The City of Cathedral City has named Ryan Hunt as the new Communications & Events Manager. He began his work with the city on Aug. 22, 2022.
Hunt joins Cathedral City after eight years at the Office of Communication in Arlington, Texas, where he led the editorial team as Managing Editor. During his tenure, he led a variety of projects, including COVID-19 communications/outreach, the 2020 Census campaign, news content for the City’s website and social media pages, and marketing content for major economic development projects. He also produced franchise video content for MyArlingtonTV, the City’s government cable channel, and was the lead producer for Arlington’s FY2020 Budget Video, which received a Lone Star Emmy Award.
A 2011 graduate of Virginia Tech, Hunt got his start in journalism at the NBC affiliate in Roanoke, VA, and spent three years there as a news producer and received a Capital Emmy nomination for his work. After moving to the City of Arlington in 2014, he quickly became an organizational leader for diversity, equity, and inclusion in that community. He recently earned a Certified Public Communicator masters level certification from Texas Christian University for producing a strategic plan focused on diversity communications and outreach. The plan, which received an Award of Excellence from Texas Association of Municipal Information Officers (TAMIO), installed measurements to promote and encourage greater inclusivity, equity, and access to important services.
“I’m incredibly honored and excited to join the talented team here at Cathedral City and to build on the city’s mission to create an inclusive community and to provide high quality services,” Hunt said. “It’s our goal to celebrate the city’s diversity and reach as many residents as possible through video programming, social media and celebrating local events.”
As the lead writer for annual award submissions, Hunt’s team in Arlington has been one of the most awarded groups in both Texas and the nation since 2015, with 34 City-County Communications: Marketing Association (3CMA) national awards and 47 Texas Association of Municipal Information Officers (TAMIO) state awards. He also supervised the logistics, writing and marketing materials of major events, economic development projects/site visits like General Motors’ $1.4 billion Arlington Assembly Plant expansion, the National Medal of Honor Museum bidding process, the grand opening of the Texas Live! entertainment complex, Esports Stadium Arlington’s grand opening, Globe Life Field ballpark groundbreaking with the Texas Rangers and Amazon HQ2’s Arlington site visit.