Each year, damage prevention stakeholders across the U.S. and Canada celebrate 8/11 Day, or 8-11 on the calendar, with creative and far-reaching campaigns reminding the public and professionals about the importance of digging safely.
Whether your organization already has events and outreach planned or is still looking for ideas, read on for Common Ground Alliance (CGA) Communications Plan tools that can easily be used to spread the 811 message around 8/11 Day this year and to hear about an exciting initiative with national reach!
Download 8/11 Day Communications Plan Tools Today
Visit the 811 Toolkit page on Common GroundAlliance.com to download 8/11 Day tools, including:
• Media outreach templates and sample social media messages. The 8/11 Day section of the 811 Toolkit hosts a customizable press release, media advisory and other templates that your organization can use to remind the public about the importance of calling 811 before digging. You can also find sample social media messages and internal communications templates to help you spread the word this 8/11 Day.
• A guide to organizing an 811 plane flyover at a local beach or another highly populated public space . Information about how to execute an 811 plane flyover at a beach or community event can be found in the 8/11 Day section of the 811 Toolkit.
• Send 811 cakes or cupcakes to local radio and media outlets. Delivering 811 sweets to local media outlets is a great way to remind members of the media about damage prevention at a time of year when it matters most. For cake designs and information about executing an 811 cake drop, download the tools in the 8/11 Day section of the 811 Toolkit.
• Social media graphics . Both the 8/11 Day toolkit and the DIRT toolkit contain social media infographics that you can use to promote the importance of calling 811 via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and email campaigns.
PG&E brings 811 to the New York Stock Exchange
On August 11, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) will ring the closing bell of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in promotion of 811. Featured on the NYSE website, and on television networks such as CNBC, Bloomberg TV and Fox Business News, reaching millions of viewers worldwide, this effort by PG&E will bring national attention to the “Call Before You Dig” number and the safe digging message.