For years, the city of New Smyrna Beach (pop. 23,230), struggled with the challenge of rebranding its commercial and historic areas as a cohesive, desirable visitor destination. In 2010, under the direction of Pam Brangaccio, city manager and long-time ICMA member, the city commission adopted an updated community redevelopment agency master plan that encouraged development of an integrated marketing effort for the city’s various districts. The rebranding strategy worked, and through the New Smyrna Beach Waterfront Loop marketing initiative, the city successfully found common ground among its disparate commercial and historic areas and used those commonalities to market the area collectively as a single destination.

With nearly 90 entries now online, the “Success Stories” section of the Life, Well Run campaign website highlights the programs, projects, and activities directed by professional city, town, and county managers that illustrate the quality of life among communities with professional management. Share your success story with us by sending an e-mail to lifewellrun@icma.org.

While on the Life, Well Run site, browse the library of videos produced by communities participating in the campaign. Each video uses the template created by the campaign and showcases the work of professional local government management in those communities.

And don't forget to link to Life, Well Run via social media. Our Facebook followers have grown to 2,122, and we now have 1,200 Twitter followers. Have questions or comments about the campaign? Send an e-mail to lifewellrun@icma.org.