Mildura Rural City Council awarded for excellence in communications
Published on 18 May 2015
Mildura Rural City Council has been recognised as a national leader in the communications industry, sweeping the pool at the 2015 Government Communications Australia Awards for Excellence.
Council won the Best Tourism/Event Communications category, beating more than 20 entries from across local, state and federal government for its work on last year’s triple j One Night Stand concert.
Mildura was also a finalist in the Best Marketing/Public Relations Campaign (Shire/Rural Council) category for the same work and was selected as the overall National Award Winner - a coveted award presented to the best submission in the entire Awards field.
Mayor Glenn Milne said the awards recognised the incredible effort that Council staff put in to ensure the community is informed and aware of what is happening at the organisation.
“I would like to congratulate the talented professionals in Council’s Marketing and Communications and Events teams for their work,” Cr Milne said.
“The One Night Stand last year was an unbudgeted and unplanned event and they had about three months to plan and deliver a comprehensive communications strategy around it. While Council didn’t have to promote the event itself, we did have to convey a plethora of information and ensure everyone in the region, and those people who were visiting the area for the One Night Stand, had a positive experience in Mildura.
“Our staff did a brilliant job, working with local industry bodies to streamline messaging, consolidate resources and package communications for a diverse range of audience segments with complex communications needs.
“The positive feedback Council received after the One Night Stand, and winning this award is a testament to the great work of our staff."
Council thanked Mildura Tourism and Mildura City Heart staff who worked closely with them to help get important information out about the triple j One Night Stand and also acknowledged the important role the local community played in helping showcase Mildura to visitors.
Held in Sydney on 15 May as part of the Government Communications Australia National Conference, the Government Communications Australia Awards for Excellence recognise outstanding examples of communication strategy and implementation in line with best practice standards. They are presented to those organisations and communicators who have achieved outstanding success from innovative and effective communication practices in the government sector.
The Awards are open to communications practitioners that work in the government sector – including local, state and federal, as well as private companies that undertake work on behalf of government.
Deb Ganderton, President of Government Communications Australia, said “the GCA Awards are the only awards that exclusively recognise communications in government. It was great to see such a high number of entries of an exceptionally high calibre this year from small rural through to large city councils and state government departments.
“More than ever, we are called to account by our stakeholders for better communications and there’s an emphasis on doing the best with what we have, and sometimes what we have is only a few resources that need to be effectively utilised to affect big changes.”
ENDS