burlington comm plan

Communication Plan for the bundled infrastructure project event

Date, Time The event will be held on Monday, August 23, 2010 at 11:30 a.m. at theLocation Burlington Transit Operations Centre at 3332 Harvester Road

Purpose To provide options for organizing the official event to celebrate groundbreaking, completion or milestone events for all 12 infrastructure projects approved for funding in 2009 with a completion date of March 2011.

Background In July 2009, the federal and provincial government announced the funding of numerous infrastructure projects in order to boost the economy. Most of these construction projects will be completed this fall. The remainder will be completed by March 2011. The federal and provincial governments are each funding one third of each project with the city funding the remaining one third. The total funding for Recreational Infrastructure Canada program in Ontario (RInC Ontario) and Recreation Ontario (Ontario REC) projects is $5,016,664. The total funding of Infrastructure Stimulus Fund projects is $8,350,000. The City of Burlington will contribute the balance of the total eligible project costs of up to $25,050,000.

Situation Analysis

In early June, the City of Burlington communicated with Infrastructure Canada regarding planned infrastructure celebration events for June and July 2010. Infrastructure Canada’s communication team is representing both the federal and provincial governments from a communication perspective.

The city learned that Infrastructure Canada is asking all communities with infrastructure stimulus fund projects to bundle the project celebrations into one event/ceremony. As a result, the city’s three planned three events for June 11, 26 and July 5 were postponed.

Objectives 1. Showcase the city’s transit facility, fire station #8, arena, park and bike path improvements

2. Inform Burlington residents about the city’s improvements to sports and recreational facilities and the construction of new parks and buildings to provide for future growth.

3. Secure media coverage in the Burlington Post, CH TV and Cogeco TV for the City’s projects. This would be measured by the quality of media coverage - contained key messages, spokespeople, photo.

4. Attract over 30 people to attend the event

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Audience / Key Stakeholders

Confirmed: Burlington MP Mike Wallace, Halton MP Lisa Raitt, MPP Dave Levac, Mayor Cam Jackson, Councillors, Senior Management Team, Parks and Recreation project teams, Engineering, Construction and Design project teamsMediaBurlington residentsTo confirm: MPP Joyce Savoline Not available: MPP Kevin Flynn, MPP Ted McMeekin

Key Messages 1. Burlington is a city with a vision, one that cares for its people, its environment, its economy and its future.

2. Burlington provides its residents with improved recreational and sports facilities to ensure they have access to quality services and programs.

3. The City’s services and programs provide residents with the tools to achieve a healthy, active lifestyle.

Strategy and Tactics

To organize one event for all 12 current infrastructure projects. The six key projects are listed at the top in order of importance as per Charlotte.

1. New City Park (Dundas Street and Kerns Road)2. Mountainside Park (Mount Forest Drive)3. Hydro Corridor bike path resurfacing4. Centennial Bike path resurfacing5. Trail Improvements: Duncaster/Hidden Valley/Cavendish6. Orchard Community Park Artificial Turf Sports Field 7. Appleby Ice Expansion (1201 Appleby Line)8. Transit Operations Centre Redevelopment (Substantial completion

projected for Dec. 31, 2010)9. New Northeast Fire Station #8 (Groundbreaking soon. Substantial

completion Feb. 28, 2011)10. Accessibility Bridge for PAC (Partial Substantial completion to be

issued for bridge component Dec. 2010)11. Corporate Wide Automation (March 2011 completion)12. Nelson Arena/Pool Change Rooms (New Street)

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Recommended components for the event:

Arrange for vehicles to be displayed in parking lot, such as the fire pumper truck, Zamboni, Madvac, accessible bus and an electric car

To encourage City employees to attend the event, a transit bus could shuttle them to the event and take them back shortly after the presentation

Tours of the newly renovated Transit Operations facility would be conducted by Transit Director, Mike Snell and his staff

Serve light refreshments: juice, pop, sandwiches and cookies OR source a sponsor to provide a BBQ. Possible donation to charity, such as

Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital. CONTEST: One page city maps are handed out to guests. When they visit

each display, they are given a sticker with a number on it. They place the sticker on the map where the project location is. A stamp could be used instead of stickers. All completed maps are handed in and a prize is awarded to one winner. Or small prizes are given to all participants who complete the map.

