Communications and Marketing

we are

COMMUNICATIONS
& MARKETING

Carla Banks

Communications and Marketing Department Director
336-373-3769

COMMUNICATIONS

The Communications Division manages media relations,
social media, external and internal websites and internal
communications, as well as maintains protocols and
style guides for all centralized media, such as the City’s
websites and cable TV presence. Communications
provides daily media request summaries to the CMO,
conducts media relations training, prepares newsletters
and e-newsletters, coordinates press conferences,
edits collateral and other materials, creates PowerPoint
presentations for staff, and more.

Jake Keys

Communications Division Manager
336-373-2105

GREENSBORO TELEVISION NETWORK

Greensboro Television Network (GTN) operates 24 hours/7
days a week. The channel serves municipal government
and was created under a franchise agreement with
Spectrum. At the time it was established, the Education
channel and the Public Access channel were also created;
however, there is no connection between the three
channels. While GTN is often referred to as “government
access,” it is actually “municipal government access.” GTN
airs County Commissioner meetings under a contract, but
is not involved in production of any county programs. GTN
primarily broadcasts original departmental programming,
City newscast FYI Weekly, municipal government
meetings, a bulletin board to promote programs, services
and events, and public service announcements.

David Brown

GTN Division Manager
336-412-6311

USABOUT The Communications and Marketing Department is made up of four divisions:
Communications, Greensboro Television Network (GTN), Contact Center, and
Graphic Services. Staff is responsible for providing direct communications and
marketing support to the City Manager’s office, each City department and City
Council members as needed.

GRAPHIC SERVICES

Graphic Services Division is comprised of the print
shop and mail center. This division provides creative
production services to City of Greensboro, Guilford
County and City of High Point departments. Staff
provides creative services, such as graphic design,
copying, printing and finishing of letterhead, brochures,
business cards, forms, etc. Staff also provides daily mail
services for the City of Greensboro, including inbound
and outbound USPS mail, as well as interoffice mail and
package handling.

Lisa Pitts

Graphic Services Division Manager
336-373-2013

CONTACT CENTER

The Contact Center responds to internal and external
requests and questions for all departments. The Contact
Center was established by transferring positions from
multiple departments. Staff uses custom-designed
software, linked to work management software, and a
phone system that is state of the art. The Customer Service
Representatives (CSRs) have extensive training not only
in the City’s services and structure, but also in dealing
with demanding customers and in providing efficient and
friendly service. This staff’s primary goal is to give callers
the correct information the first time. The CSRs transfer
calls to the appropriate person when the matter is beyond
their ability to resolve.

Lorrie Reid

Contact Center Division Manager
336-373-3269

BROADCAST/MULTIMEDIA FYI Weekly

Specialty Videos and Commercials FYI Weekly is a weekly newscast
hosted by Carla Banks highlighting
Department requested specialty videos/commercials can City events and meetings for the
be any length, from 30 seconds to 30 minutes. Topics have coming week. A five minute interview
included Water Resources TV commercials, Police recruiting segment is available each week and
videos, and Parks and Rec programs. can be scheduled in advance. The
News Conferences - GTN staff covers emerging City events total length of the show is 30 minutes.
and announcements as needed. Depending on the topic,
the event is shot beginning to end, or the producers may Greensboro Works
record just the highlights. There is minimal production and
graphics. The goal is to be timely and get the program on Greensboro Works is a light-hearted,
the air as soon as possible. entertaining show with new
Internal videos are produced on a limited basis, since episodes quarterly. Maria Hicks-
priority is given to on-air programming. Few hosts the program, similar to
Bulletin Board is an on-air program that runs generic City the Discovery Channel’s Dirty Jobs,
slides, similar to PowerPoint. Since the bulletin board runs where she interviews and highlights
for 30 minutes and only twice a day at 9:30 am and 10:30 unknown/interesting jobs within
pm, the pages have basic department information with City government. Maria gets “in
addresses, phone numbers and web addresses. In addition, the trenches” with City employees.
the bulletin board may be preempted by live or replayed Episodes typically run less than 30
meetings. minutes.
GTN also produces a new weekly podcast, “Talk City:
Greensboro.”The podcast helps keep residents up-to-date Prescription for Fun
on what’s going on with our City government. Episodes are
available for download on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play and Prescription for Fun spotlights various
Soundcloud. Parks and Recreation programs,
locations and events around
Greensboro. Topics have included
the skate parks, the OPUS concert
series, Greensboro Cultural Center and
recreation centers.

This is Greensboro

This is Greensboro is hosted by
Rosemary Plybon. Topics cover a
broad range of subjects and events
throughout Greensboro, not just City
government. It’s an engaging show
giving viewers a chance to see what’s
happening with local businesses,
economic development, and City-
wide events. Rosemary serves as
executive producer, determining the
story ideas and interviewees.

