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All Hands Meet at CAPIO 2022
San Diego : August 29 - September 1
Are you ready to advance your communications skills? Join us at our “All Hands Meet” in San Diego August 29 - September 1 where our diverse audience of PIOs come together like family to learn new skills, share insights, make new connections, and strengthen existing partnerships. CAPIO’s conference committee has been hard at work planning a great line-up of education for you. With an emphasis on DE&I (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion), community engagement and other leading communications topics, our
Secure your spot at the 2022 CAPIO Annual Conference
San Diego : August 29 - September 1
Are you ready to advance your communications skills? Join us at the 2022 CAPIO Annual Conference in San Diego. CAPIO’s conference committee has been hard at work planning a great line-up of education for you. With an emphasis on DE&I (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion), community engagement and other leading communications topics, our agenda provides in-depth training for both new and seasoned PIOs. New this year, conference pricing includes the first half day featuring off-site tours, collaborative sessions and teambuilding.
CAPIO special recognition awards – accepting nominations through June 30
Paul B. Clark, Communicator of the Year, Frank Potter Cowan Crisis Communications Leader Awards
CAPIO is now welcoming nominations for our three individual honors. The Paul B. Clark award - recognizing s a 20+ year career of excellence in communications. The Communicator of the Year award – recognizing a recipient for a stellar year of work in 2021. And the Frank Potter Cowan Crisis Communications Leader award - recognizing a team or an individual demonstrating exceptional leadership during a crisis. Nominations are reviewed according to a rubric under each category.
CAPIO announces the 2022-2023 Board
CAPIO is pleased to announce the 2022-2023 Board of Directors. As the state’s leading government communications association, the California Association of Public Information Officials leans on volunteer leaders to guide the association strategically to serve our 800-member network of public communicators. Read on to learn more about our board members.
What EPIC programs did you work on in 2020 or 2021?
EPIC awards program earlybird deadline is Friday, May 13
Recognizing work from 2021 and 2022
CAPIO’s EPIC Awards program recognizes and honors outstanding professional work and accomplishments in the public communications field. We continue to see government communications professionals raise the standard of excellence and creativity in our profession. Your work inspires us and we look forward to celebrating your EPIC work at the CAPIO Exellence in Public Information and Communications (EPIC) Awards events during the CAPIO Annual Conference. Read on to learn about the categories and how to apply.
April is APR Month
Did you know that CAPIO is one of the nine public relations organizations to offer its members the internationally recognized Accreditation in Public Relations (APR)? The APR recognizes timeless communications principles with contemporary strategies and tactics.
If you’re curious about what obtaining your APR could mean for your career, listen to our latest podcast follow these steps in April to learn more.
Download your toolkit here
Feb. 24 Government Communications Day
Did you know February 24 is Government Communications Day? What does that mean?
A day to highlight all the good work YOU do as a public communicator.
- When your agency is working on getting rate increases approved, guess who’s working on a public outreach and education campaign – you are.
- When your agency receives an award, guess who’s preparing the media advisory, issuing the press release, and creating a highlight video – you are.
- When a news outlet is looking for a comment or responding to a crisis, guess who’s w
CAPIO marks February 24 as Government Communications Day
Let’s celebrate!
Our role as government communications professionals is to inform, educate, and engage our communities.
Because, in the end, robust communication in government creates trust and inspires customers to take action and be involved.
We are in the fortunate role of being able to craft a narrative that showcases different perspectives on various topics – from community development and health and safety to education, infrastructure, and general government operations.
- We create relationships and calls to action.
- We build awareness and understanding through storytelling.
- We engage and foster engagement on civic issues.
- We use all channels and include everyone in critical decisions.
It’s essential to have strong communications in government because it is a foundational element of living in a democracy where citizens have the freedom to make their voices heard.
Because of the role of the government communicator, every February 24, we honor the incredible men and women who’ve dedicated their careers to ensure local, state, and federal government agencies have effective, impactful, and successful communication strategies that resonate and are relevant.
We want to flood our social media by highlighting fantastic government communicators. So, use #GovernmentCommunicationsDay in your posts or send us an email of you or your team so we can add it to our channels!
