Change Public Opinion

Yes, we have orchestrated press attention and created cool events at the state Capitol to make statewide news. But we recognize change is about a lot more than a day’s top news story. Change requires planning, research, partnership development, media relations, social media, grassroots and grasstops mobilization. And real change requires a communications and change strategy geared to work, not simply create a stir. Recent examples of work include:

• Stopping a legislative steamroller that would have weakened the Florida court system in part by building a grassroots and grasstops team of more than 1,000 advocates in 3 weeks.
• Securing state approval for a back-to-school sales tax holiday, even when the state faced a $4 billion shortfall, in part by providing facts and analysis and motivating public support through the media and social media.
• Building overwhelming support for the largest state land purchase in Florida history, tapping into our expertise in rule-making and coalition building.
• Developing a national best practice for the outdoor advertising industry – using billboards to provide help during emergencies. And then we brought the state program to the country and developed a national partnership with the Outdoor Advertising Association of America and FEMA. Billboards provided critical information during the tornadoes that swept through the country in 2011.