Contest Prizes: possibly swim and/or skate passes The contest ballot would collect survey information such as postal codes

and would ask how they heard about the event. A phone number or email would be required if the winner is not in attendance.

Displays could be set up in an interactive or flow through format. A video or slide show of various infrastructure project photos plays on a

loop in a large screen at the back of the room Could be interactive features, such as GIS mapping

Event Format

This official event will celebrate groundbreaking, completion or milestone events for all 12 infrastructure projects approved for funding in 2009 with a completion date of March 2011.

The event will include a speaking presentation, tour of the transit centre, demonstration of the bus wash, projects display, slide show and photo opportunities. Speakers include Minister of Labour and Halton MP Lisa Raitt, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Infrastructure and Energy and Brant MP Dave Levac, Burlington MP Mike Wallace, Cam Jackson and Executive Director of Corporate Strategic Initiatives (CSI) Allan Magi who will talk about some of the key projects.

Due to election protocol, Councillors would not speak. All election candidates in attendance would be announced by the emcee.

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The event would be held in the maintenance facility, a large room which holds up to 12 buses when serviced for maintenance. We would set up close to the open rolled up garage door so guests have a view of the vehicles parked outside: buses, a fire pumper truck and a Zamboni. The podium, risers, sound system and chairs for speakers will be up in this area. Rows of chairs would be set up for the audience.

A display of all 12 of the projects will be set up. Guests would be encouraged to look at the displays and participate in a contest. City staff would staff the displays and interact with people by answering questions during the official event.

Two buses could be parked behind the podium and speakers to provide a backdrop and divide the room from the maintenance bay. A Burlington, Ontario and Canadian flag will be set up by the podium.

A table with light refreshments will be set up on one side of the room.

CHCH TV’s Matt Hayes will do his segment of News at Noon live on site at 12 noon. After the presentation, dignitaries and guests will be directed to board the accessible bus. The bus will stop at the entrance of the bus wash where Matt Hayes will board the bus. He will chat with the mayor and guests while the bus drives through the bus wash.

The bus will drop passengers off at the entrance to the offices and the first tour will begin.

Communication materials

Invitations to residents and user groups Agenda Bilingual Media advisory* Bilingual Media Release* Backgrounder* Fact sheet about Burlington Transit Operations Centre Slide show/PowerPoint presentation Speaking Notes for the Mayor and Emcee Staff Information

*Media materials must be approved by Infrastructure Canada. They will provide translation. Allow one to two weeks for approval and translation.

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Display optionsOur display depends on the event budget. On the low end, the display could be comprised of project renderings and photos (to show planning/progress) on foam core boards on easels. A middle priced option is purchasing fabric paneled 8 by 8 foot curved units. Paper images would be tacked to the fabric. A high priced option is ordering printed graphics on 8 foot curved units. A combination of two or three of the display options could also be discussed.

The printed graphics on the display unit should include the City of Burlington logo, a tag line and an image. The graphic should be generic so that it could be used for future events. The fabric displays could hold printed material including one photo or rendering from each site with the title, start and completion date, funding and total cost of each project. The fabric/carpeted paneled units could be used for future events.

Cost of Visual Display Materials

A budget has been approved to purchase one or two fabric displaysplus several foam core boards which will be displayed on easels.

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Visual materials Cost1 foam core board of project photo or rendering $ 2212 foam core boards (displayed on easels) $ 26424 foam core boards $ 512

Curved 8 x 8 ft fabric POP UP display $2,425Graphics panel for POP UP display $ 5253 graphics panels for POP UP display $1,575POP UP display with 3 graphic panels $4,000Two POP UP displays with 3 graphic panels $8,000Three POP UP displays with 3 graphic panels (including 10% discount)

$9,800

Two curved 8 x 8 ft fabric POP UP display $4,850Three curved 8 x 8 ft fabric POP UP display(including 10% discount)

$6,558

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