State of the City

Westminster’s 2026 State of the City marked the city’s first major civic gathering of its kind since 2017 — a milestone luncheon bringing together 104 community members, business leaders, elected officials, and city staff to reflect on progress and look ahead. I served as the sole communications professional on the event, managing all public-facing materials and outreach from initial announcement through day-of execution.

The core of my contribution was the suite of designed materials that defined the event’s visual identity. I designed the event program in InDesign — formal and civic in tone, it included the full run of show, a message from Mayor Chi Charlie Nguyen, City Council listings, and sponsor recognition. Nametags and standing slides displayed throughout the venue carried the same visual system, ensuring the State of the City brand was consistent across every surface attendees encountered.

I also produced the sponsorship deck, outlining Gold, Silver, and In-Kind partnership tiers and benefits — a piece that required both design judgment and clear sales copy to communicate the value of the event to business partners. Sponsor recognition extended beyond the event itself: I designed a Thank You to Our Sponsors ad placed in the Westminster Summer 2026 Recreation Guide, distributed to all Westminster households.

The email campaign ran across four sends — announcement, early bird/sponsorship, pricing deadline, and sponsorship logo reminder — growing the audience from an initial 3,938 recipients to 6,500+ as I built out a dedicated State of the City interest list. Open rates ranged from 25% to 41% across the campaign, consistently above the 20–25% benchmark typical for government communications.

I also served as the liaison between the city’s contract videographer and the city manager — gathering content direction from leadership, briefing the videographer on scope and priorities for videos covering economic development, infrastructure, community engagement, financial outlook, community beautification, and public safety, and keeping the production timeline on track.

I also published and maintained the event’s dedicated web page on westminster-ca.gov, including a post-event photo gallery and embedded recap video. View the event web page →

The 2026 State of the City was the first such event Westminster had held since 2017 — nearly a decade — making the communications work not just logistical but meaningful. The event gave the community a moment to reconnect with city leadership and celebrate how far Westminster had come.