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The city of Sugar Land’s videography team recently won seven state awards, including three best of Texas finishes, for efforts to make local government more accessible and transparent.

Digital Communications Manager Jake Schnitzer and Digital Journalist Roman Perez, of the Office of Communications, were recognized by the Texas Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors for some of the best work in Texas.

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The TATOA awards showcase excellence in video programming in Texas and are among the most prestigious honors in government communications. In 2021, TATOA received a record number of submissions with 314 entries from 31 cities across Texas. 

Schnitzer and Perez took home the following recognitions: 

Sugar Land’s Memorial Day 2020 event video (https://vimeo.com/420361116) took first place in the community event coverage category. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the video allowed the Sugar Land community to safely honor and remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. 

Sugar Land scored first and third-place awards in the public education category – a first place one for the city’s “Best Tasting Water in America” announcement (https://youtu.be/IWh_GtUc6Ac) and a third place for a “Mobility Master Plan” video (https://youtu.be/7VWtHd0JN44)  intended to educate residents on the project’s background while also empowering them to take the city’s mobility survey. 

The goal of the first place “Where does Sugar Land’s water come from?” video (https://youtu.be/2VHzpTuOoZw) in the documentary category educates residents on how the city infrastructure takes water from the Brazos River and transforms it into the Best Tasting Water in America.  

What does a community stand to lose by not completing the Census? The 2020 Census “Do the Math” video (https://youtu.be/-QDS-0EKqO8) answered that question and took third place in the public service announcement category. The video was part of an outreach effort that resulted in Sugar Land leading the state in Census participation. 

Sugar Land also received two honorable mentions in the humor and partner production categories.

“Jake and Roman are professional storytellers whose creative contributions to our city are indispensable,” said Communications Director Doug Adolph. “They work collaboratively with employees throughout the city to produce creative, professional content that makes governance more accessible and transparent, provides awareness of important services and programs, contributes to around-the-clock updates during emergencies and highlights the efforts of our champion employees who deliver the quality services our citizens expect. They are the best in the business and make a difference every day!”

TATOA is a professional non-profit association dedicated to educating and training its membership in the development, regulation and administration of cable television, internal communications networks and other telecommunications systems in order to more efficiently serve the local government organization and the general public.