Bellevue Parks unveils redesigned Activity Guide and reports strong newsletter engagement

Bridget Larson, the department's parks marketing coordinator, presented a redesign of the Parks & Community Services activity guide and an update on digital outreach that she said aims to make program information easier to find and directly link to registration.

Larson described three main outreach tools: the printed and digital Activity Guide (redesigned to be age- and activity-based and translated for accessibility), a monthly enews digital newsletter, and multiple social channels including department-level and facility-level accounts. She said the redesign has produced "net growth, since the redesign is, just over 1,800 subscribers, average growth of about 300 per month" and reported an open rate "just over 54%" with roughly "just over 1,400" average clicks per edition.

Board members asked whether marketing metrics translate into increased registrations. Larson said the department is looking at analytics that track clicks and downstream sign-ups in CivicRec and will prioritize marketing for underutilized classes. She also described governance for facility accounts: trained staff contributors and designated publishers post content with oversight from communications staff.

Larson said the digital Activity Guide directly links to the registration portal to make it easier for residents to find programs and sign up; she also highlighted distribution through community centers, the Bellevue School District and the library system. Members praised the redesign's usability and visuals and discussed subscriber goals, volunteer promotion and use of additional channels such as TikTok or Nextdoor.

Larson invited board members to suggest classes or channels to grow engagement and said analytics, not subscriber totals alone, are guiding outreach strategy.