Professional Development
TransComm offers many opportunities for professional development including the committee annual meeting, the annual TransComm Skills Awards contest, and a monthly webinar series.
Annual Meeting
The TransComm annual meeting brings together public relations professionals from the 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia departments of transportation, along with our consultant partners, representatives of the U.S. DOT and others interested in communicating transportation topics.
Held each year (in the summer or fall), the meeting is an opportunity for transportation communicators from around the United States to build relationships that benefit their state DOTs, highlight successes, share ideas and learn from each other. In addition, much of the subcommittee’s business is carried out during the meeting.
Save the date for the 2026 TransComm meeting, which will be held Sept. 27-30 in San Diego!
Webinars
Upcoming Webinars
Copy That: Copyright Do’s and Don’ts for Communications Professionals
Thursday, January 15, 2-3 p.m. ET
Back by popular demand after her very informational and helpful session at the TransComm meeting in Chicago last September, Melissa Vallone (partner at Barnes & Thornburg LLP) will lead a TransComm presentation and discussion covering the copyright issues we communications professionals deal with regularly.
Too many of us have been in the dreaded position of utilizing a photo or other media on social media on our websites we assumed we were free to use only to find out we’ve unintentionally used that media without permission (or we forgot to credit it). Or, in jumping on a social trend, we’ve used music or mimicked a graphic (since everyone else is doing it). In this session, hear directly from someone AASHTO has called upon during these times and get a “copyright 101” crash course, hear what’s going on with technology in crawling the internet for these mistakes, learn about the risks of not going through the right channels, and get an idea of how AI is upping the stakes.
Register here.
Past Presentations and Webinars
REPORTS Communicating the Economic and Quality of Life Benefits of Transportation Investment: New Approaches for State Departments of Transportation
This guide presents research-tested themes and messages that state departments of transportation (DOTs) can use to communicate with different audiences about the economic and quality of life benefits of transportation infrastructure investment. It is intended for use by agency staff in communications, public affairs, and related areas, as well as by communications professionals in the private sector. The guide incorporates the lessons of previous research on this topic and new findings from focus groups, social media sentiment analysis, and smallscale public surveys
For previous years reports, please contact Maggie Kasperski
Annual Skills Contest
The Skills Contest is conducted annually by the AASHTO Committee on Transportation Communications to recognize the outstanding work of its public relations practitioners and facilitate an exchange of ideas. The contest is considered the premier competition in the transportation industry and the awards have become a standard of public relations excellence among state departments of transportation. Winners demonstrate the very best examples of innovation, planning, production, execution, and evaluation of results and budget.
Check back soon for information on the 2026 competition.
For more information on the awards, please contact Maggie Kasperski