The city of Suwanee has received a national award from the City-County Communications & Marketing Association, or 3CMA, for its 2021 annual report.
“LIFE in Suwanee,” which is based on the board game “The Game of Life,” is the 2022 Savvy Award winner in the category of printed publications for a population up to 100,000.
“Traditional annual reports tend to be graphs, numbers, and interesting to a very small percentage of the population. What good is creating a publication if no one reads it?” said Abby Wilkerson, Suwanee’s public information officer and the author of the annual report. “In our version, the vital information is still there, but the board game format tells the story in a more engaging way.”
The 3CMA judges who evaluated the annual report noted, “At first glance, it seemed like too much information crammed into a clever idea. But the more I read all the little stops on the game board and how witty they were, I got sucked in and soon found myself reading them all. Which was obviously the goal. And that makes this brilliant. Who says annual reports can’t be fun? Certainly not the City of Suwanee.”
According to 3CMA’s website, judges for the awards are local government professionals and individuals from professional, consulting and academic communities who are knowledgeable in marketing and communications.
“Bravo for creativity and for execution,” the judges’ comments continued. “This report definitely draws the reader’s attention and is jam-packed with information. The financial snapshot was great. Well done!”
This is Suwanee’s second Savvy Award as the city previously won for its 2018 annual report.
The 2021 annual report also recently won the Award of Excellence for Outstanding Promotional Campaign from the Georgia Downtown Association. Read more about that recognition here.
