# Social Media Archiving
How to Embrace Negative Social Media Comments to Strengthen Resident Relationships
Original Air Date: October 3, 2023
Watch On-Demand
Our country was founded on a promise of free speech. Still, when it comes to social media comments, inviting the public to voice their opinions about all government activities and communications means embracing the positive with the inevitable negative.
Join CivicPlus®, Jessie Brown, the social media specialist at the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, and Danielle Rogers, the community marketing manager at the City of Newton, Iowa, for a candid discussion on how government leaders can use negative social comments as a tool to build bridges and foster stronger relationships with community members. Jessie and Danielle will discuss:
- How to embrace the opportunity to meet inevitable negative comments with strategy, humor, and empathy to grow trust in your agency, build relationships with residents, and strengthen your social presence
- Powerful lessons learned firsthand during times of crisis
- Rules of engagement and First Amendment considerations
- How to get your audiences to advocate for you
- How to embrace negativity during your day-to-day and viral situations
- How to build resilience and deal with harsh comments in a way that protects your well-being.
All registrants will receive a copy of the recording within a week after the live presentation.
About Your Panelists
Social Media Specialist at Iowa Department of Natural Resources
Jessie Brown is the Social Media Specialist for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Jessie believes in the power of social media to inspire, engage, educate, and build quality relationships between government and residents. She has served as the vice president and Midwest representative for Government Social Media’s Member Council, led the relaunch of GSM’s Golden Post Awards, served on the board of Social Media Club Des Moines, and been named their Social Media Professional of the Year, and has been named a Top 100 Local Government Influencer twice by the national group Engaging Local Government Leaders. Jessie also works to help other social media professionals stay resilient in an often taxing and stressful field.
Community Marketing Manager at the City of Newton, Iowa
Danielle Rogers is the Community Marketing Manager for the City of Newton, Iowa. As a team of one, she handles all aspects of communications, marketing, and public information for the city of 15,000 in Central Iowa. Danielle has over 15 years of communications and marketing experience; she previously worked as a strategic communications specialist for a 120-year-old family-owned promotional advertising company and in sports marketing in the United States Hockey League. Danielle earned a BAJMC in Public Relations and a BA in Environmental Policy from Drake University. Her interest in local government stems from her dad’s involvement in the local township board while she grew up; her specific passion for government communications became evident when she developed and executed a public relations campaign for a large road construction project while interning with a city manager’s office in the Des Moines metro.
She’s an active member of the GSM Professional Association, 3CMA, and ELGL. Danielle has been an ELGL Top 100 Influencer since 2019, was named a Social Media Professional of the Year by the Des Moines chapter of the Social Media Club, and was named the 2018 YP of the Year Ashley Okland Community Service Award Winner by the Des Moines Register and Central Iowa Young Professionals Connection. In her free time, she loves to feed her addiction to coffee, lose herself in a good book, and feed her thirst for knowledge (and true crime) by listening to podcasts.