ANAHEIM, Calif. — For the second straight year, the City of Greenville Public Information Office has won a national award.

Greenville was one of the winners during the 2017 City-County Communications & Marketing Association (3CMA) National Savvy Awards presentation held on September 7 in Orange County, California. Greenville took home the Silver Circle Award in the category of Best Use of Social Media for its communications during Hurricane Matthew response and recovery in October of 2016.

"The City of Greenville rose to the occasion in a time of potential chaos, to provide residents and media with important news and updates," the judges said. "We should all learn from this work."

The City's efforts provided an excellent example of why local government should have and use social media, judges noted. The judges added that the campaign reminds everyone that local government is here to help residents and to communicate crucial information in times of need.

“We recognized that the way people communicate now is much different than it was is 1999 when the city was flooded  following Hurricane Floyd,” Greenville Communications Manager/PIO Brock Letchworth said. “Therefore, we felt that one of the quickest and most effective ways we could get the word out regarding evacuations and road closures was through social media. Additionally, we were able to provide visuals for those who might not be in the area but had friends or family here, so they could get a better idea of what was happening.”

The Savvy Awards, held in conjunction with 3CMA’s Annual Conference, recognize outstanding local government achievements in communications, public-sector marketing and citizen-government relationships. The Savvies salute skilled and effective city, county, agency or district professionals who have creatively planned and carried out successful innovations in communications and marketing. 3CMA accommodates local government organizations of all sizes and budget classes by judging entries in several different population groups.

Nearly 700 entries from nearly 200 cities and counties were submitted in 62 categories. 3CMA utilized volunteer judges from across the United States to review every entry and provide constructive comments on the winning entries.