Emily Allen Lucht is the Director of Communications at the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development.

Previously, she was the Communications and Media Specialist at the Maryland Center for School Safety (MCSS). She was responsible for creating and updating accessible social media content, graphic, audio, and visual designs, website content production and maintenance, the agency's branding initiatives, and developing outreach campaigns found on all their digital platforms. Ms. Allen Lucht also produced live and recorded video content for the MCSS and its many local and statewide partners.

Over the past four years, she and her colleague, Cecilia Warren (Maryland Department of Disabilities), have presented on accessible social media tips and techniques throughout the country. Together they assist other government agencies so that everyone can get the right message, at the right time, to ensure everyone can make the right choice to keep their loved ones safe.

Prior to joining MCSS, she spent three years at the Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) as their Digital Engagement Coordinator. She also served as the Communication Specialist for the City of Platteville, Wisconsin, where she managed and created content for the city’s webpage, social media accounts. Ms. Allen Lucht also worked with the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) as Social Media Producer/Broadcasting Coordinator for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx in Minneapolis.

Ms. Allen Lucht graduated in 2010 from Loras College with a degree in media studies and is living with her husband and new puppy "Lando" in Maryland.

Emily Allen Lucht’s Sessions

9:30 am–10:30 am PT — Thursday, May 13, 2021

Panel: How to Keep Your Community Informed in Creative & Engaging Ways

Government agencies can leverage social media to share (sometimes critically) important information with their communities. With the plethora of social media channels and content formats available, finding creative ways to get that content out that will engage and inform can be challenging - but it's also an incredible opportunity to share your agency's work in unique formats.

This diverse panel will discuss:

Unique ways to reach your audience (Facebook Live, telephone town halls, Reels, AMA-style Q&A’s, Stories, and more)
Exploring new and emerging features and identify if they’re a good fit for your agency
Leveraging strong visuals to engage audiences
Creating evergreen content and customizing content for specific platforms/audiences
How to balance staying relevant with social media trends while keeping it professional and aligned with your agency’s brand

Creating and Testing Accessible Content for All Social Media Platforms

You know your content needs to be accessible, but do you know how to make it happen? In this presentation, you'll learn how to create, test, and save time when creating social media content that is accessible to your entire community. Attendees can participate and follow the content creation process step-by-step using their devices in real-time in order to post accessible messages and images for most social media platforms. Attendees will leave this session with an understanding of how to post accessible digital content, tips to minimize the process, and ways to test messaging.