The Be Current Smart water safety campaign won an APEX Award of Excellence for  its social media effort last summer. At the heart of this award are the colorful graphics designed by IISG’s Joel Davenport. Communicator Anjanette Riley planned the social media promotion of the graphics on Facebook, Twitter and Google.

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Be Current Smart is a collaborative Great Lakes project led by Michigan Sea Grant, Wisconsin Sea Grant and IISG. With funding from NOAA, Be Current Smart provided important safety and rescue equipment to beach managers and others in Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana. The project also included bringing together water safety experts and managers in the region and developing new outreach messages for beachgoers.

APEX2016

The IISG communication team led the social media component of this outreach effort, which included seven cartoon graphics with water safety tips. These graphics ran in most of the Great Lakes states and resulted in over 1.3 million impressions. This campaign is up and running again this summer on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. To see all the graphics and learn more about how to Be Current Smart, visit Michigan Sea Grant’s Dangerous Currents website.

 

IISG Instagram

The gales of November may come early, but, as usual, the nominations for the Lakies are right on time along with our official call for nominations! Brought to you by the Teach Me About the Great Lakes podcast, The Lakies (aka "quite possibly not the least prestigious Great Lakes-focused awards ceremony there is”) are back. Our goal isn't to be the Official Arbiters of Quality, but to host a fun celebration of amazing Great Lakes-related research, outreach, and communication in the inimitable Teach Me style.Nomination categories are:-Great Lakes Science Communication of the Year-Great Lakes Outreach Program of the Year-Great Lakes News Event of the Year-Great Lakes Research Finding of the Year-Coolest Thing You Learned Listening to TMATGL in 2025-Science Podcast of the Year (Non-TMATGL edition)-Great Lakes Animal of the Year-Great Lakes Non-Animal of the Year-Great Lakes Sandwich of the Year-Great Lakes Donut of the YearThe Details: -Deadline: Nominations close on December 4th.Process: It's easy (just enter the name/title and a link).-Self-Nominations: Highly encouraged. Don't be shy.We’d love to get a broad swath of work across both the serious and less-serious categories to celebrate. Feel free to pass the link on to interested people: https://bit.ly/Lakies25
Making Sense of Social Media: Presented by Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant & Purdue Extension‌When: December 6, 2025, from 1 - 4:00 PM ESTWhere: RDM Shrimp, RDM Shrimp, 101 N 850 E, Fowler, IN 47944Registration Link in bio.‌Social media can be a great way to market your small business and products, but sometimes it might feel like you are casting a net again and again to find that your net is empty. After all, the point of using social media marketing is to connect with customers. By attending this workshop, you will:-Hear Research Findings-Participate in an Interactive Workshop Session-Learn Real World Application-Tour a Shrimp Farm-Network at the “After Hour Social”‌This program is supported by the North Central Regional Aquaculture Center and put on in partnership with the Indiana Aquaculture Association Inc, RDM Shrimp, and Ohio Sea Grant, The Ohio State University.‌For questions contact Amy Shambach by email (ashambac@purdue.edu) or phone (317-238-0511)
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