Relating to informing the general public concerning the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ public works, nothing is more practical, it seems, than highlighting the knowledge with lovable large cats.
In 2023, Oregon’s Portland District of the Corps of Engineers launched a free, downloadable calendar that confirmed locks, jetties, dams and different infrastructure punctuated with photoshopped home cats. To everybody’s shock, it was downloaded greater than half one million instances.
“I understand that within the realm of web virality, ‘a whole lot of hundreds’ appears sort of small. Nevertheless it’s all relative,” Chris Gaylord, the Portland District’s public affairs specialist, advised Army.com. “For us, that is sufficient to be thought of viral — particularly if you lump it in with the information protection and social media engagement the calendar acquired.”
The 2023 effort was so profitable that Gaylord was “just about assured” to make a 2024 calendar. The brand new calendar shall be launched to the general public on Oct. 30, 2023, through the homepage of the Portland District Corps of Engineers web site — and this yr, there can even be a companion canine calendar.
“Monitoring the entire dialogue [and] engagement concerning the 2023 cat calendar, plenty of of us requested a few canine calendar or really helpful we make one,” Gaylord stated. “Including canines to the combo, in my thoughts, could be an effective way to create one thing particular for nearly everybody.”
The Army Corps of Engineers’ mission is vitally vital to American infrastructure and protection. It manages flood management methods, builds and operates locks and dams, surveys 244 navigable river miles and retains these rivers and ports navigable, all whereas constructing services for each department of the army. The Portland District has been working on this capability since 1871, and at the moment it makes billions of {dollars} in business delivery potential.
Gaylord is the creator of the unique calendar and manages the district’s social media outreach. He created the primary cat calendar in January 2023 through the use of photographs from a Fb put up throughout 2021’s Nationwide Cat Day. Not solely did the put up generate a major quantity of engagement, however Gaylord discovered it was a great way to get the message out concerning the Corps’ many missions and tasks.
“The philosophy that drives our social media is that humor is a gateway to a message,” he stated. “In case you do not discover a approach to pull folks in, then you are going to fade away into all of the white noise. Easy as that, in my thoughts. Humor and levity by jokes, puns, memes, developments, popular culture references, and many others., is an efficient approach to convey folks in and even to show them one thing within the course of.”
“Individuals love cats. Big cats interacting with authorities infrastructure? Even higher,” he added. “It is a supply technique for info. It will get us some consciousness and publicity, however in a method that does not really feel too overpowering and that does not take as a right the eye of our public audiences. We additionally need of us to know that we’re not just a few faceless paperwork. And what higher method to try this than by placing an enormous cat’s face on the entrance of an official calendar?”
The brand new calendars are usually not solely stuffed with lovable cats and canines on Corps of Engineers infrastructure tasks, they’re the precise companion animals of the individuals who work for the Army throughout the nation. It is enjoyable, but in addition a congratulatory nod to the individuals who make all these enhancements potential.
“The factor is, we do a ton of actually vital work for the folks of the Pacific Northwest and past,” Gaylord says. “We’re one of many Corps’ largest and most diversified civil works districts. The work we do is important and, to us, additionally thrilling. Besides, it would not all the time grip the common individual within the social media sphere. We’ve to discover a approach to give information somewhat glow-up. These calendars are a first-rate instance of precisely how we do this.”
— Blake Stilwell may be reached at blake.stilwell@army.com. He may also be discovered on Fb, X or on LinkedIn.
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