in Communications’ - IABC, CPRS).
▪ Undertake staff resource planning for communications and
identify opportunities to enhance in future. This may include
identifying to what degree communications is a centralized
function and what would continue to be done by the
department.
▪ Consider expanding/adding a new Full-time position, such as a
Communications and Public Engagement Manager position to
expand and leverage the communications and engagement
strategy throughout the organization and optimize Council’s
strategic priorities.
▪ Build communications support through a gradual transition. In
addition to a minimum of one full-time Communications
Coordinator, actions to consider (or in progress) include:
▪ Identify internal resources (i.e. for social media and
website posting)
▪ Identify potential external resources and when to use
(i.e. outside consultant for communications and
engagement planning, implementation, graphic design,
videography, writing, etc.).
▪ Amalgamate existing resources used for
communications and use to fund central
communications staffing.
▪ Allocate percentage of project budgets to
communications.
▪ Short-term support contracted by project.
▪ Short and longer-term contract support.
▪ Part-time staff hire or re-deploy to back-fill.
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Formalize the Communications
Program
Develop and implement ▪ Need policies and procedures to guide work and provide
policies, procedures and a plan direction for staff (media, social media – including who gets to
to provide direction. start a new channel, overarching Corporate communications,
engagement).
▪ Develop Strategic and Operational Communications Plan to
coordinate communications and engagement policies,
procedures and practices.
▪ Develop Internal Communications Plan to identify, coordinate
and optimize internal communications.
▪ Include Communications as part of the quarterly Managers
Meetings to review communications procedures for current
projects and implement suggestions for improvement or new
ideas.
▪ Develop an organization-wide planning calendar to schedule
communications and engagement for campaigns, activities
and events. Use this to coordinate outreach, surveys, meetings
etc.
▪ Develop communication and / or engagement plans for all
major projects.
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Enable our team with enhanced ▪ Develop Nelson Brand Guidelines (include visual identity,
access to communications and writing style guide, how images are used and a set of
engagement tools, including standardized templates for self-use in the various business
‘self-serve’ options. units).
▪ Provide orientation on Branding and Writing Guidelines,
particularly for people writing website, social media posts,
external promotional documents, to ensure a consistent
‘voice’ and ‘look’ for the City. Consider one common editor to
review all copy prior to publication (capacity dependent).
▪ Develop standard templates for: news releases, ads, posters,
Project Updates (including how to succinctly provide the
project history), Briefing Notes and timelines (a visual timeline
for an extended project like Hall Street to show progress over
time), Fact Sheets (for the budget for example) and ‘Quick Key
Messages’ (some already in place for Council, key staff and
front line staff to provide accurate, relevant and timely
information on current events and incidents).
▪ Develop guides: checklists of tools available, guides on how to
use, timing of distribution (Council, internal contacts notified
first), etc. The social media response guidelines and media
contact lists are already in place and need to be included in
reminders to staff as they are updated.
▪ Streamline review and approval systems: Ensure consistent
procedure for reviewing and approving communications and
engagement plans and materials, including Council
notification.
▪ Develop key message bank: samples of holding statements
and other standard key messages and boilerplate for news
releases. Include messaging for ‘Public Hearing Preamble’ (e.g.
brief history of project process, what has been done to inform
and engage key audiences). Also include ‘rules of engagement’
for a Public Hearing to be read at start of meetings (some
already in place).
▪ Maximize the use of the Nelson Newsletter. Use the calendar
to schedule production dates and content. Consider moving to
an online version, to complement the PDF version that is also
used as a poster.
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▪ Expand the use of a branded Project Update, similar to Hall

Street Updates to provide accurate, relevant and timely
information for Council, community and internal audiences on
major projects.
▪ Make full use of Shared Communications Drive as a central
repository. Provide these ‘self-serve’ tools for key internal staff
to use (see above) via email with instructions and other
reminders.
▪ Continue to repurpose existing content across channels. This
would include using content form articles in Nelson Newsletter
as scheduled social media posts.
▪ Continue to build photo bank for use in publications, website
and on social.
▪ Clarify process for external communications reviews and
approvals (e.g., ads and news releases provided to
Communications Coordinator with time to develop and or
review prior to sending to media).
▪ Clarify the process and people responsible for regular website
content updating.
▪ Confirm purpose of multiple social media sites: purpose,
personas (see Social Media section in Appendix A: Inventory
and Assessment).
▪ Clarify the process and people responsible for posting,
monitoring and responding to social media. City page may
require more resources and or train and enable department
contacts if feasible.
▪ Provide social media orientation and training to enhance
engagement (e.g. use of pictures, videos, questions and call to
actions, use of hashtags, sharing other sites, etc.), as well as
monitoring and managing sensitive and potential issues.
▪ Overall, continue to build communication core competencies
in the organization (media and messaging training, public
engagement, communication planning etc.). Expand training
and use of digital communications tools such as Facebook ads
to increase engagement.
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Meet Citizens Where They Are
Know your audience and ▪ Identify opportunities to better understand your audience,
provide the information and such as a benchmarking survey to determine how they want to
engagement they need and receive information. Consider a common question on all
want. department surveys and open house exit surveys to
benchmark results e.g., How do you want to receive
information from the City?
▪ Go where people are (channels or in person) for engagement.
▪ Provide information (the content and the grade level) as
needed.
▪ Monitor residents sentiment (media, social etc.), and respond.
▪ Establish metrics and methods to measure and evaluate
success of communications and engagement efforts.
Deal with Issues
Use proactive communications ▪ Include Communications Coordinator as part of Agenda

to better manage issues before Review meeting to scan for issues and potential opportunities
they arise. to leverage solutions and good news stories. Can also prepare
the Council Highlight from the content provided.
▪ Provide issues management and messaging training for key
staff.
▪ Include issues and mitigation scans as part of project planning.
▪ Focus on customer service to reduce issues.
▪ Increase liaison with staff, including Customer Service
Representatives (CSRs), to be better attuned to ‘early
warnings,’ and procedures on what to do with that
information (e.g. regular department meetings, ability to
contact supervisor and chain of command notifications).
▪ Provide orientation for all staff and spokesperson training for
key staff.
▪ Set up key message bank with holding statements.
▪ Clarify use and main persons responsible for NotifyMe and
Nelson Emergency Notification.
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Develop Crisis Communication
Plan
Have a crisis communications ▪ Identify potential crises and high risk events.
plan in place, and practice.
▪ Develop crisis communications plan, including key message
holding statements.
▪ Provide orientation for all staff and training for key staff,
including related external stakeholders (e.g. RDCK).
▪ Clarify use and main persons responsible for NotifyMe and
Nelson Emergency Notification, as well as integration with
RDCK alert program.
Focus on Proactive
Communications
Support proactive ▪ Host an annual organization-wide communications planning
communications and the ability session to identify major activities planned for coming year(s).
to tell Nelson’s story. Use this to review communications, identify overlap, and
opportunities to coordinate communications and resource
allocation.
▪ Develop an annual communications and engagement planning
calendar across all Departments to ensure adequately timed
to avoid overlap of messages and potential for consultation
fatigue.
▪ Continue to build communications and engagement channels
(e.g. social, website, video, earned and paid media coverage,
key message bank, checklist).
▪ Find opportunities to tell Nelson’s story.
▪ Continue and expand leveraging each tactic on multiple
channels (e.g. news release with pictures posted on website
and TV at entrance, and shared on social media channels,
website, request that other affiliate social media sites also
share if appropriate (e.g. library, police, RDCK, etc.).
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Set the Stage for Engagement
Build on the ongoing ▪ Build engagement program (policy and procedures) with a
communications and two-way communications focus, using IAP2 as a foundation.
engagement planning. Consider adding “Level of Public Engagement’ or ‘Level of
Consultation” as a heading on Council reports.
▪ Build internal capacity to identify and implement
requirements for successful communications and engagement.
This would include planning communications and consultation
at the outset of a project, proactively managing issues,
providing ongoing key messages and updates, identifying and
orienting spokesperson and implementation as required.
▪ Provide training in communication and consultation planning
for project leads, including media and messaging using IAP2 or
similar. (Note: Part-time Communicators Coordinator is
booked for IAP2 training in November 2018).
▪ Develop communications and engagement planning templates
for project planning.
Empowering Our People and

