Phoenix to be a part of national event called ‘City Hall Selfie Day’ on Monday
Aug 14, 2016, 4:57 PM | Updated: Aug 15, 2016, 10:04 am
Neighborhood Asaurus form the Neighborhood Services Department poses for a selfie in front of Phoenix City Hall (Photo courtesy @CityofPhoenixAZ)
(Photo courtesy @CityofPhoenixAZ)
PHOENIX — Going to city hall doesn’t usually fall under someone’s idea of having fun.
That will change for a day on Monday, as a national event will be going on called #CityHallSelfie Day.
“This is actually part of a bigger national event being put on by the Engaging Local Government Leaders organization, which is basically a city government, and they decided to have this first ever city hall selfie day,” said the city of Phoenix public information officer Matt Hamada.
“So the city of Phoenix is getting on board and trying to be a leader in letting people know that city hall isn’t about just the government. It’s about being engaged in social media and what is happening currently — trending in the world and we know that selfies are still a very crazy and fun thing for people to do on a daily basis and we know people like to do it, so we want to be a part of it.”
The event will take place the entire day, and people are encouraged to stop by the city hall building in Phoenix on 200 W. Washington St. to interact with any workers there, or at the very least, to take a selfie.
Wayne Drop from the Water Services Department takes a selfie outside of Phoenix City Hall (Photo courtesy @CityofPhoenixAZ)
Those who partake in the event are to post their selfies with the hashtags #CityHallSelfie and #PHXCityHall when uploading their pictures on social media. People who participate can help Phoenix win a contest, and can actually win something for themselves as well.
“Bragging rights are always fun, but it looks like there’s a little fun contest going on with this government group, and they’re going to award for the oddest photo, the cutest photo, the person who posts the most on that day, the group who has the most followers; they came up with a bunch of categories,” Hamada said.
“It’s really just about engagement and we want to show people that the city values its social media and all of its followers and those are important ways to engage with the public, so we’re just using it as a way to let our hair down for a day and have some fun and connect with all of our followers around the city and around the country.”
Hamada said that, although winning a little prize for your selfie would be nice, that isn’t the main reason Phoenix is putting on the event.
“I think the focus is really just about having fun and showing off kind of your school spirit of city government by standing in front of your city hall building and taking a fun selfie,” Hamada said.
