The Mundelein Park District took home a handful of awards for its advertising and outreach efforts in 2021, which recognized the district for its work on digital content, a new website and a book written and illustrated by one of its top officials.
The awards, given at the annual Soaring to New Heights conference through the Agency Showcase of the Illinois Association of Park Districts and Illinois Park and Recreation Association (IAPD/IPRA), highlighted “bright ideas exhibited by park, recreation and conservation agencies,” a release from the Park District detailing the awards said. The event looked at those agencies for their marketing and communication efforts.
Marketing Manager Christa Lawrence said the district’s efforts for the past year were not much of a departure from any other year. As a result, the awards came as a surprise to officials, she said.
“We won more awards than we ever have at marketing and advertising,” Lawrence said. “We were definitely surprised.”
One of its first two first-place awards went to Lawrence’s book, “My New Mask,” which she wrote and illustrated herself. To pair with the book, she and the district made a series of videos. The book explains to children the need to wear face coverings, in both English and Spanish, according to a release from the district. The book is available to purchase on Amazon, with the proceeds going to the Mundelein Parks Foundation, the release said.
” (The book) was created to be a way to help children in our community feel more comfortable with (mask-wearing) and ease some anxiety,” it said.
The district’s other first-place award was given for its new website, which was launched in May 2021. Officials in a release said it was “designed to enhance user experience on every device,” and make the site simpler to navigate. The site also allows for it to be viewed in different languages and features a search function, the release said. It also has an interactive map of the facilities offered by the district.
Outreach was another major component of the past year for the district. The district received second-place honors for a YouTube TrueView ad, which it made in partnership with Alpha Media LLC. The ad highlighted offerings from the Health and Fitness Center.
The district also received two third-place awards. The first was for a brochure, which was updated to look consistent with the new website. The second was for Overall Agency Showcase, which included scores from all individual submissions and a tabletop display, the release said. The display highlighted the district’s Phase Fun Campaign, which thanked residents for sticking with the district through the pandemic.
“To be recognized was wonderful,” Lawrence said. “But really … there’s just so many amazing, creative things (by other districts) that were done to pivot as the pandemic has changed life.”
While the past year was a little different in terms of the pandemic, which meant outreach geared toward health and masking issues, Lawrence called 2021 “a standard year.” But with the pandemic lingering, the district still made changes to its events to allow some to be outside, including its Daddy Daughter Dance and Boo Bash, Lawrence said. Some classes offered by the district provided a virtual option as well.
Going forward and improving, Lawrence said job recruitment has been a challenge for the district. But she said she may have gotten some ideas from other districts during the award ceremony.
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“I saw a campaign … that I really liked,” she said.