As this "summer like no other" nears its unofficial close, the East Hampton Town Board announced new phases of a communications campaign aimed at maintaining the suppression of Covid-19 transmission, emphasizing personal responsibility in the service of the public's health and that of local businesses and the economy.
"As Covid-19 will affect the way we carry out our daily lives for the foreseeable future," read a PowerPoint presentation during the board's meeting on Tuesday, "it is imperative that the town continues to take a leading role organizing safety protocols and communicating with residents, business owners, second homeowners, renters, and visitors the ways in which we can work together to keep everyone healthy and safe and to keep our local economy, businesses, and beaches open."
An early manifestation of the campaign is the new, eight-by-four-foot signs that began appearing in high-visibility locations on Tuesday. "For the health of our community," they read, "wear a mask" and "stay 6 feet apart." Newspaper advertisements are to appear today and next Thursday, and there will also be radio ads. A social media campaign that began on July 1 will continue.
The town board voted in June to spend up to $10,000 per month to retain a public relations firm into November, and hired BerlinRosen, a firm with offices in Manhattan, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C.
The Business Recovery Group, a committee formed in the spring comprising business leaders and charged with developing recommendations to ensure a safe reopening of the town's businesses, had suggested retaining a public relations firm to coordinate consistent messaging. That committee continues to meet weekly, Councilwoman Sylvia Overby said.
The new phase of the campaign will "educate target audiences about how they can contribute to making the Town of East Hampton a safe and healthy place for all," according to Tuesday's presentation. "This campaign will encourage all members of the community to support these efforts, as each individual has an integral role to play in keeping the community safe and open for all."
The town will issue "calls to action" on its Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts concurrent with the new signs, advertisements, and direct-mail calls to action related to public health and safety. Additionally, a Sept. 14 mailing of postcards will bear messages about the 2020 census. Newspaper advertisements about the census will follow.
Early in the pandemic, "guidance was changing hourly, and sometimes minute to minute," Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc said, "and with really important things we need to communicate." The communications campaign will "broaden the bandwidth, increase the effort, and have a much more professional outreach to the public," he said.