2022-2024 Board of Directors nominations
Would you like to be more involved with CAPIO? Be a Board Member! Volunteers are needed to serve on CAPIO’s 2022-2024 Board of Directors. Your expertise and experience is needed to help guide CAPIO into another great year!
CAPIO Conference Photos
Photos by Brant Bender Photography
Enjoy re-living the CAPIO conference as you walk through our photo albums from the 2021 CAPIO Annual Conference and the CAPIO Awards Dinner + 50th Birthday Bash. We were so excited to be back in person after 30 months of virtual!
CAPIO Special Award Winners honored during 2021 Awards Dinner & 50th Birthday Bash
November 4, 2021
During the November 4 Awards Dinner and 50th Birthday Bash, CAPIO congratulated three communicators who exemplify the gold standard in government communications. Read on to learn more about the winners of CAPIO’s prestigious Paul B. Clark, Communicator of the Year and Frank Potter Cowan Crisis Communications Leader of the Year Awards.
2021 Communicator of the Year Award Recipient
Thomas Christensen
Honored for his commitment and excellence in communications, the County of San Diego’s Communication Specialist, Tom Christensen, has made it his top priority to build social media campaigns that educate, inspire, and create change throughout the County of San Diego. Tom oversees more than 100 individual County department social media accounts as an administrator or content creator. His leadership has resulted in the County obtaining some of the highest follower counts for counties in the nation as well as some of the highest engagement numbers.
Poster contest winners announced!
Congratulations!
TOP WINNER
design by: VITO LABELLARTE | WESTAMERICA COMMUNICATIONS
Congratulations to Vito Labellarte and Westamerica Communications on their entry which garnered top honors in our poster contest! Conference participants will be able to pick up a copy of this award-winning poster at the 2021 CAPIO Annual Conference!
Crowdsource videos, images and memories requested!
50 years: Honoring the past, celebrating our future
It was 1971 when CAPIO was formed, since then things have changed on how we send information and get our message to the right audiences. And, along those years, you have seen what you do change, too. Remember sitting at the fax machine to send out press releases? Purchasing Bacons Books so you had the latest reporter listings? Or, clipping the newspapers of stories about your agency to place in a three ring binder? And what about driving around dropping off VHS tapes filled with b-roll.
Call for Nominations for CAPIO’s Individual Awards
Deadline: September 24
Nominations are now open for CAPIO’s annual special awards including our Communicator of the Year Award, Frank Potter Cowan Crisis Communications Leader of the Year Award and the prestigious Paul B. Clark Award.
CAPIO interviews Pat West, retired Long Beach City Manager and former PIO
Insights from a City Manager on the value of communications and the PIO
This year marks CAPIO’s 50th year since being established. In that time, a lot has changed with the way in which we communicate. However, in many ways, the baseline of what we do remains – and that is informing, educating, and engaging our communities to encourage them to participate in the democratic process, share their perspective and create an emotional response that leads to action.
In light of CAPIO’s half a century milestone, we are chatting with folks who work specially in the communications area of government or who are part of the government sector in general.
CAPIO rolls out Annual Partner Opportunities
Year round benefits!
Join us for this quarter’s regional meeting!
Meet your area Board representative, network with colleagues and hear the latest updates!
CAPIO members – join us for our June regional meetings where you will have a chance to connect face-to-face (virtually) with colleagues in your area. This quarter’s meeting will focus on networking on key topics to provide you with connections to reach out to throughout the year.
CAPIO’s new RFP Board now open
Members invited to submit posts to invite
CAPIO has added a new Community Forum board for members to share their RFPs / RFQs with our affiliate members.
HOW TO ACCESS THE RFP BOARD
Access the forum by first logging in to our CAPIO Website www.capio.org
Then either access via the MEMBERS DISCUSSION FORUM or through the VIEW MY MEMBER PROFILE page. Select the RFP/RFQ Forum under the Community Forum link.
CAPIO 50th Art Challenge
Calling all creatives!
Calling all creatives, we need your astute design expertise to help capture the essence of government communications over the past 50 years! Show us your design skills!
While the heart of public relations, government sector communications, and outreach has gone unchanged, the way we communicate, what we communicate, and how consumers of information obtain messages have dramatically transformed.