My time as a social media and media relations volunteer for the city of Hector, Arkansas, has been an amazing opportunity for me to begin my journey in the world of communications. Although Hector is a small town, where opportunities for those trying to break into media and communications are slim to none, there has not been a shortage of ways in which I have found myself trying to make the best of my resources in trying to use my communication skills to serve my hometown and the local community. Over the last two years, I created and managed engaging content for the Hector Facebook page, written and distributed press releases that have helped the great town of Hector be noticed in the public eye, and provided citizens with the information they need to stay informed and active in the community. Today, my time as a social media and media relations administrator has come to an end, but the memories and lessons I learned from it will not.
When I changed my college major to journalism and public relations, I knew that I was already behind my peers in terms of experience, not just in the classroom but out in the field. Due to my visual capabilities, which can make it hard to get around, especially when you can’t drive a vehicle, I knew that trying to find opportunities for me to gain some sort of experience would be difficult (to read more about me and my disability, click (Here.)However, when you really, really, want to do something, you make a way. My desire to begin utilizing the skills I have learned from my academics led me to begin thinking of ways I could get involved. That’s when I realized I didn’t have to go far to do just that. My father has been the mayor of Hector for about the last decade, and I used that to volunteer to assist in leading the city’s social media and media relations efforts. Not only was the perfect match in growing my field but also in giving back to my community with the skills I know best.
Jumping into this new role was an exciting venture, but it also raised uncertainty about how I would manage an engaging and up-to-date social media and media relations strategy for such a small town. Despite experiencing periods of inactivity around the community, I had a very productive two years that saw the city of Hector show significant growth in terms of social media presence and relationships with local traditional and digital media outlets. Notably, since 2022, the city of Hector’s Facebook page grew by 38% to 2.2 thousand followers, content interactions increased by 541%, and content reach by 540%. This last month saw exponential growth for the page as well. Our content was viewed 38.5 thousand times in the last two months, reach was up from its average by 122%, and interactions were up 177%. I believe that the increase in exposure and interaction with the page is a direct effect of the work I and others put into creating a space that was interactive with the community.
Besides running social media, I have also got a taste of what it’s like to participate in media relations. As a result of wanting to make not only the locals but the broader public aware of community events, I drafted and distributed press releases to various local media outlets in hopes of getting coverage. This effort proved successful on many occasions. Arguably, one of my biggest successes was using a press release to promote and inform the public of an annual city event called HectorFest. After sending this release across social and local media, public interest in the event expanded significantly. I even had the opportunity to conduct a radio interview on KCJC, a prominent radio station here in Pope County. In the interview, I got to promote HectorFest and the city of Hector as a whole. Getting the chance to represent the town where I grew up was an honor. Going on to the show live gave me more experience in public speaking and learning how to navigate media conversations in front of a public audience.
One of the reasons that getting experience in any field is so important is because it allows you to learn lessons from mistakes that you might have made or ridding yourself of preconceived notions of what type of work you have stepped into. When I look back on the last two years, I see that I have gained many valuable lessons from volunteering for the city of Hector. One of the first lessons I learned is that people genuinely want to be informed about what’s happening in their community, but it’s not enough to just share information. You have to get people to care about the information you put out. Posting long forms of text won’t accomplish this. You need to put in the work by creating visuals that tell a story, writing that makes them feel something and events that people can interact with.
Secondly, I learned more about how professional relationships are built and why they are crucial to success. When I reached out to KCJC, I figured that, at best, they might mention the event briefly during a short segment, and that would be it. However, they responded and were happy to mention the event and give plenty of shoutouts to promote it. What happened next is something I did not expect. They invited me on to shoot a quick interview about HectorFest on their morning show. This was a massive opportunity for the city to promote the event and get more attendees. I jumped on the chance, and the host and I were in contact up until the day of the interview. Through communicating with one another, we created a collaborative relationship that would meet both the station’s and my needs. Creating this bond also allows us to stay connected for future opportunities. That small act of networking demonstrated how vital it is to create relationships with the media as a communicator.
Finally, I learned about the importance of serving your community, no matter its size. Hector is a very small town, but the work I have done has been very rewarding. It has been exceptional to watch the growth of the town’s social media and the creation of events that bring the community together. No matter where you come from, you can always make an impact if you create the opportunity.
Needless to say, volunteering for Hector has been a very valuable experience. More valuable than some might think. The lessons I learned will help me grow in the field of communications and allow me to help build something bigger than myself.