County Commission | The Magazine January 2020 | Page 44

A
The success
of Rebuild
Alabama made a
Twitter believer out
Geneva County of me. One of the
President,
best things about
Association of
County Engineers ACEA is it creates
a forum for us to
of Alabama
from other
@Just_Barfield learn
county engineers,
and that has continued to hold true as I’ve gotten started
on Twitter and followed the example set by my colleagues.
Most legislators utilize Twitter, and we can use our
expertise to offer feedback and guidance on pending
legislation. I’d like to see 100% of county engineers active
on Twitter this session.
Justin
Barfield
Charlie
McNichol
Mobile County
President, Alabama
Association of
9-1-1 Districts
@AANDpresident
44 | JANUARY 2020
A
A
An
increasing
number of people
Jefferson County get their news
President, Alabama from social media,
Association
and we know it’s
of Emergency
an integral part
Managers
of every EMA
communications
@EMAJeffCoAL plan. For AAEM
members, our assignment this year is to apply what we
know about this high-speed avenue of communication to
legislative advocacy. Providing legislators with information
about a bill’s impact on their constituents can enhance
deliberations with an added benefit — our tweets are also
broadcast to our citizens and local news media.
Jim Coker
Among 9-1-1 professionals, no one has to sell us on the power and
importance of immediate, widespread communication – which is
the essence of social media. And while I’m no personal fan of social media, I
understand the professional benefits to county government of being involved
on Twitter. This year, AAND will make it our mission to become more vocal
on and responsive to legislative matters through Twitter by using the #alpolitics
hashtag. With the ability to reach more than 60 percent of the Legislature at
once, #alpolitics is an incredibly simple and powerful communications tool –
one that should be used not only to advocate for priority bills but also to defend
county government from dangerous legislation.