Austin, TX – The Texas Real Estate Commission and Appraiser Licensing & Certification Board is pleased to announce the agency has won two coveted Association of Real Estate License Law Officials (ARELLO) Communications Awards. One is for the new integrated communications plan, and the other for Board and Commission meeting communications. The agency will be recognized for these achievements and will make presentations on these topics at the ARELLO Annual Conference on September 28th, 2018.
The agency’s integrated communication strategy was developed to ensure consistent, clear and reliable messaging about all things happening at the agency. The agency schedules digital content to be distributed throughout the month, and engages license holders on the media platforms they prefer. The agency maintains content on its websites, and then delivers notices about new content via email and social media. Additionally, the agency delivers a monthly newsletter to all license holders that summarizes all news and information from the previous month, customized by license type. License holders and the public can sign up for email notices and for newsletters using an email messaging tool accessed via the agency’s websites. All can choose the topics they are interested in and not be overwhelmed by unwanted communications.
Additionally, the agency has developed a uniquely effective process for widely disseminating information about, and encouraging participation in, its regular official public meetings held at least once every three months. The agency’s tools include live webcasting to provide access to the meetings to interested parties who cannot attend in person, innovative methods for preserving and accessing the public record of all materials considered, details of discussions held, and a clear record of official decisions made. A unique feature is the action summary containing embedded links for each agenda item that will take a viewer directly to that part of the video minutes where the agenda item was considered or action was taken. There is no need for a viewer to scroll through the video of an entire meeting to find and hear the debate on any item that interests the viewer. All meeting notices, agendas, materials and the indexed video recording are accessible on the agency’s websites.
These innovative tools have been developed with the goal of ensuring all communications and official business of the agency are conducted in the most transparent manner available. The agency is proud of its approach and is committed to continue its efforts to remain at the forefront of government communications and innovation. Thank you to ARELLO and its members for the honor of these awards.