Page 3 - LA811 2023 issue 1

from the desk of
Brent Saltzman
As we begin this journey into a new year, I would like to take a moment and reflect on 2022. We experienced an incredible year with locate requests (up 9% from the previous year) and outgoing tickets to our members (up nearly 11% from the previous year). Surprisingly, we had only anticipated an increase of 4%! Based on what we’re seeing in the economy, our Board of Directors and staff anticipate
a 5% increase in ticket volume for 2023 due mainly to increased infrastructure spending.
I realize the increase we saw in 2022 was partly due to hurricane restoration efforts and numerous road projects. But increased awareness of contacting 811 “Before You Dig” impacted this volume as well. With the assistance of our advertising agency and very active Public Awareness Committee, we continue to make great strides in educating and informing the public about the importance of damage prevention.
Some new initiatives we started in 2022 were advertising for the first
time with a collegiate team. We were the gameday sponsor for LSU baseball in April and had radio ads during game broadcasts for the entire season. We made a concerted
effort to advertise our message on Hispanic radio stations to reach a segment of our society never tapped before. Both of these endeavors reached thousands across our great state. You may have also seen Uber or Lyft vehicles wrapped with LA811 graphics in some of our metropolitan areas. These initiatives along with our traditional statewide billboard and sports radio campaign were just a few of the many, many outreach efforts we have provided.
This year, we’ll continue with many of the public awareness initiatives listed above but are excited to “spread the wealth” and support some of our other colleges in Louisiana. We will be sponsoring collegiate baseball in April at Louisiana Tech, Tulane, University of Louisiana-Lafayette (ULL) and University of Louisiana-Monroe (ULM). Additionally, we’ll be sponsoring women’s softball at many of these institutions so be on the lookout for us at these sporting events. We’ll have a tent set up at each location giving away cool promotional items so stop by and pay us a visit!
In closing, we’re extremely excited about the prospects of what 2023 will bring. We are continually looking for innovative ways to heighten 811 awareness so check out our website for other activities we’ll be involved in throughout the year.
Until next time, take care and God bless!
Brent Saltzman Executive Director Louisiana 811
2023, Issue 1
Louisiana 811
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