Savvy award for It's Your City

In the spring of 2020, as many Bellevue residents and businesses were reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic shutdown it triggered, the City of Bellevue produced a special “Apart Together” edition of the resident newsletter, It’s Your City.

Intended to reach many residents who didn’t have computer access, including Bellevue’s most vulnerable, the May 2020 issue featured an insert with a map of food banks and other key resources, presented in multiple languages. For that “Apart Together” issue, the city has won a Savvy Award from 3CMA (the City County Communications and Marketing Association).

Staff collected the award in early September.

“Great job providing a vital resource to those in your community and overcoming barriers to access by providing it in multiple languages and formats,” noted one of the judges. Another wrote, “This project showed a unique understanding of the needs of the city’s target audience and a willingness and ability to adjust resources during a crisis to meet those needs.”

The city’s communications team, which includes public information officers who support operational departments, produces It’s Your City three times a year, with layout support from the Information Technology Department’s Graphics team.

For this powerful issue, Neighborhood Outreach celebrated residents finding ways to share hope among their neighbors. Human Services (Parks & Community Services) gathered information about nonprofits and created the multilingual insert with a map of food banks and other resources. The Diversity Advantage team (City Manager’s Office) arranged for translations of the entire issue, which were made available online.