The North East Ohio Regional Sewer District is killing it on social media. We spoke with their Director of Communications, John Gonzalez, about the path it took, along with the time and patience, to earn the trust level they have now to bring info that is timely, thoughtful, and transparent on social media. Get your notepads ready as John discusses their 3S approach, the importance of addressing the elephant in the room (re: potential for negative comments), and why it’s so important we understand that communicating with our customers…especially on the medium that never sleeps…takes serious commitment and strategy.

We met Carla Reid at the 2019 Imagine H2O Innovation Summit and she is a firecracker. From their strategic planning process to their commitment to transparency when communicating with their customers to their vision of using innovation as one of their tools to becoming THE world-class utility…Carla and her team demonstrate the incredible impact that can happen at the intersection of passion and gumption. We talk about innovation, diversity, women in water and find out why Carla believes that communication is the universal tool to understanding and to getting things done.

Check out our chat with four members of NACWA leadership including two board members and two communication committee officers. We talk about the value of branding water, messaging stormwater issues, internal communication and the importance of our communication to be timely, thoughtful, and transparent.

We just wanted to take a few minutes to say hello and we missed you! We're so excited about season three. There are a lot of names you know and some you don't....but you will. We hope you tune in every Monday to check out the only podcast in the water sector dedicated to revolutionizing the industry through the lens of communication and collaboration. Never want to miss out on an episode? Sign up for the Water Nerd Newsletter at www.theh2duo.com.

Enjoy! Season three kicks off on Monday, August 5, 2019.

The theme of this discussion is hope and water’s role in telling that story of hope. It was an honor to daydream what’s possible with George, who we definitely consider as a mentor and someone that has been in our corner since the very beginning. George mentions that water is often the measure of what’s wrong in the community but that it doesn’t have to be that way. There are so many opportunities to make our industry the bridge that brings people together such as new ways to look at funding, creative ways to build workforce development, and more collaborative ways to work together towards the mission of providing drinking water and clean water services to our community and neighbors. Plus you’ll never forget the name Raymond Coates after this episode— a story of inspiration and validation of what’s possible for the men and women in our sector. Let's work together and make water the catalyst for community transformation.

We chat about executive presence and how just like creativity, leadership isn’t magic. Studying executive presence helps better define the attributes anyone can build and develop to become better leaders. We also talk about creating a connection culture and why that’s so important to the brand ambassadors you create in your organization and the messaging they deliver to customers. We end by discussing the serious subject of crisis communication. Having a plan isn’t enough. As with anything else, practice makes perfect.

So many great things to take away from our chat with Julie. We touch on so many important issues facing the industry. Of course, we talk about workforce and the many initiatives WEAT and WEF are doing to tackle the issue, but Julie also raised a thoughtful point on how important language is to how we brand ourselves and market ourselves to the next gen of water professionals. If you aren’t familiar with the Pure Water Brew Alliance, we touch on that and Julie gives us some great insight on how this is such an important and unique way to open the conversation about reuse water with not only our customers but with the local entrepreneurs in our communities. We’re probably a little biased, as WEAT members and committee members, but we think they’ve done a great job at rebranding their member association and Julie gives us some behind the scenes intel on her team’s process and WHY it was so important to them to do so. We end with a discussion on building diversity in the water workforce, some of the great steps already being taken, and how we have to build our allies across demographics to truly build the movement towards change in the right direction.

Adopting branding strategies can help utilities better communicate the value of water to their customers. A brand is an organization's soul. As water nerds, we do a fantastic job at sharing our souls with each other, but we often fall short when we try to communicate this to our customers. We can't gush about our industry to them the same way we do to each other. We have to convey our soul stories through the lens of what matters most to them.

Public educators and communicators in the water industry wear a lot of hats. Knowing your own creative process empowers you to understand how your mind works and gives you the tools to put your brain in gear to be the most productive as possible. When you’re tasked with communicating issues surrounding THE most vital element to existence, it's fundamental to know what gives your brain the space you need to create the ideas with the most impact. Ultimately as educators and communicators in this space, that’s the end goal.

In our chat with researcher Karen Raucher, we learn that the majority of people, regardless of where they stand on climate change, just want to know their water utility is prepared. In fact, two-thirds of Americans are willing to pay more today to ensure preparedness in the future. Why don't we feel that level of support? Because the minority, the 8%, who don’t want their water utility to do anything, are the loudest. Karen chats with us about some of the key outcomes related to Americans' attitude towards climate change and the role of water in the conversation.