The Williamson County Office of Emergency Management received the Best Use of Social Media in the Emergency Management category in the 2011 GovFresh Awards in December.

At the regular Williamson County Commissioners Court meeting Jan. 17, the court recognized the office of emergency management for its achievement and keeping citizens informed about the Central Texas wildfires using social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

"I got so much feedback from constituents saying, 'attaboy' and 'thank you for the work that you were doing there,'" Commissioner Cynthia Long said.

The 2011 GovFresh Awards were announced Dec. 19 and honored innovative citizen, city and local government technology projects. A panel made up of 11 industry leaders judged the entries.

Emergency Management Technician Mackenzie Kelly said about 7,000 more people "liked" the county's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/preparingwilco during the September wildfires, and the county used the platform to inform people about the locations of wildfires and answer questions.

Emergency Management Coordinator Jarred Thomas said the county has other tools to inform citizens about emergencies, including the Capital Area Council of Governments Emergency Notification System, but will use social media to enhance its communication efforts.

"Social media is not replacing any of our tools, this is just a tool to be used in conjunction with our other tools," he said.

GovFresh also named Williamson County as a runner-up in the Best Use of Social Media category, and Kelly was the runner-up for Public Servant of the Year.

The county presented Kelly, Emergency Management Specialist Dee Harrison and Public Information Officer Connie Watson with certificates for their efforts Jan. 17.