City of Fort Collins Doubles Up On Community Education Awards

Release Date: Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

Contact: Patty Bigner,
Customer and Employee Relations Manager
Fort Collins Utilities, (970) 416-2432

The City of Fort Collins recently won two awards from the 3CMA (City-County Communications & Marketing Association) national Savvy Award competition.

Fort Collins Utilities’ Annual Children’s Water Festival received the “Silver Circle” (2nd place) award in the Special Events category. Now in its 18th year, the annual Festival is held at CSU and is attended by approximately 1,500 third grade students. During ½-day sessions, specialists throughout Northern Colorado lead hands-on, educational classes, activities and exhibits designed to help the students learn more about the importance of water.

Judges commented that the Festival’s entry proves it is possible to stay fresh and fun even when your event has been around for 18 years. The event was credited for its collaboration efforts and recognition that effective communication tools don’t need to be expensive, as this invaluable educational event is staged at an amazingly low cost.

The City’s Shop Fort Collins First Holiday Campaign received the “Award of Excellence” (3rd place) for its economic development efforts in the Citizen Participation and Community Visioning category.

Facing an unsettled economy and nervous 2008 holiday shoppers, a group of public-private partners reached out to the Fort Collins community with a reminder about the economic benefits of shopping in their hometown. Maintaining City services, retaining jobs, and supporting the diverse and plentiful retailers are important reasons to shop locally. Throughout the holiday season Fort Collins’ retail sales tax collections broke all national trends.

Judges liked the idea of pairing local shopping with City events and commended the campaign as a good example of a focused, targeted campaign with effective results.

For more information, call Fort Collins Utilities at (970) 221-6700, visit www.3cma.org, e-mail or TDD (970) 224-6003.

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