On the night of Dec. 6, 2012, one month after Washington State voters approved same-sex marriage, King County opened the Recorder's Office for a special midnight ceremony that ushered in a new era of civil rights. In doing so, King County became the first jurisdiction in the country to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples based on voter approval.
Happy couples young and old, many of whom had waited decades for this moment, braved the chilly night to become a part of American history. Learn how King County blended traditional and social media to connect with participants, drive news coverage, and emcee a once-in-lifetime event that reimagined how a community engages with local government.
What's working on the web and why? - PMDMC, July 2014
Marriage Equality Day - King County, WA
1. The Marriage Plot:
Inside Washington State’s Epic Campaign for LGBT Equality
Presented by Derek Belt
Social Media Specialist, King County
Follow me: @derekbelt Follow us: @kcnews
WOMMfest 2013 Seattle, WA 1
9. Washington voters have narrowly approved same-sex
marriage, completing a four-state sweep of victories on
Election Day by marriage-equality advocates. Before
Tuesday, gay marriage had never won a statewide vote
anywhere in America.
— SeattlePI.com, Nov. 8, 2012
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10. Referendum 74 – Washington State
YES 54% NO 46%
Referendum 74 – King County
YES 67% NO 33%
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11. The dates are set – Dec. 6-8, 2012
King County Executive
Dow Constantine
announced on his monthly
radio spot that the
Recorder’s Office would
open for a special midnight
ceremony Dec. 6, 2012
at 12:01 a.m.
Dec. 6 was declared “Marriage Equality Day” in King County.
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13. Planning begins
• Tents
• Official queuing area
• Media area
• King County staff
• Volunteers
• Nearby coffee shops
open all night
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14. Traditional media
• Logistics/schedule
• Credentials
• Site walkthrough
• Interviews
• Press releases
• Public awareness
& outreach
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15. Social media
• Twitter - @kcnews and @kcexec
• Hashtag - #MEDayWA
• Facebook page & events - NEW!
• Instagram - NEW!
• Storify - NEW!
• YouTube - King County TV
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16. Social media
The goal:
• Cover the coverage/customer service
The strategy:
• Support the media
• Real-time updates to people waiting in line
• Monitor for rumor control
The results:
• 30,000 interactions & No. 5 trending topic in U.S.
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17. Social media
Marriage equality vs. General election
Tweets @kcnews People Followers
Time frame Interactions Clicks
sent mentions reached added
Dec. 6-8 29,758 157 1,246 1.1 million 587 478
Entire month
2,638 110 346 422,676 1,905 387
of November*
* Nov. numbers are Twitter only. King County did not have Facebook, Instagram or Storify pages.
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18. Social media
• 6,639 mentions of #MEDayWA on Twitter
• 1,246 mentions of @kcnews
• 348 people registered for Facebook events
• 5,712 people “talking about this” on Facebook
• 400+ photos shared from participants
• 8,375 pageviews on Storify
• 2,725 video views on YouTube
• 91 check-ins at Recorder’s Office
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19. Twitter
• Engage people in line
• Brokered hashtag with local
media #MEDayWA
• 6,639 hashtag mentions
• No. 5 trending topic in U.S.
• 149 new followers
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21. Facebook events
• Gauge interest in attending
• Create a safe place to
connect with participants
• Update people directly on
their smartphones
• 348 people registered
• 230 new fans
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26. Storify
• Bring social media
conversations together
• Real-time editing kept
people coming back
• Linked to from Storify.com
home page
• 8,375 pageviews
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28. Success story
• 489 marriage licenses issued on Dec. 6, and
623 issued in three days.
• Typical day sees 50-100 licenses issued.
• National mainstream media coverage.
• Incredible visibility and goodwill locally with
30,000 interactions in social media.
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30. The Marriage Plot:
Inside Washington State’s Epic Campaign for LGBT Equality
Presented by Derek Belt
Social Media Specialist, King County
Follow me: @derekbelt Follow us: @kcnews
WOMMfest 2013 Seattle, WA 30
Notas do Editor
Cold, dark, late – but everyone was happy.
Cheering, carolers, champagne, even a bubble machine – it was a festive atmosphere.
Our friends, family members, coworkers and neighbors lined up to participate.
Inside the Recorder’s Office, a special ceremony was held at midnight with 11 happy couples recommended by community leaders.Pete-e Peterson and Jane Abbott Lighty were the first same-sex couple to receive marriage licenses in WA State – 35 years together.
Hundreds of other couples braved the chilly night and were issued their marriage licenses throughout the morning.
But really, what’s a 4- or 5-hour wait when you’ve been waiting 20 years for this moment?
The atmosphere that night was electric, exciting, overwhelming, historic.
Washington, Maine, Maryland and Minnesota all approved same-sex marriage on Election Day, Nov. 6, 2012.
Roughly 1/3 of WA’s population resides in King County.
Recorder’s Office to openThursday, Dec. 6, from 12:01 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.Friday Dec. 7, from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.Saturday, Dec. 8, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
King County planned for the possibility of issuing 750 licenses the first night. We issued 489 licenses. On a typical day, King County’s Recorder’s Office issues between 50 and 100 marriage licenses.
Limited space in the Recorder’s Office, priority was given to local media.
“I’ve got a golden ticket” became a theme from the people waiting in line, as King County issued numbered tickets informing participants when they could expect to go inside to receive their marriage licenses.
With Instagram, we were able to tell the story of Executive Constantine. From left to right: alone in the Recorder’s Office practicing his remarks; handing out “golden tickets” to participants, and signing commemorative keepsakes at 4 a.m.
This whole experience wasn’t about us. It was about our residents. We never lost sight of that, which is one of the reasons this was so successful and why we had so many compliments.Rachel Maddow put this on her blog, and George Takei tweeted about it a few days later.
The feedback we got was incredible, and we built a tremendous amount of goodwill between King County and residents and the local media.