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Description
Aiken This Week introduces Tim O'Briant, the City of Aiken's Communications Manager.
B
Very
good
to
be
with
you
today,
thank
you
for
inviting
me.
I
am
very
familiar
with
Aiken
in
a
South
Carolina
resident
all
of
my
life
from
the
Charleston
area,
but
has
called
Aiken
home
for
the
last
16
years,
raised
my
two
sons
here
and
had
a
very
good
life
in
aiken
a
year
ago.
I
did
explore
an
opportunity
as
some
opportunity
to
go.
B
It
didn't
work
out
too
well,
but
it
was
a
happy
accident
because,
as
I
was
looking
for,
where
I
wanted
to
be
the
place,
I
always
want
to
be
akin
had
an
opportunity
which
is
this
one,
to
help
guide
communications
for
the
city
of
Aiken,
so
very
pleased
to
be
able
to
do
that.
Of
course,
my
background
that
I
didn't
mention
was
that
I
was
an
editor
of
one
sort
or
another.
Managing
editor
executive
editor,
a
number
of
titles
at
the
Aiken
standard
for
15
years,
we're.
A
B
Ramping
up
to
the
point
that
it
has,
everyone
has
a
smartphone
in
their
pocket.
Communication
is
not
only
become
instant
and
people
expect
news,
information
and
updates
constantly,
but
everyone
has
also
become
a
publisher
if
you
think
about
it.
20
years
ago,
the
Aiken
standard,
and
maybe
every
once
awhile
a
local
television
station,
would
feature
something
about
the
city
or
local
schools
or
what
was
going
on
in
town
and
it
was
kind
of
a
one-way
medium.
B
When
you
turn
on
that
water
tap
is
the
water
there.
Is
it
clean
and
safe
the
sewer?
So
it's
a
very
complicated
organization
with
again
more
than
four
hundred
twenty
employees,
each
one
of
those
employees
each
one
of
those
many
departments
that
serve
the
people
of
Aiken,
now
are
in
a
position
where
people
want
information
from
them.
They
have
the
capacity
to
provide
information,
but
the
technology
and
the
capability
kind
of
outstripped
the
planning
for
who's
supposed
to
say
what?
B
When
and
very
often
people
when
there's
a
public
information
officer
or
a
communications
manager,
people
can
think
of
that
as
a
gatekeeper
or
so
one
who's
trying
to
be
in
the
middle
I.
Don't
think
city
council
sees
it
that
way
and
I?
Certainly
don't
my
desire
is
to
make
sure
that
the
various
departments
and
employees
of
the
city
realize
that
people
want
to
hear
from
them
and
want
information,
but
also
that
we're
doing
some
training
internally
so
that
when
we
say
something
we
mean
it,
and
we
know
that
it's
factual
and
accurate.
B
Well
and
that's
the
other
part
of
it
is
doing
a
better
job
of
communicating
within
or
examination
one
thing
I
didn't
mention
if
I
got
water
and
sewer
and
Parks
and
Tourism,
but
you
know
police
and
Fox.
You
know
there
are
some
pretty
important
responsibilities.
City
has,
and
there
are
lots
of
needs
to
communicate
with
the
public.
So.
A
You
kind
of
given
us
a
big
picture
overview
of
that
so
kind
of
drilling
down
a
little
bit
your
role
specifically,
and
what
you're
going
to
be
doing?
You
express
you
know
the
that
it's
not
necessarily
a
gatekeeper,
but
just
expanding
and
bringing
some
more
awareness
say.
Can
you
drill
down
on
that
a
little
bit
more
and
talk
about
your
specific
role
in
kind
of
what
the
day
to
day
is
going
to
look
at.
B
Which
which
I
actually
enjoy
very
much?
My
newspaper
background,
was
very
similar
to
that,
but
kind
of
a
structure
of
it
is
the
city
has
been
involved
in
a
number
of
communications
efforts
for
a
long
time.
There's
the
city
newsletter
that
goes
out
with
the
water
bills
and
I'll
have
responsibility
for
that
channel
4
and
the
video
presentations,
which
I'm
pleased
to
say,
I,
was
involved
on
the
other
side
getting
that
started
several
years
ago
that
will
fall
under
what
I'm
looking
at
social
media,
Facebook
Twitter.
B
Anything
else
that
comes
up
as
things
do
come
up
a
lot
in
that
space
and
then
the
website
itself.
There
are
many
channels
to
communicate
with
people
and
we
have
to
find
people
where
they
are
and
where
they
need
their
information.
There
are
other
systems,
including
kind
of
the
reverse,
911
kind
of
ideas
where
we're
looking
at
implementing
systems
where
we
can
call
specific
groups
or
all
city
residents
about
emergencies
or
important
topics
that
we
need
to
get
to
people
directly.
B
So
there
are
a
lot
of
moving
pieces.
Some
of
it
will
be
more
mundane
communications.
Some
of
it's
very
important.
You
know
about
public
safety
issues
and
emergencies
that
will
come
up.
Some
of
it
will
involve
communicating
City
Council
priorities
and
making
sure
that
that
they
feel
like
they're
communicating
properly
what
their
plans
are.
So
they
can
get
full
educated
input
from
the
people
who
they
represent
sure.
A
B
This
is
a
political
environment
and
people
have
opinions
and
and
that's
important
to
how
our
democracy
works.
But
we
have
to
make
sure
that
everybody's
working
off
the
same
set
of
factual
information
and
that
it's
accurately
being
conveyed
to
the
employees
of
the
city.
That's
the
internal
components
and
then
it
that
it
is
effectively
and
accurately
being
conveyed
to
the
people.
So
they're
not
guessing
right.