Partners
Ensuring our people and ▪ Use Council Highlights as a tool to help internal audience stay
partners are in the loop. ‘in the loop.’
▪ Enhance internal communications e.g. sharing of key messages
and organization-wide key messages at regular staff meetings.
▪ Provide staff orientations for major projects cross-department,
answering internal questions.
▪ Establish procedures for notification of major events or
incidents (the ‘No Surprise Rule’). Includes procedures for
advance or follow up notification of media interviews or
comment threads on social media.
▪ Review use of Jostle to ensure use is integrated and optimized.
▪ Identify opportunities to inform key external partners (e.g.,
Regional District, Rotary Club, etc. depending on the
circumstances).
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Exploring New Ideas
Explore new ideas where ▪ Explore technical solutions such as issues and complaint
appropriate and resourced. tracking software to better manage responses.
▪ Host Council Brown Bag events where people can learn more
The following were identified about a particular topic.
by interviewees.
▪ Mail out year-end updates to homes.
▪ Develop a strategy for ‘street culture.’
▪ Engage the community in ‘Participatory Budgeting.’
▪ Consider free Wi-Fi on Baker Street, with a ‘splash page’ for
City initiatives.
▪ Provide a section on the website for visitors to Nelson.
▪ Consider ‘art’ on sidewalks
▪ Consider using ‘tree wraps’ with information placed around
trees that are to be removed.
▪ Increase the use of Jostle. Consider other technologies for
sharing ideas and information such as ‘Thought Exchange.’
▪ Add key messages to other communication pieces such as the
garbage tags.
▪ Consider Respectful Workplace training.
24 | P a g e
8. IDENTIFYING PRIORITIES: 2018-2019
Given the wide range of recommended strategies and actions, setting priorities will help provide
guidance for potential implementation.
The following provides an overview of the priority strategies that could be tackled in the short-term,
supported by a few key tactics to build on current communications. This fall is a particularly busy time
for municipalities across BC with local government elections being held on October 20 th, so timelines
are suggested here only as a guide. While these would require further review and discussion with the
team in conjunction with decisions around resource allocations, they are presented here as a starting
point for discussion on how the City could proceed. Timelines here are suggested only as a guide. The
actual timing would be largely dependent on the human resources dedicated to the work (see next
section: Human Resources Allocation Options).
Identifying Priorities: Short-term Quick Wins Suggested Implementation

Timelines for 2018/2019
▪ Review document and establish a timeline for next steps ▪ Fall 2018 / Spring 2019
and implementation ▪ In-house and external
▪ Expand current Part-time Communications Coordinator to resources (Branding
Full-time to provide immediate support (augment with Guidelines; formalized
Departmental communications budgets (if applicable) templates; facilitated
session).
▪ Include Communications Coordinator as part of the Agenda
Review committee to scan for opportunities to promote the
good news and scan for issues.
▪ (In-progress) Develop Council Highlights update using the
information from the Agenda Review meeting and Council
outcomes.
▪ Formalize branding guidelines and produce suite of
templates for self-serve use.
▪ Hold planning meeting with senior managers and project
leads to identify 2019 plans as part of the budget process.
Identify opportunities for collaboration and coordination
and reduce overlaps and gaps in outreach activities.
Develop communications calendar that would be used to
identify major campaigns, projects and ongoing events and
activities. Use the calendar to coordinate tools such as
publication of the Nelson City Newsletter and social media
posting. Provide orientation on Branding Guidelines and
‘self-serve’ tools for use.
25 | P a g e
▪ Include Communications staff in Quarterly Management
Meetings to identify, assist and monitor communications
and engagement activities.
▪ Review resources and add submission for 2019/2020 budget
(manager and/or coordinator) and placement in the
organization.
▪ Continue to monitor and respond on social media.
Identifying Priorities: Longer-term 2019 onward
▪ Develop suite of administrative communication policies in ▪ 2019 onward
conjunction with corresponding strategic plans (corporate ▪ In-house and external
comms, media relations, internal, engagement, social resources
media).
▪ Create Council Strategic Priority document and circulate to
staff.
▪ Develop 5-year external communication strategy and
corporate communication policy.
▪ Develop Engagement strategy and policy.
▪ Develop 5-year internal communication strategy and policy.
▪ Formalize media relations program (spokesperson list,
training) and policy.
▪ Develop training plan to build core competencies (how to
for communications and engagement; media training for
key staff and project leads as identified).
▪ Develop social media strategy/guidelines and policy.
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9. HUMAN RESOURCES ALLOCATION OPTIONS
The following flow chart provides three potential options for allocation of human resources necessary
to achieve the short and longer-term priorities as well as ongoing work.
For purposes of this report, communications work is divided into two main types: Strategic Work and
Tactical Work. Strategic and tactical work is closely linked, like two-sides of the same coin. There is
tactical and practical side to developing strategy, as well as some strategy around implementation of
the tactical work. Strategic work typically involves planning and leadership. Tactical work typically
involves implementation.
In assessing the Key Findings and Recommendations, there is both strategic and tactical work required.
From this stems three options for resourcing the work that could be done:
▪ Full-time position that is primarily strategic
▪ Full-time position that includes both strategic and tactical work
▪ Part-time position that includes primarily tactical work.
While the list of tasks is not exhaustive, it is intended to provide an overview of the potential
opportunities to resource the desired communications outcomes for consideration.
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HUMAN RESOURCES ALLOCATION OPTIONS (CONTINUED)
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Full-time Position. Primarily Strategic Full-time position. Both Strategic and Tactical ** PT Position. Primarily Tactical
Priorities: Short-term and Ongoing Priorities: Short-term and Ongoing Priorities: Short-term and Ongoing
(Expand on current, shift to more (Expand on Current) (Overview of Current)
strategic/planning and less tactical)
▪ Communications as part of the Agenda ▪ Communications as part of Agenda Review and ▪ Maintain Council Highlights
Review and Management Meetings Quarterly Management meetings update using the information
▪ Maintain Council Highlights, update using the from the Agenda Review
▪ Formalize branding guidelines
information from the Agenda Review meeting and meeting and Council outcomes
▪ Identify 2019 plans as part of the budget
Council outcomes ▪ Provide limited
process
▪ Develop, implement and monitor (limited**) communications guidance and
▪ Develop, oversee, implement and/or monitor
communications and engagement activities assistance on use of templates,
communications and engagement activities
▪ Formalize branding guidelines content, key messages,
▪ Reduce overlaps and gaps in outreach external resources and
activities, approvals and metrics ▪ Produce suite of templates for self-serve use
approvals
▪ Develop communications calendar ▪ Continue to monitor and respond on social media.
▪ Continue to monitor and
▪ Develop in-house and external resources ▪ Reduce overlaps and gaps in outreach activities,
respond on social media
(branding guidelines; formalized templates; approvals and metrics
▪ Develop communications calendar Priorities: Long-term and Ongoing
key messages; facilitated session)
▪ Monitor communications and
Priorities: Long-term and Ongoing ▪ Develop in-house and external resources (branding
engagement activities
▪ Develop suite of administrative guidelines; formalized templates; key messages;
collaterals; facilitated session) ▪ Produce suite of templates for
communication policies
self-serve use
▪ Create Council Strategic Priority document Priorities: Long-term and Ongoing
▪ Develop suite of administrative communication ▪ Produce materials
and circulate to staff
policies ▪ Continue to provide limited
▪ Develop 5-year External Communication
▪ Create Council Strategic Priority document and assistance to departments and
strategy and Corporate Communication
circulate to staff Council
policy
▪ Develop Engagement strategy and policy ▪ Develop 5-year External Communication strategy and
Corporate Communication policy *Plus consulting funds for
▪ Develop 5-year Internal Communication
▪ Develop Engagement strategy and policy additional strategic and / or tactical
strategy and policy
work
▪ Formalize Media Relations program, incl. ▪ Develop 5-year Internal Communication strategy and
Crisis Communications and Issues Mgmt. policy
▪ Develop training plan to build core ▪ Formalize Media Relations program, incl. Crisis
competencies Communications and Issues Management
▪ Develop social media strategy/guidelines and ▪ Develop training plan to build core competencies
▪ **Combination position is
policy ▪ Develop social media strategy/guidelines and policy more flexible but will require
▪ Manage ongoing Communications and ▪ Manage and or supervise ongoing Communication more time to complete
Engagement function and Engagement function strategic work as outlined since
▪ *Plus consulting funds for some tactical work ▪ *Plus consulting funds for additional strategic work demands for tactical work must
(i.e. graphic design) also be met.
10. APPENDIX
Appendix A: Communications and Social Media Inventory and Assessment
Appendix B: Interview Summaries
Appendix C: Proposed Organization Chart with Communications Complement
This report provides a number of options for consideration for communications and engagement for
the City of Nelson. It is intended to provide a high-level review of external communications systems
and tools as identified by internal stakeholders, the review of existing systems, channels and tools,
leading practices and the professional assessment of Jan Enns. MA. Jan Enns Communications and sub-
consultants have taken due care in the preparation of this report to ensure that the information
presented is as accurate as possible based on the information provided and interpretation of
discussions held. No guarantee is provided for the information included in this report. Please advise of
any errors and omissions. Jan Enns Communications and any co-contractors are not responsible for
decisions or actions made on the basis of the content of this report. For more information please
contact jan@janenns.com. Thank you!
31 | P a g e
APPENDIX A: INVENTORY AND ASSESSMENT
The following document provides an overview of the various channels and tactics used by the City and associated departments. The
assessment consists of high-level observations. Recommendations are included in the Recommendations section in the main report.
MPR (Main
External Person
Communications Purpose/Content Audience/Reach Responsible) Observations
(PTCC=Part-time
Tactic/Channel
Communications
Coordinator)
Publicity (Earned Media)
▪ Good use of media notifications.
▪ Improvements in consistency in look and
content when aided by the PTCC (time
permitting).
▪ Media sent by other departments not
always consistent. Use of templates vary.
Not all using same. Nor using Canadian
Press (CP) style.
▪ Content often runs as sent to media. Also,
Nelson & area media media share on their social media sites,
Media Advisories, News PTCC to send.
Advertise various consumers as well as further expanding the reach of this
Releases, Public Service Others may
programs/activities consumers of their important, far-reaching communications
Announcements and Notices write and send.
social media sites channel.
▪ Lack of policies and procedures regarding:
• When to send, what to include
• How to write, who to quote
• Use of templates
• Review and approvals
• Internal notification
• Posting, monitoring and responding
on social media.
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MPR (Main
External Person
(PTCC=Part-time
Tactic/Channel
Communications
Coordinator)
▪ Good relationships with local media.
▪ Interviews vary by program, level of
interest and personal connection with
media reporters.
▪ No policy regarding who speaks to the
Promote various
media on behalf of the City.
programs/activities Nelson & area media
Media Interviews “ ▪ No central or shared advance notification
Respond to calls from consumers
process (i.e., if someone does an interview,
the media
no system in place to alert other internal
stakeholders).
▪ Spokespersons’ experience and training
varied.
Kootenay district radio ▪ Good opportunity to reach a targeted

