Regional San cleans up at the Communicator Awards

[VIDEO]

Regional San’s social media video series for Water Professionals Appreciation Week has received an Award of Distinction from the 25th annual Communicator Awards. In the summer of 2018 Merlot was tasked with creating a set of informational social media videos to honor the hardworking men and women of Regional San for Water Professionals Appreciation Week. Through tours of the Bufferlands, a 2,150-acre wildlife habitat that provides a buffer between the treatment plant and the community, to the treatment plants that help filter and clean the water for approximately 1.4 million people in the Sacramento area, to some of the busiest streets to replace pipes, these videos reflect the diverse, challenging and vital work that Water Professionals do to help protect the environment and keep our communities healthy.

The Communicator Awards is an international awards program recognizing big ideas in marketing and communications. The program receives more than 6,000 entries each year, from companies and agencies of all sizes and is sanctioned and judged by the Academy of Interactive & Visual Arts, an invitation-only group consisting of top-tier professionals from acclaimed media, communications, advertising, creating and marketing firms.

The Award of Distinction is presented for projects that exceed industry standards in quality and achievement. Projects are awarded for showing innovation and craftsmanship, as well as for their ability to make a lasting impact.

The Merlot team with Sharon Sargeant, our guide from Regional San.

Charged with producing three videos for social media distribution, our team toured multiple sites run by Regional San and SASD. From the thriving ecosystem of the Bufferlands, which provides a “buffer” between treatment plant operations and its nearest neighbors, to treatment facilities, an underground network of pipes, multiple offices across several locations in the Sacramento area and a construction project in the middle of a bustling road—our team captured a well-rounded set of clips and interviews to depict the diverse range of jobs that thousands of California water professionals perform daily to keep our water clean and our sewer systems healthy.

The videos included footage of the various sites, as well as interviews with key figures who play an integral role in the utilities’ day-to-day operations and featured various team leaders, from natural resource supervisors and managers to engineers. Within 10 days, the finished videos (three for Regional San and one for SASD) garnered views ranging from 2,500 to 6,700 each! We hope that viewers gained useful insights about their local wastewater treatment facilities with an understanding of just how valuable this work and the people behind it are to our community and state.

Check out these informative videos:

https://www.facebook.com/SacRegionalSan/videos/154271075515697/

https://www.facebook.com/SacRegionalSan/videos/1851374624957669/

https://www.facebook.com/SacRegionalSan/videos/701330050235864/