A
B
In
thinking
they
know
something
that
may
be
contrary
to
the
actual
fact
of
the
situation,
and
then
you
know
some
of
it
will
be
being
able
to
go
out
and
speak
to
other
publishers,
whether
they
be
traditional,
media
or
individuals.
When
there
are
some
facts
that
may
be
in
question
saying
you
know,
I'm
glad
that
you're
talking
about
the
city,
I'm
glad
that
you're
communicating,
but
let's
make
sure
that
we
agree
on
what
is
truthful
and
what
is
accurate,
yeah.
B
A
Day
and
age
well,
as
you're
looking
at
coming
in
your
very
brand-new,
believes
I'm
just
just
about
a
week
and
a
half
on
the
job.
The.
What
do
you
see
is
the
biggest
need
in
coming
into
the
communications
manager
of
positions
kind
of.
What's
your
top
priority,
the
biggest
need
that
you
see
that
you
want
to
handle
well.
B
There
are
a
couple
that
kind
of
run
in
parallel,
but
first
is
organizing
and
getting
a
handle
on.
As
I
said,
all
those
channel
that
are
out
there.
There
are
a
variety
of
people
engaged
in
communication
for
the
city
everywhere
from
the
police
department
in
their
PIOs
to
city
manager,
that
office
and
the
staff
there
to
the
folks
in
channel
for
parks,
recreation
and
tourism.
So
just
kind
of
building
that
basic
structure
of.
A
B
A
B
Folks
about
being
candid
and
honest
and
risk
being
responsive
to
people's
request
for
information,
because,
of
course,
the
city
is
legally
required
to
provide
a
lot
of
information,
its
taxpayer
funded
organization.
But
it's
just
good
business
to
make
sure
that
you're
communicating
with
people
the
the
other
parallel
side
of
that
is
very
exciting
time
in
the
city
of
Aiken.
There
are
a
lot
of
things
going
on,
including
you
know,
looking
down
at
whiskey
road
and
the
a
the
congestion
there,
but
the
proposals
to
redevelop
the
mall
property,
which
will
be
key
to
the
south
side.
B
We've
got
the
recreation
facilities
that
are
soon
to
be
constructed
on
the
north
side
of
Aiken
and,
of
course,
there's
been
a
lot
of
discussion
about
downtown
revitalization
and
redevelopment
economic
development
issues.
So
just
looking
at
all
those
priorities
and
making
sure
that
we
are
effectively
communicating
what
the
city's
plans
are
and
are
not
will
be
key
as
well
sure.
A
Looking
at
or
knowing
the
environment
that
we're
in
nationally,
you
know,
and
it
all
kind
of
comes
down
locally
to
the
challenges
and
obstacles
and,
as
you
were
expressing
early
in
our
conversation,
it's
such
a
fast-paced.
Everything
is
instant,
people
want
their
information
instantly
and
you
have
these
various
components.
So
what
is
the
biggest
obstacle?
What
is
the
biggest
challenge
in
facing
doing
everything
that
you're
hoping
to
do?
Oh
and.
B
I'll
go
back
to
the
prior
answer
where
I
talked
about
truthfulness
and
accuracy,
you
throw
in
the
speed
factor
and
that's
part
of
the
reason
why
the
city
may
or
the
City
Council
may
have
said.
You
know
we
need
somebody
to
kind
of
look
at
this
and
you've
got
things
coming
out
so
fast
in
so
many
different
directions.
As
far
as
messages
and
questions
complaints,
criticisms
even
compliment,
it
is
the
city
doing
enough
fast
enough
to
make
sure
that
the
the
truth
of
the
situation
is
there
because
you
know
through
no
ill
intent.
B
B
B
You
know.
One
of
the
keys
to
this
is
not
a
public
relations
position.
Its
communications
and
the
city
wants
to
evaluate
itself
honestly,
and
you
know
where
things
go
well.
City
wants
to
blow
its
horn,
and
you
know
it's
part
of
effectively
governing
the
people
of
Aiken
that
if
something
is
not
quite
right
or
not
quite
up
to
snuff
as
an
organization,
we
need
to
be
honest
about
that
and
look
at
what
we
need
to
do
to
make
it
better.
The
next
time
sure.
A
Over
your
career,
you
have
seen
I'm
sure,
just
an
entire
evolution
of
how
what
we
just
talked
about
our
whole
conversation
about
how
information
is
gathered.
How
information
is
good
out
there
and
I'm
sure
that
it's
very
fluid
at
the
same
time
and
working
in
a
position
like
this?
But
what
do
you
see
as
your
long-term
goals
for
the
position?
I.
A
B
Working
as
a
newspaper
editor
and
just
as
everything
is
developed
in
really
watched
as
newspapers
are
still
very
relevant
and
very
important,
and
I
love
them.
But
the
kind
of
a
share
of
the
message
is
changing.
You
know
how
many
people
are
reading
the
newspaper
and
in
a
lot
of
ways,
I
hate
that
but
I
can't
figure
out
a
moan
about
it.
I'm
going
to
move
forward.
A
B
B
This
is
a
good
opportunity
to
both
to
the
public
and
to
the
media
and
to
the
employees
of
the
city
of
akin
to
say
that
I
really
want
to
be
a
resource
for
all
of
the
above,
and
I
invite
all
of
those
people
to
be
in
contact
with
me,
and
let
me
know
where
there
are
issues
that
we
we
may
need
to
communicate
better
and
part
of
it
will
be
the
story
ideas.
There
are
lots
of
great
things
going
on
in
the
city
of
aiken.
B
There
are
issues
that
we
want
to
be
able
to
cover
as
the
city,
because
we
do
have
the
capability
to
become
a
publisher
here
on
with
our
video
efforts
in
channel
4
in
print
press
releases
and
social
media
things,
we
want
to
be
able
to
highlight
that.
So
please
contact
me
and
let
me
know,
what's
going
on
very.