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This PR and Marketing Firm Understands Muni Projects
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For episode 329 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast, our guests Deb Socia from Next Century Cities and Bob Knight of P.R. and Marketing firm Harrison Edwards discussed political will and its effect on community broadband network projects. Political will is one of many key ingredients of a successful network initiative, but it's only one of the many balls in the air that a community must juggle to get a project started and keep it healthy. As Bob mentioned in the interview, Harrison Edwards has formed an entire practice area dedicated to the special needs surrounding broadband projects. They recently launched a new website that can help interested communities learn more about what they offer.
It Isn’t All About Political Will
While getting elected officials educated and onboard with the connectivity needs of the community and helping them discover paths to improvement, moving a project forward and keeping it going strong requires much more. The Harrison Edwards team aims to also educate the community and market the campaign around the initiative. They will work to shed light on benefits for a range of stakeholders and will take necessary steps to run interference against misinformation.
Once a project has been approved, the firm will manage community expectations, market the project, and work with the press to help hit the ground running. In addition to bringing projects from idea to reality, Harrison Edwards recognizes that marketing the services offered by community networks is a skill often outside of a municipality’s wheelhouse. With effective marketing to drive up take rates, a community broadband project stands a better chance of long-term success.
Harrison Edwards has established a team whose sole focus is dedicated to community broadband projects. The team includes professionals from the public sector who have inside knowledge about the perspective of elected officials grappling with the decisions associated with these types of projects. They also maintain close ties to industry experts that have worked in the community network sphere, such as COS Systems, Foresite Group, and Nokia. Financial experts that maintain a special interest in publicly owned network projects, such as KeyBanc Capital Markets and Neighborly also partner with Harrison Edwards.
Check out their website to learn more about the services they offer community broadband projects.
Listen to episode 329 of the podcast again to hear the discussion about political will and community network projects.
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