Municipal Monitor - January/February 2008 - (Page 13)

out in each of the municipalities and has demonstrated that teamwork truly can transcend municipal borders. If the results sound good to you, and you’re thinking about taking a turn on the inter-municipal jungle gym of communications, here are a few things to keep in mind: • Beg, borrow and steal. Before solidifying a communications plan, it’s invaluable to tap into the expertise and lessons learned of those who have gone before you – it can give you a significant head start in any communications campaign. In the municipal world, you will find that others are very willing to share design files, research and wording – so it definitely pays to ask. The six municipalities approached the Town of Richmond Hill – a municipality in York Region that launched the green bin program in the spring of 2007 – and got permission to revamp their public education materials instead of starting from scratch. By modifying Richmond Hill’s campaign, the six municipalities whittled the cost of design services down The group had managed to meet the Region’s waste diversion target of 65 per cent within the first month of the program! to $20,000 rather than the $50,000 design fee most other municipalities shelled out. That’s an estimated combined savings of $280,000 for design alone. • Form a working committee. Notice the emphasis on the “working”? If you’re going to roll out a campaign for multiple municipalities, you need a number of truly contributing members from all municipalities. This goes way beyond the “advisory” capacity or “focusgroup” style committees. This is about ongoing contribution. Determine the strengths of the members at the outset and assign duties according to those strengths. • Establish a service level agreement. I know, I know – it sounds like a lot of red tape. But believe me, you’ll avoid a lot of headaches by simply asking each municipality to agree – in writing – to the campaign tactics and the quantity of printed pieces they require for each deliverable. Establish a service level agreement once the communications plan is finalized to manage expectations and ensure everyone is onside. • Evaluate resources. It is next to impossible to lead an inter-municipal communications plan like this one without dedicating 100 per cent of your time to the project for at least eight months. If the participating municipalities don’t have a senior communicator that they’re essentially willing to “donate” for the cause, it’s imperative to hire an expert to lead the project for the group and to split the cost amongst the municipalities. Don’t underestimate the amount of work involved in a campaign of this AccessPrivacy.ca co-authoured by Priscilla Platt and Adam Kardash of Heenan Blaikie LLP Your one-stop electronic guide to Ontario's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) and Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA) “The website, together with the communiqués that are issued concerning recent developments, are invaluable tools that I would strongly recommend to access and privacy professionals.” Senior In-house Legal Counsel Subscribe now! www.accessprivacy.ca or contact us for your free trial View a webinar highlighting the state-of-the-art searches of both the guide and the IPC website at accessprivacy.ca/webinar To promote the green bin program, the six municipalities created a common brand with a mascot named Binny. January/February 2008 337026_Heenan.indd 1 municipal MONITOR •1:39:19 PM 7/5/07 13

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Municipal Monitor - January/February 2008

Municipal Monitor - January/February 2008 Contents President’s Message: Recognizing Achievement Viewpoint: Increasing Voter Turnout Building Bridges The Municipal Buddy System Harnessing the Wind Water Under the Bridge Municipal Memos Index to Advertisers

Municipal Monitor - January/February 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.