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- TATOA
Saturday, April 20, 2024
For Southlake residents, hearing from the Mayor is as simple as logging into Facebook on Monday mornings as they drink their coffee and begin their day. Each week for over two years, Mayor John Huffman has visited different corners of the City talking about Southlake news and happenings – from hidden gems to well-known events – and at the 2023 Texas Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (TATOA) Conference in Dallas, Texas, the Minute with the Mayor series made a splash.
The successful web series aims to provide residents with helpful information about where they live with some episodes about serious topics and others – just plain fun! From rolling sushi burritos at one of our local businesses to arranging flowers with our senior volunteers, Mayor Huffman is hands-on in the Southlake community to give new meaning to “meeting people where they’re at.”
The three episodes that swept the “Interview/Talk Show” category at TATOA do just that.
“Minute with the Mayor has been an incredible project to be a part of,” said Mayor Huffman. “We decided early in my term that we wanted to communicate with people in ways they are consuming information, and for most of us, that is video.”
Each episode is carefully planned and executed by the members of the Office of Communications and Customer Experience as they meet with City Staff, community members, and, of course, the Mayor to deliver news throughout the City.
A list of the episodes that won this year are as follows:
First Place
In this episode, viewers can take a step inside Sky Creek Kitchen + Bar with Mayor with Mayor John Huffman and Executive Chef Jose Soto. Located in the Delta Hotel, the award-winning chef and restaurant combine styles and flavor profiles to put Southlake eats on the map. Watch this episode here!
Third Place
Get your tastebuds ready! Mayor John Huffman chats with Ryan Nguyen of Sushi Dojo about their victory as the 2022 Food Truck Champion of Texas. Stay tuned to watch the Mayor try his hand at making their famous Shredder Burrito, filled with fried shrimp, hot Cheetos, and more! Watch this episode here!
Award of Merit – Honorable Mention
The CISD Varsity Cheer Team won the National Championship Title for Large Varsity Game Day Division at the NCA Nationals. Mayor John Huffman and Councilmember Ronell Smith met up with CISD Coach Cassie Hopkins to check out more about the team! Watch this episode here!
The Voice Behind “Action!”
Corporate Videographer Mikaela Hall recently passed the second-year mark with the City of Southlake and is ecstatic to take home more than one trophy for Minute with the Mayor this year. During her tenure with the City, she has produced over 100 weekly segments of Minute with the Mayor from start to finish as she touches on each piece of the process — from its initial brainstorming, scripting and coordination to production and editing.
“Although the series began before my initial hire at the City, it has been a great experience to mold Minute with the Mayor into such a success,” said Hall. “When I tell people what I do for work, the best compliment I can receive is hearing that they love tuning into Minute with the Mayor.”
Southlake Feature Stories
The City also received an Award of Merit for its feature on the Cerami family in the Southlake Stories series. The story of the Cerami family is one of joy, loss, hope, and belief. After 13-year-old Elise Cerami accidentally drowned during swim practice in 2016, her parents, Lori and David, and her brother Bryce channeled their personal grief to teach and unite the Southlake community around drowning prevention. Click here to watch their story.
The 27th annual conference for the TATOA organization was held on November 1-3, 2023. It included programming sessions geared toward the creation of videography and communications, with an emphasis on storytelling from Joe Little, the Director of Storytelling at NBC 7 San Diego.
Although the program’s earnings were recognized with trophies and cheers at the conference, the biggest win of the year was the engagement of Southlake residents. “I love knowing that what I do makes a difference in people’s lives,” said Hall. As the production of the series continues, the OCCE team hopes to take the lessons from the TATOA conference and create more content that inspires viewers to take pride in the Southlake community, one week at a time.
At the 2022 TATOA (Texas Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors) Conference in McAllen, Texas, two departments from the City of Southlake were honored — the Department of Public Safety and the Office of Communications and Customer Experience.
The 26th annual conference for the TATOA organization was held on November 3-4, 2022, and included programming sessions geared toward the creation of videography and communications.
While the City of Southlake is dedicated to providing transparent and accurate information, it is also a goal of a few City staff to see this through creatively. Public Information Officer Brad Uptmore and Public Relations Coordinator Mikaela Hall ensure that information of all types is distributed to encompass both of these objectives.
A full list of the winning videos from TATOA 2022 is as follows:
2022 1st place in “Weather” with “Prepare Right Now for Your Home”
2022 2nd place in “PSA with Operating Budget Under $250K” for “Mascara DWI PSA”
2022 Award of Merit in “Public Education with Operating Budget Under $250K” for “Prepare Right Now for Your Home”
2022 Award of Merit in “Storytelling” for “Mascara DWI PSA”
2022 Award of Merit in “Use of Humor with Operating Budget Under $250K” for “Southlake Citizen Survey”
A TATOA winner veteran, Public Information Officer Brad Uptmore has worked for the City of Southlake for over six years, first as a Patrol Officer and then moving into his current role. His Facebook humor garners the attention of many — even those that are not Southlake residents! More importantly, his approach to distributing information in a way that reaches people makes his work more impactful.
“I really enjoyed making the ‘Mascara DWI PSA’ piece the most because it was such a pivot to our normal zany, humorous videos. DWIs are a constant problem in Southlake, and most PSAs showcase over the top drinking — the parties, the clubs, the loud bars, but I wanted to focus on what I feel is the more common drinker — the subtle alcoholic who drinks all day,” said Officer Uptmore. “I really worked on making sure that if you re-watched it, you’d pick up on things you might have missed before.”
Public Relations Coordinator Mikaela Hall just celebrated her first year with the City of Southlake and is a TATOA winner rookie. One of her primary job functions is creating the Minute with the Mayor weekly segment from start to finish. She touches on each piece of the process — from its initial brainstorming, scripting, and coordination to production and editing. The topics of the segment vary from week to week. They can feature events, City Council updates, or entertainment pieces regarding noteworthy residents or programs in Southlake.
“The episode of Minute with the Mayor where we featured Tristan Paskvan was extremely special to me because it was a labor of love. With the help of Jason Tamplin, an outside contractor, we set up two lights, four microphones, and four cameras to capture Tristan’s monumental achievement,” said Hall. “It took me 14 hours to sync up all the audio streams, footage from the different cameras, the music he played at the end, and the photos and videos provided by his family, but it was worth it. Seeing Tristan’s family at the video shoot made me feel like I was doing something important for not only the Paskvan Family, but for the City as well.”
Although he is an outside contractor, Jason Tamplin assists the City with efforts on special projects as needed. He also is instrumental to ensuring the City Council meetings are streamed properly for citizen review and transparency purposes. He assisted Mikaela Hall in the Minute with the Mayor shoot mentioned above, and he is a valued member of our extended network.
For more about the TATOA conference, please visit their website.