The City of Presque Isle has created a new arm extension of public information with an emphasis on social media. City officials recognize the indisputable relevance of social media in the past 20 years with its rapid growth, immediacy and easy access by local citizens, businesses and organizations.
When harnessed appropriately, social media can be a great technological tool allowing the municipal government to be more transparent, accountable and accessible. The city is making use of this tool to revitalize communications resources and better connect with the community.
Many citizens may not realize there is an official city municipal website. The goal moving forward is a promotional push to provide more awareness of the site as an information hub and resource of all things municipal related including city officials, departments and services.
This month, the city debuted a new web series called “Inside Presque Isle City Hall” hosted by Shawn Cunningham. The program is one of several projects that will be developed in house. The program will feature interviews with city officials and municipal employees about issues and initiatives impacting the local community.
The series will literally put a face to all the people and departments that enable the City of Presque Isle to function. It will provide a transparent inside look at the workings of municipal government giving the community an opportunity to know their city along with the people tasked and dedicated to its operation and success.
The first installment featured Kim Smith, city resource development and public information officer, sharing statistics and talking about the recent rise in tourism. As a result it’s had a positive impact economically on the Star City. This includes the recent event of the solar eclipse. According to some of the numbers Smith shared, tourism is a $300 billion industry. It’s one of the chief reasons the state of Maine is also known as Vacationland.
The debut of this new web show follows the success and growth of another online presence launched a few years ago. In 2020, the city launched an official YouTube channel, where currently monthly city council meetings are live-streamed for public viewing.
The channel boasts nearly 200 subscribers and an increased number of views.
“Inside Presque Isle City Hall” will be uploaded to the YouTube channel, in addition to its primary locations of the city website and official Facebook page.
Shawn Cunningham is the social media/content creator for the City of Presque Isle. She can be reached at scunningham@presqueisleme.us.