PSAs on Kootenay Co-op Advertise various listeners audience.
“
Radio programs/activities ▪ Use of this channel varies.
Paid Advertising
▪ Necessary and well-used part of outreach
communications.
▪ Good relationship with media; assists with
Print ads in Nelson Daily
Advertise various Nelson & area layout.
News, Nelson Express, Nelson Varies
programs/activities newspaper readers ▪ Templates used vary. Not all using same.
Star
▪ Occasionally posted/linked to social media
sites but not consistent, missing the
opportunity to leverage these ads.
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MPR (Main
External Person
(PTCC=Part-time
Tactic/Channel
Communications
Coordinator)
▪ Recent good example with full page ad for
tax notices. PTCC initiated with Finance to
create, using consistent City brand. Also
posted on website and on Facebook. Will
be able to track increase in uptake of online
filing.
▪ Some regular programs such as those by

Interviews / PSAs on Kootenay district radio EcoSave and the Library.
" Varies
Kootenay Co-op Radio listeners ▪ Some ad hoc.
▪ Used as part of larger campaigns (e.g. now

removal). Public Works does a higher
number than most.
▪ Production handled by station in most
cases.
Nelson & area radio
Ads on other radio stations " Varies ▪ Internal notification process lacking.
listeners
▪ Occasionally posted/linked to social media
sites but not consistent, missing the
opportunity to leverage these ads, likely
due to resources.
▪ Excellent opportunity to reach a somewhat

‘captive’ audience.
Movie theatre ads " Nelson residents PTCC ▪ Can target ‘blockbuster’ movies with high
priority messages.
▪ Has a schedule for booking for coming year.
3|P a ge
MPR (Main
External Person
(PTCC=Part-time
Tactic/Channel
Communications
Coordinator)
▪ Using Facebook ads for projects, campaigns

and ad hoc messages. (i.e. Hall Street).
▪ Opportunity to expand and monitor.
Info / awareness on
Facebook Ads Nelson & area PTCC ▪ Excellent metrics available for tracking.
City campaigns
▪ Advertising also boosts the ranking of City
posts in followers’ feeds.
▪ Using these for projects, campaigns and ad

hoc messages (e.g. Property tax deadlines)
Skyscraper banners on
Advertise various Nelson & area online ▪ Opportunity to expand.
Express News and Nelson PTCC
programs/activities news readers ▪ Metrics may be available for tracking
Daily online
depending on media source.
Online
▪ Recently redone. Feels fresh/updated.
▪ Lots of information.
Provide
▪ Searchable from a user-perspective.
information/process
▪ In absence of brand guidelines, much work
External website (nelson.ca) for Nelson & area Varies
has been done to streamline the brand,
residents/prospective
although there appears to be three logo
residents
versions: all white, white and green and all
green.
4|P a ge
MPR (Main
External Person
(PTCC=Part-time
Tactic/Channel
Communications
Coordinator)
▪ Use of standard thumbnails keeps message
consistent.
▪ Departments have access to update and

maintain own pages. No planned schedule,
or resources allocated to this task to ensure
it’s done regularly.
City Emergency ▪ Investigate how to platform integrates with

Notifications: for NotifyMe and the RDCK’s Emergency
Nelson Emergency Alerts Nelson & area
citizens and visitors of Notification System.
wildfires, flooding,
5|P a ge
MPR (Main
External Person
(PTCC=Part-time
Tactic/Channel
Communications
Coordinator)
hazardous spills,
severe weather,
evacuation
alerts/orders and
missing persons in
Nelson and area.
Notification system
for City related non-
Emergency business
on a variety of City of
Nelson related topics
including Water ▪ Ability to build following and send
Restrictions, information such as road closures, power
Garbage/Recycling outages, career opportunities, etc.
NotifyMe/Alert Centre Week, Bid Nelson & area ▪ Power outages and weather events garner
Opportunities, most sign ups: 264 people have signed up
Weather Events, for Power Outages.
Office Closures,
Power Outages,
Water Notices, City
News, Career
Opportunities and
much more.
Council meeting
City Council Meeting notifications for
Nelson & area ▪
Notifications upcoming Council
Meetings. The Civic
6|P a ge
MPR (Main
External Person
(PTCC=Part-time
Tactic/Channel
Communications
Coordinator)
Web Portal houses all
information related to
Council meetings,
agendas, minutes,
delegations before
Council and City
Bylaws.
▪ Automated form goes directly to related

department for action.
People can submit a
Submit a Request Nelson ▪ Ability to track for follow up bears further
request
investigation as tracking.
▪ Excellent opportunity to engage people

waiting in line.
Large screen at City ▪ PTCC preparing content and format.
" Nelson PTCC
Hall/Customer Service area ▪ Used to share timely reminders as part of
ongoing campaign or ad hoc.
▪ Relatively new service.

