Annual report comes alive

The county's latest Annual Report has gone digital, with user-friendly videos and social networking tools.

If the words “Annual Report” make you reach for the snooze button, has L.A. County got a wake-up call for you.

For the first time ever, the county’s Annual Report is being presented in a user-friendly digital format that features county leaders—from the Board of Supervisors to the Treasurer-Tax Collector—speaking directly to the public in short, informative videos. Feel like talking back? Each segment includes an array of contact information for getting in touch with county departments, and is also readily shared on Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms.

Updated 7/11/12: The League of American Communications Professionals recently recognized the county’s Annual Report in its 2011 Vision Awards with five honors, including a Platinum Award for the best large government report. The international contest drew 5,500 entries from 24 countries.

One of the report’s most distinctive features is a series of videos produced by the LA County Channel, including a piece on Melinda Star Guido, the world’s third-smallest baby, born at County-USC Medical Center last year.

You might call it an annual report for the YouTube generation. But it also includes all the substance the county has traditionally provided, including a downloadable print version, complete with pie charts on the county budget.

“In past years we only had a paper report and printed just a few thousand copies,” David Sommers, the county’s acting director of public affairs, said in a statement. “That’s a fraction of the copies needed for a potential audience of 10 million county residents, or even our own 90,000 employees.”

Check out the county’s 2011 Annual Report here.

Posted 3/1/12