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Trails committee revives photo contest and plans year-round social campaign
Summary
Franklin Township’s trails committee agreed to relaunch a trails photo contest and to use incoming submissions to populate a social-media campaign and municipal channels. The committee set up submission logistics (email), discussed seasonal rounds or continuous collection and expects to launch the 2025 contest window Jan. 1.
Committee members on Nov. 13 endorsed restarting the township trails photo contest as both a contest and an ongoing promotional campaign. The group agreed to accept submissions by email, post strong entries regularly to social media and the township website, and to use selected images in displays, kiosks and other outreach.
Members discussed multiple formats: a paper calendar like prior years; a mostly digital program with occasional printed winners for display; or seasonal contest rounds (winter/spring and late spring/early fall) with an annual 'best of' selection. The committee favored flexibility: accept photos throughout a defined window, publish nominees frequently to maintain engagement, and hold periodic judging rounds rather than a single, one-off announcement.
Tara said staff will create or use an existing trails email for submissions and assist members with editing and posting. She told the committee it will be explicit in contest materials that "submissions may be used for promotional purposes online." Members suggested establishing a consistent hashtag (for example, Franklin Trails) and creating a modest social-media account or using existing township channels to host the images.
The committee discussed timing and logistics: a Jan. 1 launch for the 2025 window was proposed so the group can publicize the contest in the township quarterly paper and on social media in the months leading up to spring events. Members also floated using seasonal winners to increase community voting and engagement, and the committee will return with a draft flyer and technical flow for judging and posting.
Next steps: staff will draft contest rules, set up the submission email, prepare sample social posts and return with a launch plan for the committee’s next meeting.