Expand opportunity
▪ Link from Home Page and also posted on
to witness discussion,
Council Meetings (Live Facebook when live.
deliberations and Nelson & area iCompass
Streamed / YouTubed) ▪ Easy access to link from report to section of
decisions of City
video where it’s being discussed.
Council
Print/Collateral
7|P a ge
MPR (Main
External Person
(PTCC=Part-time
Tactic/Channel
Communications
Coordinator)
▪ Well-written easy to read
▪ Lots of pictures
Bullet point update on
Strategic Plan City of Nelson PTCC ▪ When published, promoted all media
strategic initiatives
channels with a news release.
▪ Well-written easy to read

▪ Lots of pictures
▪ Should be labeled as an Update to
Bullet point update on
Strategic Plan Update City of Nelson PTCC ▪ distinguish from the original plan.
strategic initiatives
▪ When published, promoted via all media
channels with a news release.
Provides overview of ▪ Well-written

entire organization, ▪ Easy to read
functions, contacts ▪ Engaging video with Mayor and voice over
Annual Report (2017) and
and annual City of Nelson PTCC scenic and active Nelson.
Mayors Video Update
achievements, in ▪ When published, promoted via all media
addition to financial channels with a news release.
statements
▪ Colours and header look good, however
busy document.
▪ Extremely popular with Mayor and Council
Provides updates on and staff.
City of Nelson Newsletters Nelson & Area PTCC
City activities ▪ While it's a PDF, it's not useful as a
download in current state (font about 6
points). That said, it is used as a
poster/handout by some departments.
8|P a ge
MPR (Main
External Person
(PTCC=Part-time
Tactic/Channel
Communications
Coordinator)
▪ Varies by department. Hall Street is good

example of a weekly update of a one pager
City of Nelson with photos.
Provides update on a
Project Updates Council Varies ▪ Leveraged on website, media and social
particular project
media. Generating engagement on social
media.
▪ Created for a variety of projects.

▪ Not all consistently branded as City of
Used to promote a Nelson.
Posters Varies Varies
variety of topics ▪ PTCC encourages departments use graphic
designer contractor to ensure consistency.

▪ Not all consistently branded as City of
Nelson (e.g. standard construction vs.
Used to promote a
Signage (e.g. Stores to Shores) Varies Varies campaign messaging and brand).
variety of topics
▪ PTCC encourages departments use graphic
designer contractor to ensure consistency.

Other collateral materials ▪ PTCC encourages departments use of
Used to promote a
(print, video, door hangers, Varies Varies videographer and graphic designer
variety of topics
etc.) contractors to ensure consistency.
9|P a ge
MPR (Main
External Person
(PTCC=Part-time
Tactic/Channel
Communications
Coordinator)
▪ The trend toward using standard templates,
graphics and design has improved through
the efforts of the PTCC.
▪ Some templates can be found in the Shared
Communications Drive (the common
Guidelines for Internal & key repository).
Visual Identity PTCC
branding and writing stakeholders ▪ Not all departments appear to be familiar
with and or using templates or tapping into
the limited resources of the PTCC.
▪ PTCC send emails with instructions as
updated.
In-Person ▪
Council Meetings and Public Mayor, Council and Nelson & area ▪ Council report content follows a standard
Hearings staff participate in a template that includes a Communications
wide range of face-to- section.
face activities ▪ The Communications section doesn’t
appear to be consistently used.
▪ For most of the reports, the standard
default reply under Communications is that
the information will be made available on
the City’s website.
▪ The amount of project background,
including communications activities,
provided as a preamble to the report
varies.
10 | P a g e
MPR (Main
External Person
(PTCC=Part-time
Tactic/Channel
Communications
Coordinator)
▪ Time lapses between reports to Council or
Public Hearings can be lengthy, meaning
past decisions and or communications or
consultation efforts are not easily recalled.
▪ Not all gallery attendees may be familiar
with the ground rules of a Public Hearing.
Open Houses/Public Nelson & area Varies ▪ Attendance varies by topic. EcoSave &
Meetings/Events Nelson Hydro have had some well-
attended, others reported less than
desired.
▪ This has also been supported by the use of
other face-to-face meetings with
businesses and residents, as well as
supported with other promotional and
marketing activities.
▪ Have a contractual agreement for a booth

and or presence at this event.
Wednesday "Downtown ▪ Used to promote various initiatives such as
Info / awareness on
Market" Nelson & area Varies ongoing education campaigns (i.e. EcoSave)
City campaigns
Portion for City use or special project (i.e. Cannabis
Consultation).
Other events/ in-person Varies Varies ▪ Staff also take advantage of ‘going to where
contact they are’ as part of their outreach. This can
11 | P a g e
MPR (Main
External Person
(PTCC=Part-time
Tactic/Channel
Communications
Coordinator)
include having a booth at an event or door-
to-door visit.
12 | P a g e
SOCIAL MEDIA
The following is an overview and assessment of the nine different City and related social media sites conducted in June/July 2018:
▪ City of Nelson Facebook ▪ Nelson Fire Rescue Facebook

▪ City of Nelson YouTube ▪ Nelson Police Facebook
▪ Nelson Youth Employment Centre Facebook ▪ Nelson Police Twitter
▪ Nelson Youth Centre Facebook ▪ Nelson Transit Twitter
▪ Nelson Public Library Facebook
While overarching recommendations, common to all social media sites are included in the Recommendations section in the main report, the
following provides some specific observations and suggested recommendations for these nine different sites. The information was gleaned from
observation and assessment of the use of these sites.
SOCIAL MEDIA Purpose/Content Audience/Reach MPR (Main Observations

Person
Responsible)
(PTCC=Part-time
Communications
Coordinator)
▪ 5249 followers (good following with
more than 50% of the population).
▪ Feels fairly fresh.
To update followers in a
▪ Nelson City Facebook page is fairly
timely manner as to
active, with a variety of posts and
events, incidents, and
visuals that generate comments.
news and provide
City of Nelson Facebook page Nelson residents PTCC ▪ Currently managed by the PTCC with
information and
limited resources. Currently one
processes for residents,
person as a backup if PTCC
visitors and those
unavailable.
considering a move.
▪ Responding to these comments will
increase engagement a better help
inform the conversation. Adding a
13 | P a g e

Person
Responsible)
(PTCC=Part-time
Communications
Coordinator)
holding message can help increase
responsiveness (e.g., Thanks for the
info! We’ll look into it and get back
to you.).
▪ Adding more questions and calls-to-
action will also help direct the
conversation.
▪ Good use of local and lively images
and video.
▪ Posting guidelines for public
commenting in place and easy to
understand.
▪ Excellent flowchart developed to
map out when to respond on social
media in place for all Departments
but otherwise no policies or
procedures to guide use of social
media.
Host for City of Nelson ▪ Excellent use of videos to tell the

video updates. stories of the various programs.
▪ Video is fast becoming one of the
City of Nelson YouTube Update followers in a best opportunities to inform and
Nelson & area PTCC
Channel timely manner as to engage.
events, incidents, and ▪ Interviewees have also commented
news and provide on the ease of use, aided by the
information and PTCC.
14 | P a g e

Person
Responsible)
(PTCC=Part-time
Communications
Coordinator)
processes for residents,
visitors and those
considering a move.
▪ 174 Followers.
▪ Not being used consistently (i.e., last
post was one month ago).
▪ Could this be combined with the
employment site for a single robust
resource?
Offer support and ▪ Could potentially use more content
information for youth for the demographic (i.e. news
looking for employment affecting teens, etc.).
▪ Post pictures include too much text;
To update followers in a harder to read. Consider reducing
Nelson Youth Employment Nelson youth & their
timely manner as to Youth Centre text copy should be reduced by at
Facebook page parents
events, incidents, and least 50%
news and provide ▪ Most links are not live in the copy
information and (use of .jpg restricts links).
processes for residents ▪ Posts appear to be somewhat static,
and visitors consider moving towards video to
increase engagement.
▪ Consider cross-posting to and from
other City pages.
▪ Share real-life content such as
videos/pictures from the job fairs,
places looking for employees, etc.
15 | P a g e

