#CityHallSelfie Day

Battle Creek, Mich. -- Our team and community enjoyed a grrreat City Hall Selfie Day, Aug. 15, 2019. We shared selfies with Tony the Tiger, toured around the Binder Park Zoo, saw selfies from our neighbors, and celebrated our city with our team. Thank you, everyone!

Scottsdale’s Economic Development department participated in the 2019 ELGL City Hall Selfie contest.

The City of Fontana celebrated City Hall Selfie Day on Thursday, August 15, 2019. Thank you to everyone who came out to the Fontana City Hall Selfie Day Party! We'll see you in 2020.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill (WCIA)—People walking through downtown Champaign Thursday could see signs asking them to take a selfie with the city building. They are taking part in National City Hall Selfie Day. During lunch hour, Mayor Feinen posed for some photos. Those with the city say they do things like this to make sure people in Champaign know that city government is accessible.

“It’s really just about getting people involved in government. Yes people are coming by to get a picture but it gives them the chance to talk to the mayor and offer suggestions and comments about city government,” Mayor Fienen says.

They encouraged people to stop and take a picture and tag the city social media pages for them to see.

#CityHallSelfie Day may have come to a close, but our enthusiasm for #localgov has not!

Check out our wrap up video to celebrate local gov in #DE! We ❤️ #DELocalGov!

Another International #CityHallSelfie Day is on the books and folks, the days of the conventional selfie are over. This was the year of props, costumes, filters, and field trips.

It was exceptionally difficult this time to decide on ten noteworthy selfies because the effort put into this crop of images was historically high.

The Chronicles worked all through the night reviewing hundreds of images, consulting with our artists-in-residence, and testing for authenticity. While there were dozens of contenders, each selfie on the list had to satisfy the following criteria:

A. be taken by or feature a city council member/mayor; or

B. be taken in a council chamber; and

C. be a true selfie — i.e. taken by someone in the picture.

Next week, we will invite a municipal selfie expert on the podcast who will render a verdict on the pièces de résistance. Here are the top 10:

GREEN BAY and APPLETON, Wis. (WFRV)

Over the last few years, August 15th has gradually become “City Hall Selfie Day,” a day where citizens are encouraged to snap a picture of themselves in front of their favorite local government building.

“I think the idea is just to make it a little bit more accessible for people to check out City Hall, to engage in city government, and just a fun thing for us to do as employees of the city,” said Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich. “And something for the community to engage in as well.”

In Appleton, resident Gerry Lambie made a new friend while taking her city hall selfie. Lambie was spotted by Local 5 taking a selfie in front of Appleton City Hall with Kaukauna resident Gary Schmidt.

“I knew that it was Selfie Day,” Lambie said. “I thought, instead of being by myself… I just thought I would, as (Schmidt’s) walking down the street, ask him if wanted to take a selfie with me… We’re proud of where we live, and we just want to let people know that we’ve got a great community here.”

City Hall Selfies can be taken inside or outside of a city hall or any other local government facility, and posted on any social media platform with the hashtag #CityHallSelfie.

“That’s really what the fun of it is, is for us to be able to share the photos that other people are taking, to see them sort of really just enjoying and being part of this community,” said Chad Doran, the city of Appleton’s Communications Coordinator.

City Hall Selfie Day isn’t just a Northeast Wisconsin phenomenon – local governments across the globe are encouraging residents to participate and post their pictures online.