Texas Border Business
The Texas Association of Municipal Information Officers (TAMIO), a division of the Texas Municipal League (TML), announced the 2021 winners of its state-wide TAMI Awards Competition during a ceremony at the annual conference held in late August in Round Rock, Texas. The City of McAllen Office of Communications earned a total of four awards for various public relations, social media and video production work. Also a winner was Hidalgo County Public Affairs. A total of 435 entries, from 83 different municipalities in Texas, were submitted for the 38 categories in this year’s competition.
“Every single department of the City of McAllen strives to do its best every day to serve this community to the best of their ability,” said McAllen Mayor Javier Villalobos. “The work is the reward, but when the quality of that work is recognized by industry organizations, it only solidifies what we at the City of McAllen already know: we have the best people who do the best work for the best city.”
The City of McAllen Office of Communications won two TAMI Awards, one for their work in the Video Category, Public Service Announcement, for the series of 14 English and Spanish p.s.a.’s produced for the 2020 Census. Judges were impressed by the use of not only civic leaders, including municipal, county and school officials, but also, McAllen I.S.D. students of all ages, residents (City of McAllen employees who volunteered to participate in the production) and even, Diocese of Brownsville Bishop Daniel Flores, who helped to deliver the message of the importance of participating in the 2020 U.S. Census.
The other award was for the Best Uses of Social Media, Unplanned, for the heartbreaking, compassionate and yet professional and timely messaging regarding the death of two McAllen police officers killed in the line of duty. The posts included the reaction from the department, community, surrounding cities and even the state and nation to the displays of support in honor of Veteran Officer Edelmiro Garza Jr. and rookie officer Ismael Chavez, Jr. Follow-up posts included updates and information for the various memorial services and ways the community could pay their respect to the fallen officers’ families.
“I am so proud of the recognition received by the Office of Communications for the work they do in highlighting and publicizing the work of the entire City of McAllen,” said McAllen City Manager Roel “Roy” Rodriguez, P.E. “To be awarded by the leading industry organization speaks to the quality of the work produced by the entire team.”
Additionally, the department won two Award of Honor awards for the Special Events Category, Best Recurring Event, for the video produced that recapped and highlighted the best of the City of McAllen and McAllen Police Department Christmas for Kids Toy Giveaway. Included in the video was footage of the entire day’s activities, including the City of McAllen vehicle parade, the food and toy distribution and the smiling faces of the thousands of kids served, as well as interviews with McAllen PD, McAllen elected officials, sponsors and celebrity participants. It was a heartwarming video that captured the magic and warmth that is felt at the event.
The other TAMI award recognized the Office of Communications for its redesigned studio, launched with a live news cast and new programming and marketing material to help create a connection with the audience and the channel, known as MCN 1300. Judges recognized the work created a connection with viewers with all new elements of the channel.
Also winning this year was Hidalgo County Public Affairs, who earned an Award of Excellence in the specially created COVID-19 Category, for their Hidalgo County COVID-19 Commemorative Video. The video recapped the year of Hidalgo County efforts to manage the global pandemic throughout the county, touching on its impact in every facet of every community. Highlights of the video included actual news footage interspersed with interviews and b-roll footage of the various efforts undertaken by Hidalgo County.
“Congratulations to the City of McAllen and to our own Public Affairs team for always seeking excellence in their work. I’m particularly proud that the County’s COVID-19 commemorative video was recognized because I believe it was a recognition for all that Hidalgo County has endured during this pandemic,” said Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez.
The City of McAllen competes in the population category 100,000 and above.
“The TAMI Awards allow our profession to honor the best work being done by communicators around the state. This year, we had a record-setting number of entries from cities as small as a couple thousand residents, to as large as more than a million. The competition was stiff and everyone who placed should be incredibly proud,” said TAMIO President Jay Warren, director of Communication and Legislative Affairs for the City of Arlington. “Hopefully cities will celebrate their wins with their city councils and residents as a way to further highlight the critical work of municipal communicators.”
The Texas Association of Municipal Information Officers was developed as a result of the increasingly complex role of public information in municipal government. TAMIO actively seeks to advance and promote the cooperation and exchange of information and ideas among Texas cities and provide professional development for public information and communications managers who work in municipal government of similar agencies.