Person
Responsible)
(PTCC=Part-time
Communications
Coordinator)
(Be sure to get photo release
permissions.)
▪ Missing website link and posting
guidelines.
▪ 282 Followers
▪ While the posts made are lively and
local, it is not being done
consistently; five posts in June and
one was a duplicate. Consistency in
posting, sharing, responding is key to
Info for youth on local
increasing followers and
happenings
engagement. It also boosts posts
from this feed higher in followers’
To update followers in a
news feeds.
Nelson Youth Centre Facebook timely manner as to
Nelson & area youth Youth Centre ▪ Could this be combined with the
page events, incidents, and
employment site for a single robust
news and provide
resource?
information and
▪ Good use of using real photos from
processes for residents
activities, setup for events.
and visitors.
▪ Consider using video content to help
with engagement.
▪ Cross post information on this page
to the City of Nelson page to help
with engagement and draw
followers.
16 | P a g e

Person
Responsible)
(PTCC=Part-time
Communications
Coordinator)
▪ Missing website link and posting
guidelines.
▪ 593 Followers.
▪ Feels fairly fresh.
▪ Great use of cross-posting.
▪ Events are utilized but no invites sent
Info about what's to followers/friends.
happening at the library ▪ Posts could be more engaging by
/ literary commentary using more photos of the library,
staff, users, etc., as well as the use of
To update followers in a video.
Nelson Public Library Facebook Nelson residents who go
timely manner as to Library ▪ Use a call to action in posts.
page to the library
events, incidents, and ▪ Profile and cover photo of the
news and provide building without people is
information and somewhat static and could be
processes for residents updated to something more
and visitors. engaging (e.g. Library staff outside
the building).
▪ More third-party posts/shares will
help with engagement.
Fire & safety-related ▪ 952 Followers

info ▪ Posts are local and engaging, yet not
Nelson Fire Rescue Nelson & area Fire staff being done consistently
To update followers in a ▪ Consistency in posting, sharing,
timely manner as to responding is key to increasing
17 | P a g e

Person
Responsible)
(PTCC=Part-time
Communications
Coordinator)
events, incidents, and followers and engagement. It also
news boosts posts from this feed higher in
followers’ news feeds. The use of
Provide information content calendars to identify post
and processes for topics.
residents. ▪ Some related to safety/health and
behind the scenes info being shared
and more could be added to a
content calendar.
▪ Great use of third party posts and
news releases.
▪ Reporting out on events and call outs
is interesting but unsure if ad hoc. A
posting policy and procedure would
help ensure consistency, a guide of
what to post and resources required.
For example, for incidents, having
the same person sending news
release about the incident also
posting to social.
▪ Website link missing from
information as well as posting
guidelines.
Nelson Police Department Safety-related info \

▪ 410 Followers
Facebook Page some lighter material Nelson & area Police staff
▪ Relatively new page
18 | P a g e

Person
Responsible)
(PTCC=Part-time
Communications
Coordinator)
To update followers in a ▪ More casual then other "official"
timely manner as to Nelson pages
events, incidents, and ▪ Posts are local and engaging with
news pictures of members and locals, yet
could be done with more
Provide information consistency.
and processes for ▪ Consistency in posting, sharing,
residents, visitors, responding is key to increasing
surrounding followers and engagement. It also
communities, and non- boosts posts from this feed higher in
residents followers’ news feeds. The use of
content calendars to identify post
topics.
▪ News releases are posted and could
benefit from a photo where possible.
▪ Limited number of third party posts
and these could be incorporated in
increase reach and engagement.
▪ Good news posts and or human (or
hamster) interest stories boost the
views substantially (e.g. ~8900 views
on the hamster). And while
engaging, there doesn’t appear to be
any follow up to take advantage of
this engagement.
▪ Profile and cover photo of the
building is without people is
19 | P a g e

Person
Responsible)
(PTCC=Part-time
Communications
Coordinator)
somewhat static and could be
updated to something more
engaging (e.g. Members and staff
gathered outside the building/sign).
▪ Members could be highlighted and
showcased on the page (e.g. good
deeds, personal stories, event
involvement).
▪ 646 Followers
▪ Great use of sharing information and
retweets.
▪ While active, lots of overlap with
Safety-related info \ Facebook page. Content should vary,
some lighter material with Facebook used as more of a
conversational channel and Twitter
To update and interact as more of an information channel.
Nelson Police Twitter Feed with the community Nelson & area Police staff For example, interjecting some
humor and light-hearted news is
Updates, events, and okay, but perhaps keep that content
news should go out on to FB and keep it to once a week
this channel ▪ Similar to the Facebook feed, the
posts are inconsistent and use of
content calendars will help identify
post topics for each channel, as well
as resources.
20 | P a g e

Person
Responsible)
(PTCC=Part-time
Communications
Coordinator)
▪ Could increase the use of hashtag
use on this channel. Consider using
#NelsonPolice as your official
hashtag. Encourage radio
stations/publications to use it as
well.
▪ For example, consider tweeting out
all news releases and information
related to incidents on this channel.
▪ 114 Followers
▪ Small following, but appropriate for
content offering.
▪ Timely updates.
Transit-related updates
▪ Very specific info for transit users.
& info
▪ Stays on track.
▪ Could increase the use of hashtag
To update and interact
use on this channel. Consider using
with the community Nelson & area transit
Nelson Transit Twitter Feed Transit staff #NelsonTraffic as your official
users
hashtag. Encourage radio
Service updates,
stations/publications to use it as
events, and news
well.
should go out on this
▪ Bio missing from the page.
channel
▪ Cover photo should be changed to
something relating to the brand.
▪ Consider posting photos of buses
etc. with posts.
21 | P a g e

Person
Responsible)
(PTCC=Part-time
Communications
Coordinator)
▪ Share relevant and timely
information about the community as
it pertains to transit.
▪ Start following more users to help
grow followers.
▪ Create a persona for the page to help
with tone and identity (e.g. target
users to follow for up-to-date
accurate info).
▪ Interact with others on Twitter by
liking and retweeting tweets.
22 | P a g e
APPENDIX B: INTERVIEW SUMMARIES
Interviews were held in small groups, with some individuals via phone. The information captured here
represents a summary of the comments, some verbatim and some paraphrased or summarized as
interpreted. The summaries are only intended to draw out the key findings and themes used as the
basis of this report, in conjunction with the review of systems, channels and tools.
Name Position Interview

Mayor Deb Kozak Mayor In-person
Councillor Michael Dailly Council Half-day
Councillor Anna Purcell
Kevin Cormack Chief Administrative Officer With Mayor and Council
With Ginger Lester
Ginger Lester Executive Assistant and Part- In-person
time Communications Follow up interviews on phone
Coordinator Logistics
Frances Long Director of Corporate Services In-person
Sarah Winton Deputy Corporate Officer “
Len MacCharles Fire Chief, Nelson Fire Rescue “
Heather Slack Nelson Fire Rescue “
Marc Thibault Nelson Transit “
Gerry Tennant Nelson “
Jody Koehle Supervisor Garage and Transit “
Natalie Andnjanac Planner “
Pam Mireau Manager of Development “
Services
Alex Love General Manager, Nelson Hydro “
Carmen Proctor EcoSave Program Coordinator, “
Nelson Hydro
Marg Craig Office Administrator, Public “
Works and Nelson Hydro
Colin Innes Director of Public Works and “
Utilities
Anne DeGrace Nelson Public Library “
Tracey Therrien Nelson Public Library “
Alex Thumm Planner Phone
Craig Stanley Public Works and Parks Phone
Supervisor
Chris Jury Deputy Chief Financial Officer Phone
Mayor and Council Members
Interviews with Mayor Deb Kozak and Councillors Anna Purcell and Michael Dailly covered a variety of
topics including external and internal communications and operations during the half-day session. The
robust conversation about areas that are working well and areas in need of attention yielded a number
of challenges and opportunities to improve communications and engagement.
Solid Foundation for Communications and Engagement
A summary of successful communications and engagement approaches identified included:

▪ Information provided is clear, consistent, timely, easy-to-understand, honest and
straightforward (both good and bad).
▪ Platforms to deliver the information are easy-to-access, innovative (‘Shop Baker’ on our
website),
▪ Council and staff are approachable, responsive, honest, futuristic, respectful, transparent, hard-
working, progressive, dedicated and engaged.
▪ All opinions are valued.
▪ Provide multiple face-to-face opportunities, including one-on-one, public meetings, town halls
in addition to legislated Public Hearings.
▪ Work proactively with key stakeholder groups to develop policies. For
example, meetings held with sport groups as part of developing the
new Sport Policy.
▪ Good relationships with the media.
▪ Use of multiple channels to deliver the message: combinations of in-
person, print and digital.
Some of the City’s communications and engagement tactics that were

identified as working well included:
▪ Use of news releases to convey a consistent message both for
external audiences as well as internal.
▪ Proactive use of social media to both inform and engage.
▪ Recent use of videos, such as the one to share information about the Cannabis Survey project.
▪ New website.
▪ Ads, news stories in local media.
▪ Campaigns, such as Stores to Shores, community consultation on cannabis.
▪ Project Updates and key messages for bigger projects such as Hall Street.
▪ Strategic Plan Update document.
▪ City of Nelson Newsletter.
▪ Communication plans for project.
▪ Council reports that include category for communications
▪ ‘Quick’ Key Messages email notices.
▪ Jostle for internal communications.
▪ Live streaming Council meetings.
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Communication Challenges and Areas for Attention
The following areas were noted as challenges or areas for attention:

▪ Recognition that the legislative requirements for public information and engagement are not
sufficient for our community. For example, the legislation requires a notice of development for
residences within a radius of 60 metres yet may not be sufficient to reach all those who may be
impacted. Communications and engagement planning needs to take into account all
stakeholders.
▪ There is a good foundation of communications activities being done now. Many projects have
lots of publicity including news releases, ads, meeting and even door-to-door visits, yet people
are still not familiar with the information and / or are not reading the information. Once the
process or history of the project, or what has been done to inform and engage, is explained,
people understand.
▪ This is particularly noticeable with projects where there is a lengthy gap in the time between
phases, reports to Council or action on the ground (e.g. Downtown Urban Design Strategy).
There is a disconnect between the concept and plans and the action. People are unfamiliar with
the background or source of a particular action, yet once explained, they ‘get it.’
▪ Need to link the actions back to strategic priorities – provide the ‘why’ we are doing this. Tell
the ‘bigger’ story. It’s more than just a solar panel. It links back to our strategic priorities.
▪ Need to have a clear communications policy to provide Council and staff direction.
▪ Nelson is a leader in a number of areas, including the EcoSave Program, Solar Gardens,
obtaining ‘green grants,’ and has a number of good news stories to share. We need to find a
more consistent way to share these stories with our communities.
▪ For example, BC Housing recently held a workshop on best practices on affordable
housing. The City of Nelson ranked nine of 10 in best practices, yet there was lots of
concern regarding this issue. How can we better share what we are doing to foster more
affordable housing given what we are able to do as a municipality?
▪ Communications can be reactive. How can we reframe the discussion to listen with questions
instead of simply telling or responding?
▪ Need to hear from staff if key things the public wants in a project are being reconsidered for
budget or other reasons.
▪ Need to improve internal communications with activities such as orientations for public and
Council in meetings and around upcoming events and potential issues.
Communications Opportunities
A number of insights and ideas for addressing these areas for attention included:
▪ Continued use of the current range of communications tactics including ads, videos, website
information, social media, website.
▪ Continue with the Newsletter, perhaps more frequently to reduce the amount of copy in each
edition.
▪ Greater use of Briefing Notes (Talking Point/ ‘Coles Notes’) and Project Updates to provide key
messages on what was considered and how it was communicated. News releases also provide a
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source for clear and consistent information. Short and succinct, similar to the Hall Street
Updates.
▪ Consider a ‘Public Hearing Preamble/Timeline’ to provide a brief history of the project and what
has been done to inform and engage to-date. This would be done prior to discussion on the
project and help answer questions for people in the gallery, and the public record, about what
has been done in terms of communications. This may also help replace some of the conjecture
and misinformation that surrounds some projects.
▪ Messages need to be consistent and link back to Council Strategic Priorities. For example, every
time affordable housing comes up, talk about what the City is
doing to address affordable housing (list projects by name)
within their area of control. This is what the City is able to do;
what areas the City can actually control vs. areas that the City
may only be able to influence because they are the
responsibilities of other levels of government or the private
sector.
▪ Keep repeating key messages.
▪ Use of positive key messages at the outset, even when not all
of Council agrees (“Everything’s going to fine. Would have liked to have seen it move in a
different direction, but now Council as a whole has decided…”
▪ Recognize the use of proactive communications as an opportunity to identify and manage
potential issues. For example, community and user-group consultation was instrumental in
developing a new Sport User policy moving forward.
▪ Need to be able to scan for potential differing perspectives and issues in advance.
▪ Provide timely alerts to advise people to attend a meeting.
▪ Develop communications policies and procedures to provide guidance and structure around
communications processes.
▪ Have a media relations policy with a proactive media strategy to correct incorrect or
misinterpreted information.
▪ Have a single person responsible for communications.
▪ Currently implementing an ‘Accountability Model’ and perhaps this is an opportunity to add
communications.
Other ideas for tactical opportunities identified included:

▪ Host Brown Bag events where people can learn more about a particular topic.
▪ Mail out year-end updates to homes.
▪ Tell our ‘good news stories’ on a regular basis.
▪ Use ‘pop-up’ stories on social media.
▪ Develop a strategy for ‘street culture.’
▪ Engage the community in ‘Participatory Budgeting.’
▪ Consider free Wi-Fi on Baker Street, with a ‘splash page’ for City initiatives.
▪ Provide a section on the website for visitors to Nelson.
▪ Consider ‘art’ on sidewalks
▪ ‘Tree wraps’ with information placed around trees that are to be removed.
▪ Increase the use of Jostle. Consider other technologies for sharing ideas and information such
as ‘Thought Exchange.’
4|Page
Overall comments on the message and information included:
▪ Have a ‘hook’; to get people’s attention.
▪ Be clear, consistent in look and feel (use of Nelson’s brand).
▪ Be ‘youthful’ and engaging.
▪ Be clear and consistent in messaging.
▪ Accessible.
▪ Easy to understand.
▪ Use visuals to tell the story.
▪ Fun, friendly, not too ‘professional’ (we are a DIY Community).
Department Contacts
Interviews held with Department contacts provided a rich source of information about the current
state of communications and ideas for improvement. While each interview identified a wide range of
perspectives, the following is a summary of the key points and themes.
CAO/Corporate Services/Communications
▪ Both the Chief Administrative Officer and Corporate Services Director oversee the part-time
communication function carried out by Ginger Lester as the
Communication Coordinator. This has been an evolving
process, much in part due to support for this function and
Ginger Lester’s personal initiative.
▪ Envision communications as a support similar to a
consultancy for the organization: provide access to ‘self-
serve’ tools and templates, provide assistance via Ginger, and or provide access to external
consultants.
▪ Managing the City’s social media has grown the City’s own site to more than half of the City’s
population.
▪ Managing responses on social has also been a concern and a social media policy and response
guide has been developed. That said, it still takes time and resources to consider how and when
to respond.
▪ Orientations have been held with other departments who operate their own social media sites
(see Inventory and Assessment in Appendix).
▪ Recommend using the International Association of Public Participation (IAP2) Spectrum of
Public Participation as the standard for communication and engagement. This is an opportunity
to manage expectations when the level of consultation is identified in advance. This can also be
included as part of the Council report, linking back to the strategic priorities.
▪ Working on developing a centralized repository as a source for information and templates for
internal clients to address: accuracy and consistency in message and brand use. Ginger has
been slowly working on this as part of growing this function within the organization, given the
limited resources allocated. Tools identified included the use of templates, branding guidelines,
5|Page
orientations for projects, key messages and briefing notes and the use of checklists. Improving
the use of Jostle was also identified.
▪ Recognize the need to create a consistent brand for the City.
▪ A formal process for managing issues was also identified as a concern: how to identify an issue,
determine priority, steps to mitigate, provide key messages.
▪ Recognize the need and importance for Council to develop policies and or strategies to guide
communications and consultation efforts.
▪ Also recognize the need to assess the amount of resources being used on communications
activities throughout the organization and how this could be better managed. Currently, there
are a number of individuals creating campaigns, brochures and other materials. While Ginger
may have a final ‘look over’ to avoid surprises, it could use a more strategic approach.
Financial Services
▪ Undertakes communications tasks as required by legislation (e.g. Annual Report, tax sales,
budget) as well as those necessary to support operations (e.g. water and sewer utilities,
licenses, etc.).
▪ Working with Ginger to expand communications over and above legislated requirements
including the use of templates for inserts, flyers.
▪ Recent example of a full page ad in the newspaper to remind people about property tax
deadline, how to pay online and promotional information about property taxes (e.g. how much
is collected by the City, where it goes). This was also leveraged by sharing on social media and
the website. Currently tracking to if an increase in online payment in response to the call-to-
action.
▪ Concern over cost-benefit, cost-effectiveness of certain communications tactics. For example,
how effective are tax notice inserts vs. Facebook posts?
▪ Are there other ‘touchpoint’ opportunities to get our message out? For example, adding a
message to the garbage stickers that residents need to purchase.
▪ Budget open house, while not well-attended, provided an excellent synopsis of the year in
review as presented by the CAO. Is there a way to expand the reach of this information?
▪ Challenge is also partially with scheduling. A content calendar or schedule could help identify
overlap. It would perhaps also help reduce some of the anger from residents when they claim
they weren’t notified about something. Need to improve how we can inform people ahead of
and explain the why.
▪ Important to have a better understanding of how people want to receive their information so
we use the most effective communications channels and tools.
6|Page
Information Technology and Nelson Fibre
▪ Creates own materials (e.g. Nelson Fibre), recognizing not

