How to Stand Up a Professional Regulatory Engagement Effort

In an era of instant gratification, it is our duty as regulators to not only be accessible, but to actively engage with the public and regulated individuals. Between regulatory reforms and an ever-evolving marketplace and limited resources, agencies must prioritize engagement efforts. Failure to do so risks public safety and distrust in regulation.

In recent years, agencies across the globe have discovered communicating with the public can be a challenge. Public trust in government remains low (https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2022/06/06/public-trust-in-government-1958-2022/), misinformation floods every corner of the internet, and laws can be convoluted and difficult to clarify. Additionally, regulators face an added hurdle of communicating with vastly different audience types: the public and regulated individuals, especially when the regulator interacts with multiple professions. How can we effectively communicate to a wide-ranging audience that, often on the whole, does not trust us?

Learning Outcome: Provide regulatory agencies access to a panel of communications and outreach specialists who will provide the knowledge and tools to address communication obstacles when developing a holistic public engagement effort.

This presentation will

• Highlight current communication challenges regulators face when standing up an engagement effort with limited resources,
• Summarize recent strategic communication research and case studies,
• Discuss the importance of audience analysis, and 
• Describe how to choose an appropriate communication medium according to the audience.

Speakers:
Melanie Hall, Communications Director, Utah Department of Commerce

Mark Steinagel, Director, Utah Division of Professional Licensing 

Patrick Fitzgibbon, Outreach Manager, Utah Division of Professional Licensing