Northbrook moves forward on communications overhaul after public comment urging outreach

A village resident urged the Village Board to broaden outreach to younger residents and reimagine how the village communicates at the Aug. 12 meeting, and trustees later announced the village has begun work with an outside agency to assess communications and prepare a new outreach plan.

In public comment, Ari Bruckman described efforts to build community and urged Northbrook to use both long-form and short-form digital content to attract and include younger residents in local civic life. Bruckman said social-media tools make it possible to “reach people faster than ever” and argued that “relatability” and vulnerability in messaging encourages participation.

Later in the meeting Trustee Kohler reported that the village has engaged an outside communications agency. Trustee Kohler said the firm will conduct discovery work and benchmarking between August and October and will produce a plan and calendar between October and December. The plan will include measures and reporting to evaluate outcomes when the village moves to implementation.

Trustee Kohler asked residents to participate in the discovery phase; the board said that the communications work is intended to dovetail with other strategic planning efforts. No vote was required; the manager and trustees described the hiring and timeline as an administrative step to improve outreach.