In our work to redefine public relations, we consider ourselves lucky to have consistently partnered with clients who are equally dedicated to thinking outside of the box to achieve ambitious goals. One of those clients is the Port of San Diego, the innovative champion for the 34 miles of San Diego Bay waterfront along Chula Vista, Coronado, Imperial Beach, National City and San Diego.
We are proud to announce that our partnership with the Port conducting strategic public outreach in support of the Integrated Planning Initiative Port Master Plan Update was recently recognized by the California Association of Public Information Officials as a statewide leader in excellence for community relations and participation. The Excellence in Public Information and Communications Awards recognize the work of public information officials and their agency partners throughout the state. We’re thrilled for this project to be recognized for its success engaging the residents of five different cities in a process that will be pivotal for the future of the San Diego region.
For more insight about this project and similar successes NST can bring to bear for your organization, check out our case studies or read more below.
Challenge
In 2013, the Port of San Diego began an Integrated Planning initiative to set a blueprint for the next 50 years of Baywide planning and development across the five cities and 6,000 acres of land and water under its jurisdiction. To continue the Port’s dedication to transparency and best practices in stakeholder engagement, in early 2017 the Port retained Nuffer, Smith, Tucker to assist in strategic community outreach promoting the next stage of the Integrated Planning process, a comprehensive Port Master Plan Update. So, how do you engage approximately 1.6 million residents in five different cities in a planning process that will affect the future of their waterfront? The Port and NST planned and executed a community relations campaign focused on promoting and increasing inclusive public engagement by activating community leaders and influencers, creating a cohesive brand for the effort, and reaching audiences across a variety of platforms.
Results
Attendance counts at public events exceeded 600 – surpassing targets for in-person engagement by 20 percent.
More than 50 written comments have been received in addition to feedback received verbally at the public events, ensuring the Port’s planning department has sufficient input to create a draft of the PMPU.
To date, the campaign has made more than 2.4 million points of contact with the public, well above the 1.6 million estimate for the five member cities’ total populations. This indicates that those within the Port’s target audiences were likely served PMPU messaging and branded materials on more than one occasion.
