During the 2008 CRAM Annual Highway Conference held in Lansing the first week of March, the Washtenaw County Road Commission was honored with a “CRAMmy Award” for the agency’s new and improved, redesigned Web site. The WCRC was one of four road commissions to receive the award this year for having demonstrated creative and outstanding public relations and communications in 2007.
“The
CRAMmy’s are awarded to local road commissions each year to give
recognition for creative ways that road-related information has
been shared with the public,” said John Niemela,
Director of the County Road Association of Michigan (CRAM).
In addition to Washtenaw, the other three county road commissions to receive a CRAMmy were Kalamazoo, Mecosta, and Monroe.
Each year, the County Road Association of Michigan (CRAM) and its Public Relations-Education Committee (PR-EC) acknowledge those road agencies that are going above and beyond in their efforts to keep the public and local officials well informed on road improvement projects and other transportation-related activities.
“The CRAMmys encourage excellence and creativity among our members, and are a great way to give recognition to our members that are working hard to be creative and proactive to reach all of our constituents,” concluded Niemela.
To
develop the new website, a committee was formed, consisting of
employees representing various departments and sections of the Road
Commission in order to provide assistance and guidance through the
redesign. The Website Committee’s main focus of the website was to
educate the public on various topics of the Road Commission, while
providing easy access and simple user-friendly navigation with
informative content material. Under the direction of Sr. Systems
Analyst Katherine Doyle, and the design of Brian Bal,
a part-time System’s Technician, the committee took great effort to
consider the “end user” throughout the process, evaluating
the type of information the public demanded, based on current
usage, as well as what they thought would be most beneficial,
useful, and assist in enlightening the public about roads and road
commissions.
The end result is a streamlined website – completely designed and maintained in-house by Road Commission staff – with up-to-date information on road projects and other road-related news, as well as easy accessibility to frequently used permit forms, maps, and other services.
This CRAMmy marks the third time the Road Commission has received the coveted award for outstanding public relations initiatives. The agency was presented a CRAMmy in 2005 for its “East Delhi Road Bridge Public Information Campaign,” and again in 2006 for its “Customer Service Report.”
Contact
For questions or further information on this press release, please contact Val Cooper, Public Information Officer, Washtenaw County Road Commission, at (734) 327-6675, or via email at cooperv@wcroads.org.