57 www. ReadMPM. com | www.MountPl easantMagaz i ne. com | www.MountPl easantPodcas t . com feature programs and won in Kansas City (2010) and in Denver (2018). Winning an All-America City Award for government is said to be akin to winning an Oscar in the entertainment industry. These award ceremonies were among the highlights of my career with the Town of Mount Pleasant. I am incredibly proud of the work the mayor, council, staff and public accomplished to win these national accolades. Harnessing technology to better communicate with the public during weather-related events has proved critical. The preparedness campaigns have helped prevent, protect against, respond to and recover from threats and hazards. While the first decade and a half of weather events were relatively calm, the past six years have brought an increase in threats to our coast. Hurricanes Irma (2017), Florence (2018) and Dorian (2019), along with the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-21) and Hurricane Ian (2022), have impressed upon our coastal communities the need to prepare. These recent events have helped us advance our emergency communications preparedness. The COVID-19 pandemic preceded my retirement and tested all the tools and technology we had acquired and fine-tuned over the years. As a communications manager, I have attended countless training sessions and scenarios on pandemics, yet nothing could have fully prepared us for the weight of this unprecedented event. The communications staff relied heavily on technology to facilitate meetings and connect and communicate with our residents. The tools we developed were vital to ensuring continuity of operations. While addressing the challenges of the pandemic, I completed a two-year training with FEMA and Homeland Security at the Emergency Management Institute in Emmitsburg, Maryland. There, I was awarded the Master Public Information Officer degree — the highest certification available to a public information officer in the country. As the only female in South Carolina and one of Mount Pl easant wi ns the 2018 Al l Amer i ca Ci t y Award i n 2018 (Mi l l er ho l ds the sunf l ower ) .
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