GRAPHIC DESIGN AND PRINTING Printing
Finishing
The Print Shop partners with Communications to design and produce Delivery
marketing materials for all City of Greensboro departments. This
includes signs, flyers, posters, mailers (with mail merge), ads, logo Mail
design, letters, postcards, brochures, rack cards, calendars and more.
Whether creating a custom piece or a template, we can help you create
the right piece for your needs.
With five digital printers and two digital presses, we produce
professionally printed materials from simple one-color jobs to multi-
color jobs ranging in sizes from 3”x5” to 12”x18”. We also provide fast
turnaround, same day in many cases, at cost effective rates.

MAIL SERVICES

The Mail Center offers assistance with all mailings from letters to
postcards to packages to help save shipping costs. Work with our
experienced professionals to determine the best mailer for your
needs. The Mail Center provides USPS specifications and regulations
to the Print Shop when they design direct mail pieces including flyers,
postcards and letters, ensuring that mail pieces are machinable and
will mail at the best cost.

Design

ONLINE AND SOCIAL MEDIA JOIN

Website WATCH

The Communications staff serves as the unofficial CLICK
guardians of the City’s external award-winning website.
Communications is here to help assist departments and
divisions promote critical services in an organized and
easy to read manner for the public.

Social Media

In the age of social media, a large percentage of
Greensboro residents get their news on social media.
That’s why we have a strong presence on Twitter,
Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. You’ll also see the City
represented on the Nextdoor app. Let us help promote
your events and services or help you create a strong
presence of your own. Communications can also sit down
with you to help develop a social media strategy or talk
through some best practices.

• Facebook has 13,500 followers
• Twitter has more than 46,000 followers
• Instagram has nearly 4,000 followers
• YouTube has more than 1,000 subscribers

MEDIA RELATIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS

The Communications Division works with our local media (print, television, radio) taking media requests
and pitching City-related stories. Staff is always happy to help prepare you for interviews, create talking
points and even host media training.

News Creation

The Communications Division is your liaison to create news releases,
media advisories and more. Let us help you with the Who, What, Where,
When and Why. If we can answer those questions, we can put out a good
news release.

Internal Communications

Not every department is focused on external clients. Do you need help
promoting events or news to City staff? Let our Internal Communications
Specialist help with everything from CityNet to GTN.

ADVERTISING

The Communications and Marketing Department currently advertises in
the O. Henry, O. Henry Seasons and Black Business Ink magazines, as well as
the Que Pasa and La Noticia Hispanic newspapers and as needed in various
newspapers. Communications also advertises in the Four Seasons Town Centre
on ad panels in the food court and will take advantage of marketing platforms
on the Smart Kiosks coming to Greensboro in 2019.

• O. Henry Magazine (18,000 copies printed and distributed each month)
• O. Henry Seasons (25,000 copies printed and distributed in March, June,

September and December)
• Black Business Ink (9,000 magazines distributed throughout Greensboro

and Winston-Salem monthly)
• Que Pasa (Monthly newspaper reaches 180,000+ Hispanics)
• La Noticia (Monthly newspaper serving more than 300,000 members of the Latino community in NC)

CONTACT CENTER TOP FIVE REASONS TO CALL 336-373-CITY

The Contact Center serves as the centralized • Real people
point of contact for all City services and Every call is answered by a friendly, knowledgeable person.
information. Utilizing multiple channels of
contact, including phone calls, e-mail, voice mail, • Flexibility
online Live Chat, online requests and walk-in You may call, walk in, e-mail, or chat online with a staff person.
customers (to City Hall), we are able to accept
and handle contacts for standard questions • Answers
and actions. We are excellent at sharing Callers get help right away, often with no transfer necessary.
information that rarely changes or has specific
rules determining an answer (i.e., what do I owe • Experience
on my water bill, what is my trash day, what is The Contact Center has answered more than one million calls.
recyclable in Greensboro, where is [specific City
facility], when does an event occur, etc.). We are • It’s Easy
also able to share information about a short- 336-373-CITY is easy to remember and even easier to use.
lived situation (tornado recovery, street closure,
building closure, event information, etc.) and STATS
can capture responses to a short event or survey,
like BE: Greensboro, and report them back to the • 13 City Service Representatives
appropriate group. • Bilingual staff that speaks Spanish
Our software Interfaces with Infor/EAM, the
LOE system (and transitioning to MyGov), and and English
EnQuesta to generate work orders for work • 1,400 calls per day
groups using these tools. Additional interfaces • Create work orders
can be created with the assistance of our internal • Open Monday through Friday,
IT staff.
7 am to 6 pm

CHANNELS

• Calls
• E-mail
• GSO Collects App
• Chat
• Voicemail
• Walk-in
• Video Phones