Public Relations and Awareness Committee

As 2015 draws to a close, the WASLA Public Relations and Awareness Committee is approaching one year since their kick-off meeting last January.  The purpose of this kick-off meeting was to set goals, both long and short term, for how to work with ASLA to promote the profession of landscape architecture within our state. This past year has been an exciting one. Many hours were spent building the committee and showcasing landscape architecture both locally and regionally through social media, national events, and world celebrations. Below are some of our accomplishments.

Social media presence is crucial for any organization as it enables networking and promotion of causes and events at no cost. Last year, the WASLA Twitter page gained 378 new followers, garnered 3,168 page visits, and made 49,555 impressions (where a WASLA tweet showed up on an individual’s Twitter feed). Each impression helps to keep landscape architecture on the forefront of the collective consciousness, underlining its relevance to current affairs. Follow WASLA (@WashingtonASLA) as we continue to share interesting content pertaining to landscape architecture and allied professions.

In April, the Public Relations and Communications Committee participated in the World Landscape Architecture Month (WLAM) campaign organized by ASLA.  At the local level, the Committee led efforts to promote our discipline using the “This is Landscape Architecture” tagline while posting photos of spaces designed by landscape architects. The purpose of this campaign was to inform citizens that landscape architecture is both universal and individually significant, producing a daily impact on their lives. The WLAM campaign reached 2,946,190 people through 3,898 posts from 26 countries.

PARK(ing) Day occurred on September 18^th and was a huge success.  The WASLA Public Relations and Awareness Committee worked with Seattle Department of Transportation, the Seattle Design Festival, and Design in Public to bring 57 pop-up parks and pop-up protected bike and pedestrian lanes to Seattle. In addition, WASLA member firms and supporters offset 100% of the required safety material rental fees for park participants, ensuring PARK(ing) Day was open and equitable to all who wished to participate. At the state level, a record number of parks were designed and implemented, with participation from Seattle, Tacoma, Spokane, and Pullman, totaling 79 known parks. Special thanks to everyone who enjoyed, created, supported, and assisted in PARK(ing) Day!

The aforementioned accomplishments would not be possible without a diligent and hard-working group of volunteers. While many assisted with and contributed to committee events, a special thanks should be given to the core committee members for their volunteer efforts over the last year: Leslie Batten, Don Benson, KC Christensen, Ann Dinthongsai, Dean Koonts, Amber Raynsford, and Tom Walker.

For 2016, we look forward to improving on the events and achievements over the past year and adding some new volunteer opportunities, while increasing our strong volunteer base.  If you’re interested in joining the WASLA Public Relations and Communications Committee, contact Lucas Vannice at [email protected]

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