Research Triangle Park, NC (July 24, 2017) – GoTriangle has received national recognition for two community campaigns, one aiding victims of Hurricane Matthew last fall and the other encouraging Triangle residents to try transit year-round.
GoTriangle’s Storm Relief Bus campaign to collect donations for storm victims in Eastern North Carolina has garnered three awards, including the American Public Transportation Association AdWheel award for Best Overall Communications/Marketing Educational Effort. A video of GoTriangle’s work coordinating and delivering the donations won a Telly Award, and social media efforts supporting the donation drive won a Communicator Award.
Videos and social media work associated with the agency’s GoTogether campaign also have won a Telly and a Communicator award. Telly Awards honor the nation’s best commercials in TV, cable, digital, streaming and nonbroadcast productions. Communicator Awards recognize big ideas in marketing and communications worldwide.
“The Storm Relief Bus effort recognized the tremendous need of our neighbors after Hurricane Matthew and used our people and resources and leveraged the resources of several community partners to make a big impact quickly,” said Mike Charbonneau, GoTriangle’s director of communications. “This was about understanding the significant role a transit agency plays in a community, beyond just transporting people, and stepping up to support our neighbors. These awards recognize the collaboration, creativity and generosity of our volunteers, partners and community donors.”
After Hurricane Matthew hit North Carolina in October, the state experienced a 1,000-year flood event. More than 800,000 households lost power, nearly 3,750 residents were displaced from their homes and 635 roads and 34 school systems were closed. Nearly 30 North Carolinians died.
For the Storm Relief Bus campaign, GoTriangle partnered with WRAL-TV, United Way of the Greater Triangle and RDU International Airport to collect donations of cleaning supplies, baby provisions and food that filled three buses and two vans and were delivered to families in Nash, Edgecombe, Wilson and Johnston counties.
“I have never loved working in social media more than the two days of the Storm Relief Bus campaign,” said Samantha Allen, GoTriangle’s social media specialist. “To go live on WRAL’s Facebook page and then a few hours later people show up with canned goods to donate because they saw our video – that’s powerful. The next day we were able to immediately share how the Triangle helped with hurricane relief. Social media is not about numbers. It’s about people being a community and helping others.”
The continuing GoTogether campaign shares real commuter stories to inspire the community to skip driving alone in a car and to seek viable travel options to work, school or other important places. The stories include those of a father and son biking duo and of a creative entrepreneur who uses his bus trip to get a jump on the day.
Find more information about GoTogether at gotogethernc.com. Watch the Storm Relief Bus video at bit.ly/stormreliefbus.
The Communicator Awards receive over 6,000 entries each year from companies and agencies of all sizes around the world. The Telly Awards receive more than 13,000 entries yearly from all 50 states and five continents.