The Utah Department of Transportation has set a high bar for public involvement and stakeholder outreach. UDOT’s U.S. 89 project communications team supported the department’s goal and raised the bar when we opened the gates of transparency and offered up an abundance of information through two digital engagement platforms: a PublicInput.com dashboard that hosted an online open house and a project-specific Facebook Group (6,100+ members strong as of December 2021). While digital engagement can be a critical tool to educate, inform, and collaborate with the public, the communications team was met with a spectrum of reactions, varying from frustration with a perceived lack of detail to praise for our unexpected transparency and willingness to incorporate public feedback. We will review our strategy, practice and results using multiple digital communication tactics and assess best practices, “hits” and “misses”, and engage the group in a lively discussion about perfecting the craft.

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