enough capacity for one centralized person to do all of this.
Does work with Ginger on brand consistency where time
permits, however, some materials are different than the
rest of the City’s and Hydro’s.
▪ Need to look at ways to communicate the benefits of
what’s being done.
▪ Recommend use of reproducible templates to ensure
consistency.
▪ Develop a bank of key messages and benefits related to a
project for ease of use and consistency (what; why; why now;
why better or necessary; and what’s the call-to-action?)
▪ Link back to strategic priorities.
▪ Identify the purpose of communications (inform, consult, etc.)
▪ Provide presentations to internal staff as the unofficial spokespersons for the City to reduce
lack of understanding, and to increase support.
▪ Make better use of the Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) as a key external
communications resource. Provide more training/orientation for projects to ensure they are
well-informed.
▪ Use training as opportunities to re-engage staff.
▪ Share brand guidelines to ensure consistency across all departments.
▪ Can post City of Nelson Newsletter as a poster as well as a visual. Feels it has a high demand
internally.
▪ Need to be proactive, anticipate questions and be ready with key messages for upcoming
project.
▪ Website has been recently redesigned as a portal to access via services vs. departments. While
some training in plain writing has been provided, each department is writing their own copy.
Some concern over lack of consistency in tone and look.
Development Services and Planning
▪ Active in communications and engagement. Recognize the

importance of being strategic and proactive, particularly with new
developments and the need to manage issues and public
expectations in advance.
▪ Fluent in the variety of tools used to inform and engage, including
print, electronic and in-person. Does most of the communications
within the department, and with assistance from Ginger.
▪ Recognize the value and importance of good communications,
and public engagement in particular. Projects where
communications have not been executed well (e.g. tree removal
7|Page
was mentioned in a few interviews), create a ripple effect and can damage the reputation of
the City, impacting trust levels of future communications.
▪ Recognize the need for additional resources to bolster communications, noting the cost of
communications and engagement is worth the effort. For example, working with Ginger on the
Cannabis strategy, including the ease of being able to do videos has been extremely helpful.
And especially having someone in-house as it ensures we build our internal capacity: “We
provide initial content and then having someone be able to edit, format and post/produce is
key to maximizing our efficiency.”
▪ Having in-house expertise for public engagement is important: Someone that knows the people
and places and able to assist with planning and implementation of public engagement projects.
▪ Hiring external consultants, while necessary, can also be a time-consuming process, writing the
RFP, bringing them up to speed on local state of affairs.
▪ Identified a number of opportunities including:
▪ Templates for ads, poster and one-pagers.
▪ Use of briefing notes or project updates to provide a ‘Public Hearing Preamble’ that
includes a brief history of the project, and what has been done to inform and engage
those impacted.
▪ Use of a timeline to show the City’s location in a process, as a visual aid for Public
Hearings and Council meetings. This is especially important given that it may be months
between staff reports to Council on a specific project.
▪ May also consider a discussion of the ‘rules of engagement’ at the start of a Public
Hearing to help manage expectations (limitations on delegations, comments from the
floor, consideration of new information, etc.).
▪ Use of key messages and briefing notes for projects.
▪ Use of a checklist to ensure consistent use of communication channels (e.g., letter to
applicant, website update with one pager, ad in paper, social media posts, etc.).
▪ Communications policies and procedures to provide direction to staff, Council and
community.
Public Works and Utilities
▪ Frequently communicates public works and utility projects.

Works closely with Ginger to develop communications plans to
identify stakeholders, communications message, approaches and
tools to use. For example, extensive consultation with businesses
and residents as part of the Hall Street construction project. This
takes additional resources over and above the project work itself.
▪ The number of scope of engagement campaigns also raised a
concern over ‘consultation fatigue.’ Currently, there is little
discussion between departments about upcoming projects.
Discussed using a City-wide calendar as a way to schedule the
number of campaigns.
8|Page
▪ Working with Ginger has helped streamline the branding process somewhat, although there is
still inconsistency in the look and content.
▪ News releases and notices can be inconsistent. Recommend use of templates for consistency.
▪ Have been liaising with Ginger to make videos using an external consultant. Very successful to
date.
▪ Need more media relations training, including policies and procedures to ensure the correct
contact is being interviewed and providing the correct message.
▪ The use of Quick Key Messages has been helpful. Need to have these written in advance.
▪ Need to find better ways to engage our employees so they can share information both when
they come into contact in the course of doing their duties, but also through their personal social
media channels. Ideas included Quick Key Messages, briefing notes for staff meetings, Jostle
and better use of the CSRs to direct calls to appropriate source. Staff often get wind of things
first and it’s extremely helpful to have them report back (the ‘No Surprise Rule’).
▪ Technical solutions such as issues and complaint tracking software were identified as possible
solutions.
▪ Overall a communications policy would be valuable to provide clear direction from Council. A
key document to help clarify the bigger picture of what they are seeking.
▪ A calendar to help with coordinating the planning between department initiatives would also
be beneficial.
Public Works and Parks
▪ Frequent communications regarding both public works initiatives as well as parks.

