Tampa Bay Estuary Seeking Communications Firm

The Tampa Bay Estuary Program is seeking a firm for a full-service communications plan.

Tampa Bay, Florida’s largest open-water estuary, stretches 398 square miles at high tide. Popular for sport and recreation, the bay also supports one of the world’s most productive natural systems. Estuaries like Tampa Bay, where salt water from the sea and fresh water from rivers and uplands mix, are nurseries for young fish, shrimp, and crabs. More than 70 percent of all fish, shellfish, and crustaceans spend some critical stage of their development in these nearshore waters, protected from larger predators that swim the open sea. Wildlife abounds along the shores of Tampa Bay. As many as 40,000 pairs of birds – from the familiar brown pelican to the colorful roseate spoonbill – nest in Tampa Bay every year. Others, including sandpipers and white pelicans, are seasonal visitors. The bay is also home to dolphins, sea turtles, and manatees.

After decades of pollution, Tampa Bay is coming back to life, again assuming its position as the shimmering economic and environmental centerpiece of the vibrant Southwest Florida region.

Scope:

Perform an evaluation of TBEP’s many existing education and community involvement programs; including on-line messaging, printed materials and community engagement efforts, completed over the last 5 years. The scope must determine if TBEP’s specific goals for a program were met, if and how well the target audience was reached, and funding and staff requirements.

Use results from evaluation of existing programs to help guide TBEP future communications and programs.

This may include but not be limited to identifying and ranking issues in need of public outreach and education, selection of audience type for specific messaging, and identification of effective communication methods for selected issues over the next 5 years, recognizing that communication methods will change over time.

Identify and rank potential new educational/social marketing campaigns which support CCMP implementation, and can be considered for implementation within the next 5 years.

Support the Communication Committee’s development of a draft 5-Year TBEP Communication Plan, for consideration and approval by the TBEP Boards for expected initiation in January, 2018.

Proposal due by Tuesday, January 27, 2017 to:

Tampa Bay Estuary Program
263 13th Avenue South, Suite 350
St. Petersburg, FL 33701

Major PR firms in Florida include Zimmerman PR & advertising.