1. Public Affairs
The primary goal of public affairs is to tell the organization’s story so the people of the State
know the great work their Guardsmen perform. The challenges of getting that story out in
today’s busier-than-ever media market are considerable. And in 2011, all elements of the
Georgia Guard’s public affairs operations made considerable gains in finding new ways to meet
that challenge.
From providing regional social media guidance to other Public Affairs Offices, to generating
Public Affairs Guidance documents and SOPs that have been adopted by the likes of U.S. Army
Europe and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, the Georgia Guard’s outreach efforts
have continually helped steer ancillary, sibling, and parent organization initiatives, continuing to
contribute to the public affairs profession, provide leadership in the field, and push the bounds of
new communication tools.
The PAO directly supported 121 community relations events in 2011 alone, organizing and
authorizing static displays, color guards, band performances, and in some instances even
flyovers.
In order to reach the geographically dispersed units of the Ga. DoD and interested civilian
parties, online outreach continued to be the primary means of communication. Throughout 2011,
the Georgia National Guard remained a trendsetter in online outreach –winning online
competitions, leading the pack in followers on multiple channels, generating more traffic than
the organization has ever seen before, and connecting stakeholders with command information in
more ways and on more channels than any other state National Guard agency in the country.
Central in all of this has been the total overhaul of the Georgia Department of Defense’s official
website: GeorgiaGuard.com.
The Georgia Guard website was recognized last year by National Guard Bureau as the best in
the nation, and then by the U.S. Army as the second best. This year, GeorgiaGuard.com was
again recognized by NGB as being in the top three nationwide, as was our blog
(www.ProfessionalGuardsman.com) and our overall social media program.
Of all the states with a National Guard presence on social media, Georgia has the second
most followers on Twitter and the most followers on Google+, was the first state on Google+, is
regularly in the top three or five most influential on Klout, is seventh in terms of total video
views on YouTube, and ninth relative to total fans on Facebook.
Since the beginning of 2010, the amount of content hosted by our website has increased by
300%, featuring 225 stories produced by the PAO during that time period.
In the last quarter alone, there were 205 positive news stories run by civilian media about the
Georgia National Guard. Of those, fully 60% was worked through the Ga. DoD Public Affairs
Office.
Our posts on Facebook attracted about 2.5 million impressions last year alone, and our
images on Flickr have been viewed more than 350,000 times since 2010.
Viewership of the organization’s monthly magazine, the Georgia Guardsman, has increased
tenfold in just two years, bringing in almost 90,000 total magazine views.
With over 15,000 votes, the Georgia Guard has run away with the National Guard’s Support
Patch contest – leaving the second place state more than 4,000 votes behind. Last year, in the
Guard’s Resiliency Video Contest, Georgia finished second – bringing in over 20,000 votes.
The compelling imagery and story angles provided by our collectors are what drives traffic

2. and sustained interest in our channels. Without eye-catching photos and thought provoking story
leads, we could not have been as successful with our outreach efforts.
The Georgia Guard takes pride in the customer service it provides through its public-facing
channels. From a newly constructed “Contacts” tab on the website to help better direct inquiries,
to answering questions posted on Facebook. The open, honest, and sometimes even self-policing
culture of our online communities has allowed us to explore a wide breadth and depth of content
and subjects while providing world class customer service.
2011 saw a momentous boost in traffic and interest throughout all channels. The Georgia
National Guard Facebook page in 2009 had less than 150 fans; today it generates as many as
3,000 impressions per individual update over the course of a single day or two.
Each of these outlets contributed, in a unique way, to the overall strategic communication of
the Georgia Department of Defense in 2011 – allowing the organization to sync command
messages across all channels and communities.
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