Present
- Commissioners: Volunteer Maine Commission Chair Jenifer Tilton-Flood, Task Force Co-chair Zachary Maher and Julia Fiori
- Staff: Bryan Roche
The Communications Task Force met electronically for its monthly meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2021 and discussed the following:
Establishing new Co-chairs
Tilton-Flood, current Commission Chair and Immediate Past Chair of the Task Force, opened the meeting by announcing that Zachary Maher has accepted the role of Co-chair of the Communications Task Force. Tilton-Flood continued by mentioning that the Task Force is still searching for a second Co-chair to assist Maher in his duties.
Public service announcement updates
Tilton-Flood asked Roche to provide any new updates on the performance of public service announcements (PSA). Roche shared that updated figures have been provided by the Maine Association of Broadcasters (MAB), and at the time of the meeting, PSAs have earned $28,935 of value in broadcast television air-time and $24,656 in radio air-time for a total of $53,591. Roche went on to mention that to reach the goal for match, we need to achieve a total airtime value of $117,000, which is three-times the original contract amount of $39,000. With the reported figures as recent as June 30, 2021 (the end of quarter 2), PSAs will need to generate a value of $63,409 by Nov. 30, 2021 to make the match goal.
Roche concluded by sharing that the "Service Instigators" aspect of the PSA campaign is on hold until 2022. The campaign relies on crowdsourced media production, and Task Force members have had difficulty getting members of the public to participate, mainly due to time constraints or commitments related to other PSA campaigns. In its place, Volunteer Maine is running the AmeriCorps-produced campaign on broadcast television and radio as well as a series of new, in-house produced radio ads that focus on encouraging members of the public to volunteer, emergency response volunteering, and pandemic-friendly volunteer opportunities.
Communications plan
Tilton-Flood invited Roche to present the final draft of the communications and outreach plan, which details strategies, goals for execution, outreach plans, and a list of digital content ideas that can be used to help communicate the core areas of focus for the Commission. Tilton Flood asked the group to read the plan and prepare any feedback for the September meeting.
Among the immediate feedback:
- Tilton-Flood asked for any plans to schedule deskside/editorial meetings be outlined.
- Maher suggested that communications initiatives related to AmeriCorps Alumni present a great opportunity for Commissioners with alumni status, such as himself, to engage with the alumni community.
July communications report
Tilton-Flood invited Roche to report on communications activities and successes from the month of July. Roche presented the report in its entirety, which can be accessed by using the following link — click here.
Next meeting
Wednesday, Sept. 8. 2021 from 4 - 5 p.m.