Also offers a Community Action Kit to help recruit participants.
Celebrating its tenth anniversary, America in Bloom (AIB) announced the adoption of a new, streamlined, and simplified evaluation form for cities participating in its annual community improvement competition. America in Bloom says it is the only national awards program that offers onsite consultation with participants and a written evaluation. To date, nearly 200 towns in 40 states have taken advantage of this opportunity to jumpstart improvements to their quality of life.
“The new evaluation form took 17 months to develop with input from participants, judges, and board members,” said Jack Clasen, AIB’s contest chair. “In addition, we surveyed the ‘state of the art’ in evaluations offered by similar international programs including Communities in Bloom in Canada, Britain in Bloom, and many others.”
The new evaluation format reduces the evaluated criteria from eight to six: Floral Displays, Landscaped Areas, Urban Forestry, Environmental Efforts, Heritage Preservation, and Overall Impression.
The new criteria can be considered as three pillars: horticulture, heritage, and environment, with a fourth pillar of pride.
A live webinar called “The New & Improved 2012 Evaluation Form – You Asked, We Listened” providing details on the new format will be presented by Jack Clasen and Diana K. Weiner, an AIB judge, on Tuesday, November 15, from 2 to 2:30 p.m. EST.
AIB is also offering a gift to current and potential participants. The Community Action Kit contains a CD with a customizable PowerPoint presentation; customizable posters and postcards; seed packets; brochures; and other tools to help recruit cities and offer participants the information they need to get started with AIB.
“Our participants have been asking for a package like this,” said Evelyn Alemanni, AIB’s external relations chair. “Besides offering a comprehensive information packet, we have an exciting incentive to use it. Every time a currently participating city recruits another town, they get 25% off their 2012 registration fee.”
In addition, towns that register before Dec. 31, 2011 will receive a complimentary copy of the “Ten Years of Best Ideas” book, which includes nearly 2,000 best practices and photos from AIB participants over the last 10 years. Registration for the 2012 awards program is now open and ends on February 28, 2012.
