West Bend Community TV reports social‑media growth, expanded live broadcasts and new outreach efforts

The City of West Bend Community TV Committee heard a director’s report Feb. 10 that highlighted growth in social media followers, an expanded live‑broadcast program and several communications initiatives aimed at improving how the city explains budget and service changes to residents.

Committee Director Jess said the department organized a year‑end summary and tracked marked growth during 2020, naming social channels, YouTube and virtual public meetings as primary achievements. “It was 120 virtual public meetings,” Jess said, summarizing the shift to Webex, Zoom and Microsoft Teams during the pandemic and how staff adapted to remote production.

The report said the Facebook page ended the final quarter with “a little over 17,000 followers, which was a growth of 15%,” attributed to staff member Nicole, who presented the social‑media figures. Nicole also described top posts that helped local businesses, including a feature that drove a dramatic spike in followers and immediate sales for a new restaurant.

“We’ve been doing all these... trying to drive awareness to new businesses,” Nicole said, describing business‑of‑the‑month videos, holiday promotions and pandemic public‑service announcements the department produced to promote safe voting and help citizens access city services.

John, who manages broadcasting, told the committee the department has increased live on‑site broadcasts for the school district and sporting events and added YouTube as a distribution channel. He said the department recorded a year‑over‑year growth of 297% on YouTube, reaching 471 followers for the year, and noted a peak of about 230 live viewers for a recent conference basketball game.

Committee members credited volunteer broadcasters Tom Stoff and Barry Hirsch for helping run live events and said the department’s ability to train local staff and volunteers has expanded production capacity.

The report also described how staff used social channels and a new email communications platform for targeted messages — Jay’s weekly email, a parks and recreation monthly e‑blast and specialized developer outreach — and how that platform provides backend analytics to guide follow‑up.

Jess and other staff outlined outreach work beyond social media: an FAQ and infographic on snow‑removal operations that drew roughly 46 positive comments after being posted before a storm, and a proposal to create clearer messaging about the budget process after residents reacted to a tax‑rate increase. “You guys gotta get better at telling us,” a business owner told staff during a conversation recounted in the meeting; staff said they plan a messaging campaign tied to the July budget draft to reduce surprises in October when final rates are published.

The committee also discussed grant funding used last year. Jess said the department received about $12,000 through a state stimulus program administered by the Department of Tourism and Department of Revenue to reimburse promotional videos produced for the Business Improvement District (BID). Staff called this reimbursement helpful and said they will continue seeking similar grants and joint‑marketing funds.

Staff described social‑media response protocols: a written social‑media policy and a practical goal of responding to citizen messages within the same day. They said straightforward requests (park‑and‑rec information, garbage pickup, etc.) are routinely answered online, while service or safety issues are routed to the appropriate department.

Looking ahead, staff said they will continue to expand live programming and explore ways to use email and social tools to “get ahead of the message” on contentious items. Nicole also reported that the department is assembling a nomination package to seek historic‑district designation for parts of downtown West Bend and intends to convene a small review committee including the Tower Heritage Center and BID representatives if outside consulting becomes necessary.

The director closed by saying staff are preparing a communications plan that will draw on a recently completed community survey and internal staff feedback to align city messaging with the council’s strategic pillars.

The committee did not take formal policy action on these items at the Feb. 10 meeting; the session included routine approvals and concluded with an adjournment vote.