Amy Maxwell keeps a writing tablet in her car to record what she calls her "driving ideas."
"When I get to a stoplight I write those ideas down because some of my best thinking seems to come when I am driving around town," said Maxwell, the public information officer for Hamilton County Emergency Services for the past two decades.
Maxwell said one of her best such ideas came last year when she noticed all of the new electronic billboards around town and hit upon the idea of using the LED lighted displays along area roads to deliver her office's messages. Because the new digital boards switch their messages every 8 seconds and can be easily reprogrammed to deliver timely information, the giant digital signs seemed ideal for getting out emergency notifications and messages when people turn up missing or disasters require the public to respond such as in an evacuation.
Mike Baskette is sales manager at Plainview/LED (Plainview Outdoor Advertising). Maxwell approached the locally owned Plainview Outdoor billboard company, which both assembles digital boards sold across the country and and operates 20 LED-lighted, digital boards across Hamilton County. Within a couple of weeks, some of the first messages began appearing.
So far, most of the donated messages on Plainview boards from Hamilton County EMS have been general or seasonal advice on extreme heat, winter weather or other safety messages. Many have encouraged motorists who view the signs to check out the Emergency Management Services website (www.hamiltontn.gov/emergencyservices/), which provides information on everything from family and business preparedness for a natural disaster to how to best respond to earthquakes, tornadoes or floods.
With the aid of Plainwell's software and design, Maxwell said the signs promoting the EMS website have helped lead to a 50% jump in web traffic on the EMS web site since last October when the first billboards began appearing.
Todd Plain is president of Plainview Outdoor Advertising at 4200 Access Rd. in Hixson."The number of hits on this web site is a testament that billboards are still a viable outlet when they are placed along major arteries and in good locations where many people see them," said Josh Plain, chief operations officer for the family -owned company.
Plain said the company agreed to partner and work with Hamilton County's Emergency Management Services because the county agency impacts so many people.
"We wanted to be the company that EMS would partner with because we want to be involved in this community and help give back to to our hometown and this project seems to have a great impact for almost everybody in our area," he said. "And the great thing about digital boards is that you can change out the message any time you want.
Maxwell said with one phone call, Plainview is able to change the billboard message and, in the event of any emergency, soon put up relevant messages for the public about lost people, evacuations, disaster warnings and tips, and other timely communication.
"We're not aware of anyone else doing this, but we are starting to get a lot of calls from other emergency management agencies interested in talking with us about how effective this has been," she said.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 757-6340.
Hamilton County Emergency Service information officer Amy Maxwell sits with Plainview Outdoor Advertising Chief Operating Officer Josh Plain and reveals the first public service announcement billboard they displayed on the new LED signs.