Missouri DOT Goes Mobile to Reach Employees

MoDOT NOW is an employee focused app created by the Missouri Department of Transportation.

It is a common trend among communication offices around the transportation world. We spend hours working with project and program managers identifying target audiences and the key messages that we hope will change behavior, garner support for a controversial idea, or perhaps increase participation in a public process.

But as we look outward toward “the public,” or “elected officials,” we neglect a tremendously important audience — our fellow transportation employees. Yes, do not be surprised if the people with whom you work are among the least knowledgeable about your agencies core messages and organizational priorities.

Brrr! Audio, video social media tools help Maryland’s SHA share the latest road information

It’s cold out there and the Maryland State Highway Administration — like most highway and transportation agencies around the country — has plenty of tips and suggestions to help people travel safely during difficult weather events. But it is where and how SHA is posting its information that is rather interesting.

Maryland’s highway agency is using a combination of SoundCloud, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to tightly integrate its safety messaging.

Internet trends clearly show more mobile

The 2013 Internet Trends report from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a Silicone Valley venture capital firm, was released last week. The report does a good job of showing what many of the people working in social media and communications have known instinctively for some time. There has been huge growth in mobile usage in just a few short years and that transition should be changing the way in which we think about our communication tools. 

Transportation Communication: Giving thanks

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, let’s take a moment and recognize a few things for which we in the business of transportation communication should give thanks.

Technology – In the late 1990s, I was new to government public relations, having recently left my job as a newspaper reporter. Often, I traveled around the state of Arizona with my boss, the director of the Department of Agriculture. Few reporters had email. Fax machines were the quick way of delivering information. To get a news release out to media meant several hours of fax machine calls. I carried a three-ring binder that held all my reporter and industry contacts. It weighed about five pounds. I often phoned news rooms with updates because it was faster to do that than actually send a news release.