▪ Works closely with Ginger on public information regarding a variety of topics. Appreciates the
local knowledge and insights she provides. Also has a summer student for promoting ‘green
initiatives’ such as water conservation.
▪ Interested in developing more consistent messaging regarding parks, and specifically to
promote the non-regulatory communications (e.g. increase awareness of specific parks, what’s
available and what’s planned for future).
▪ Identified opportunities for increasing the good news stories, including showcasing partners
such as the work being done with Rotary for new equipment.
▪ Seeking opportunities to be more proactive with messages. For example, promoting pothole
repair or street sweeping schedules ahead of time and potentially reducing some of the calls.
▪ Media relations, while good, needs more attention in terms of consistency, policy and
procedures. Message isn’t always consistent. More support required for anyone doing media
interviews to ensure they have key messages/briefing notes, etc.
▪ Training helpful for both ensuring media spokespersons are trained and sharing consistent
messages, as well as more education around consultation practices (e.g. inform, empower,
etc.).
▪ Recognizes the need for increased capacity for communications.
▪ Looking at doing a Park Planning Satisfaction survey, and aware of other departments doing or
have recently done similar types of surveys. Also aware of other Master Plans in the works.
Timing of outreach and consultation important to avoid [consultation fatigue].
9|Page
Nelson Hydro and EcoSave Program
▪ Nelson Hydro is unique in that its customer base includes the City of Nelson and rural
customers in the RDCK. For the most part, communications target both
audiences through the use of household mailers, door hangers, posters,
media releases and advertising. There are a few communications tools
that target City of Nelson citizens. These include City of Nelson website,
the newsletter and social media.
▪ Nelson Hydro is also unique in that it is highly regulated by the BC Utilities
Commission so quasi-independent from the City of Nelson.
▪ Nelson Hydro has been proactive using advance communications
to improve the ability to complete tasks, such as vegetation
management program. Use of advance notification tools such as
door hangers, advertising, news releases, etc. has helped to
reduce number of complaints. Uses recorded messages and
provides information to Ginger Lester for sharing on social
media.
▪ The EcoSave Program Coordinator is also proactive, hosting open houses, meeting with key
stakeholders, regular ads (‘Ask the Professional’ ads in the Nelson Star), writes news releases,
social media posts with the assistance of Ginger.
▪ Has used a letter from the General Manager to share Nelson Hydro strategic vision in past.
▪ Has a number of good news stories to share via media, social media and newsletter and need to
find more resources to help coordinate.
▪ Interested in a process for getting the good news stories out more often, as well as responding
to negative stories.
▪ Would like to improve planning process for newsletter including scheduling content and
amount of space available.
▪ Web content needs an update and interested in finding ways to streamline the process.
▪ Interested in the use of templates, a list of communication channels to use and consultants to
call for outsourcing.
▪ Recognize that while communications can help improve the clarity and consistency of
information, there are limited resources to implement. Appreciate the support and guidance
that Ginger is able to provide, however, more communications support is needed.
▪ Training in communications would help, including when to use news releases, how to write,
media relations and messaging.
10 | P a g e
Nelson Fire Rescue Services
▪ Primarily reactive communications based on emergency call outs.

▪ Does a few promotional events such as Disaster Days. Use of video,
ads, and news releases to encourage participation. Also holds open
houses at schools, albeit with low participation.
▪ Has a Facebook page (see Social Media section in Appendix A:
Inventory and Assessment).
▪ Hard to get people to take action.
▪ Looking to leverage educational messages around incidents (e.g.
talk about fire alarms when reporting out on a house fire).
▪ Concerned with the number of people doing communications, including
social media. Interested in a plan to schedule communications activities
over the calendar year, as well as the use of templates to make it
consistent and easy.
▪ New emergency communication alert systems (Notify Me, Nelson
Emergency Notification and the new RDCK system) may need a review to
ensure a consistent message/system for alerts.
▪ Identified the need for a crisis or issues communication policy, plan and procedure.
Nelson Public Library
▪ Fast becoming known as the ‘library of things,’ the Nelson Public Library
has expanded its offerings and its use of communications tools over the
past few years. This includes the use of social media, media relations,
radio talk show, posters, events, media ads, theatre ads. While this is
well-supported internally by a staff member who has a background in
journalism, other staff members preparing materials and
communications have varying backgrounds. Training and orientation is an option.
▪ Has a Facebook page (see Social Media section in Appendix A: Inventory and Assessment).
▪ A separate Board governs the library and branding and messaging are separate from City.
▪ Recognize the need to find ways to integrate and share communications, both as a way to reach
the internal audiences, and also to use the City’s communications channels to spread the word
about events. Consider Jostle, although reportedly this platform isn’t being well-used.
▪ While the City may share the Library’s social media posts, the Library does not typically share
the City’s information.
▪ Identified a need for a crisis communications plan and procedure, specifically regarding media
relations. This also includes managing the media message if questioned about City Council
perspective or action.
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Nelson Transit
▪ Communications for Nelson Transit are closely linked with BC Transit, the
lead for transit communications for the Province.
▪ Locally, ads, posters, social media and other promotional activities are
intended to augment BC Transit’s campaign and provide a local feel.
▪ Has a Twitter profile. (see Social Media section in Appendix A: Inventory
and Assessment).
▪ Looking at ways to be included in more of the City of Nelson
communications, such as the City’s newsletter.
▪ Involved in media interviews as the local for Transit Appreciation Day.
▪ As a result, some communications are under the BC Transit banner and others may be under
the Nelson Transit banner and may or may not have the City of Nelson brand/logo.
▪ Does have a local Twitter account and is seeking to increase number of followers.
Youth Centre
▪ With the recent departure of the Centre manager, only the social media sites were reviewed at
this time as part of this process. (See Social Media section in Appendix A: Inventory and
Assessment for both the Youth Centre page and the Youth Employment Page).
Nelson City Police
▪ A separate Board governs the Nelson City Police. Personnel were not interviewed as part of this
process.
▪ Has a Facebook page and a recently established Twitter profile that were reviewed (see Social
Media section in Appendix A: Inventory and Assessment).
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APPENDIX C: PROPOSED ORGANIZATION CHART
PROPOSED ORGANIZATION CHART: COMMUNICATIONS COMPLEMENT OVER

TIME
The following proposed organization chart shows the placement of a full-time Communications
Position for 2018-2019. In future as the City and community needs grow, this position could be
augmented with a Communications/Public Engagement position to ensure the strategic
delivery of consistent, relevant and branded communications, supported by a Communications
Position and other assistance as required.
Short-term 2018/2019
APPENDIX C: PROPOSED ORGANIZATION CHART
Longer-Term

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THE CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF NELSON

REQUEST TO APPEAR AS A DELEGATION

BENEFITS OR DISADVANTAGES AND NEGATIVE IMPACTS:

COSTS AND BUDGET IMPACT - REVENUE GENERATION:

IMPACT ON SUSTAINABILITY OBJECTIVES AND STAFF RESOURCES:

OPTIONS AND ALTERNATIVES:

AUTHOR: REVIEWED BY:

Introduction to process; What did we do?

Key Findings: What did we learn?

Recommendations: What does it mean?

Human Resources: How can we move this forward?

Next Steps: Where to from here?

What does ‘good’

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................... 4

1. Communications Review: Introduction ............................................................................... 6

3. Corporate Priorities & Policies Related to Communications & Engagement ...................... 9

4. Current Communications Resources ................................................................................ 11

6. Section Overview: Recommendations, Inventory, Priorities & Resources ........................ 15

8. Identifying Priorities: 2018-2019 ....................................................................................... 25

9. Human Resources Allocation Options .............................................................................. 27

Appendix A: Communications and Social Media Inventory and Assessment ..................................... 30

Appendix B: Interview Summaries .................................................................................................... 30

Appendix C: Proposed Organization Chart with Communications Complement ............................... 30

The Key Findings and

The Key Findings identify common

To achieve these objectives the following was undertaken:

The interviews provided a greater understanding of current

The interview with Mayor, Council members and CAO was

In order to maximize the time available for each of the

Source: 2017 City of Nelson Council Strategic Plan Update

▪ Variety of well-established tactics in use (news releases, newsletters, video, signage,

Link to Strategic Priorities “How do we make it

Formalize the Communications Program

Organize for Success

Deal with Issues

Set the Stage for Engagement

Empowering Our People and Partners

Exploring New Ideas

Key Findings Strategy & Tactics Recommendations

Link to Strategic Priorities

▪ Expand the use of a branded Project Update, similar to Hall

Deal with Issues

Use proactive communications ▪ Include Communications Coordinator as part of Agenda

Empowering Our People and

Identifying Priorities: Short-term Quick Wins Suggested Implementation

Kootenay district radio ▪ Good opportunity to reach a targeted

▪ Some regular programs such as those by

▪ Used as part of larger campaigns (e.g. now

▪ Excellent opportunity to reach a somewhat

▪ Using Facebook ads for projects, campaigns

▪ Using these for projects, campaigns and ad

▪ Departments have access to update and

City Emergency ▪ Investigate how to platform integrates with

▪ Automated form goes directly to related

▪ Excellent opportunity to engage people

▪ Relatively new service.

▪ Well-written easy to read

Provides overview of ▪ Well-written

▪ Varies by department. Hall Street is good

▪ Created for a variety of projects.

▪ Created for a variety of projects.

▪ Created for a variety of projects.

▪ Have a contractual agreement for a booth

▪ City of Nelson Facebook ▪ Nelson Fire Rescue Facebook