TransComm b – Public Awareness Event Entry for the Kansas Department of Transportation National Work Zone Awareness Week in Kansas Links work in slideshow format

Goals While participating in National Work Zone Awareness Week, April 7-11, 2014, our objectives were to:  Increase work zone safety awareness  Get people involved in activities  Increase the connection to the color orange, work zones and safety  Reinforce the message to highway workers that safety is our top priority  Reduce crashes in work zones National Work Zone Awareness Week in Kansas

Social Media Efforts  Thunderclap - amplified our safety message; supported by national/state organizations, media, traveling public (see a storify overview of Kansas efforts here) here)  Twitter/Facebooks posts  Photos on KDOT Flickr – click herehere  Photos on KDOT Pinterest – click herehere  YouTube videos – click here and here.here National Work Zone Awareness Week in Kansas

Lit up in Orange For the first time, locations across Kansas joined the Go Orange! safety effort for the week including:  The Amelia Earhart Memorial Bridge  The Governor’s Mansion  The Visitor’s Center in the State Capitol  The Eisenhower State Office Building  The Kansas Contractors Association’s office  All KDOT District offices in Topeka, Salina, Norton, Chanute, Hutchinson and Garden City National Work Zone Awareness Week in Kansas

Safety Blogs KDOT’s blog series started early so we could feature six blogs from people sharing their thoughts on work zone safety:  Carman Ange, mother of a highway worker who lost his life in a work zone  Highway workers Peter Wiehe and Jake Jackson  Neal Saskowski, Vice President of Pavers, Inc.  ATSSA Foundation Board President Sue Reiss  Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Adam Winters Blogs can be read herehere National Work Zone Awareness Week in Kansas “Imagine on August 5, 2012, that was your son that went to work and didn’t get to come home. My family’s world was changed forever that day when we were notified that my son Curtis was struck by a car and killed while working in a Kansas work zone. Curtis was only 22 with his entire life ahead of him.” Excerpt from Carman Ange’s blog

Go Orange! Day As part of the awareness week, Thursday, April 10, was designated Go Orange! Day in Kansas.  Statewide news conference with nearly 100 transportation partners attending. National Work Zone Awareness Week in Kansas  Awareness day inspires Columbus High School to stage mock crash in work zone – KDOT assisted with event.  Cone display at event honors KDOT employees killed in work zones since 1950.

Go Orange! Day National Work Zone Awareness Week in Kansas  People wore orange to show their support for highway workers.

Target Audience The traveling public, all KDOT employees and partnering organizations were the target audience. National Work Zone Awareness Week in Kansas Our internal efforts and external support from the media worked together to achieve our goals.

Results  #goorangeks hashtag tweeted more than 300 times, then retweeted over 1,000 times, stretching tweet reach to more than 800,000 accounts.  Hundreds of thousands of motorists every day saw safety information on electronic message boards. National Work Zone Awareness Week in Kansas  Thunderclap had initial social media reach of 317,815.

Results  Facebook – dozens of posts shared through the week.  178 Flickr photos, two YouTube videos and numerous posts on Pinterest page receive hundreds of views daily.  Six safety blogs and Go Orange! website received thousands of views throughout the week.  4,700+ employees, partners notified daily on safety efforts. National Work Zone Awareness Week in Kansas