City Of Las Vegas Wins Social Media Award For Oct. 1 Response

LAS VEGAS, NV - The city of Las Vegas edged the Chatham Emergency Management Agency in Georgia and the government of Sarasota County, Florida to win the Government Social Media Golden Post Award for "Social Media Crisis Communications," at the Government Social Media Conference Wednesday in Denver.

The city was given the award for its response to the Oct. 1 shooting on the Las Vegas Strip. The city used its social media accounts as a way to relay information as it became available. The city said it received an "unprecedented level" of messages in the two weeks following the shooting.

The Government Social Media Conference recognizes "outstanding use of social media by local and state government agencies in the United States."

"During a time when where misinformation was everywhere, the city of Las Vegas social network beame one of the verified places where people could turn for accurate and timely information," a city press release said. The city's Twitter account received 527,000 visits and 12,000 direct messages after the shooting, and its Facebook profile received 13,000 messages.

The Chatham Emergency Management Agency and the Sarasota County Government were both nominated for the award for their response to Hurricane Irma.