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Welcome to Econnect Communication’s January 2006 newsletter –
‘Celebratory
events’.
We hope you celebrated the new year and that you continue to
read our newsletter in 2006. We aim to keep it informative,
relevant, timely and above all—short!
This month, Sarah joins the team to help us out over the coming
six months. Welcome, Sarah to Econnect and to Queensland!
Regards,
Econnect Communication
Jenni Metcalfe, Michelle Riedlinger, Lynne Goodwin, Mary
O’Callaghan, Sarah Bartlett
In this issue: Celebratory
events
Celebratory
events - what's the point?
Top tips for
coordinating a celebratory event
Fresh Science
delivers the goods
Surf club
Quotation of the month
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Celebratory events - what's the point?
By Michelle Riedlinger
The 2005 Einstein International Year of Physics was
celebrated with gusto in Australia. With breakfasts,
exhibitions, teacher prizes, postcards, stickers and
public events, it was hard to ignore physics in 2005.
Organisations use celebratory events to
-
upgrade their image
-
increase media exposure for important
issues
-
build better relationships with
industry and communities
-
renew enthusiasm in staff or members
-
bring the organisation together
National Science Week and
World Environment Day are other examples.
Top tips for coordinating a
celebratory event
If your event is poorly organised and managed, it can waste time
and resources, draining the energy of even the most enthusiastic
science communicator.
Sarah Brooker, communications consultant for the Australian
Institute of Physics, and Jackie Mergard, Queensland National
Science Week coordinator, know all about organising celebratory
events. Here are some of their top tips:
1. Start
planning early—everything takes longer than you think.
2. Focus
energy on doing a few big events really well.
3. Collaborate
with as many others as possible to expand the reach of the
event. Don’t focus on metropolitan activities only—look for
regional partners and support regional activities where
possible.
4. Look
at what else is happening around the time—see how you can fit
with existing programs or events.
5. Use
the strengths of the organisation—contacts, expertise etc.
6. Call
in expertise where needed e.g. if you have never contacted
schools before, talk to others who have, rather than starting
from scratch.
7. Involve
other people and organisations such as community and industry
groups; use seed funding to build better relationships and
leverage more for the event using combined resources and
strengths.
8. Be
open to new ideas and new partners—talk to as many people as
possible and keep a contact list.
9. Offer
a prize to encourage excellence in the field.
10. Make
available an experienced, proactive person to answer enquiries
about the event’s activities as soon as they come in. Give them
the time and resources they need.
11. Don’t
reinvent the wheel. Take note of the number of attendees, media
coverage, what worked, what didn’t, and feedback from
anyone involved. These notes are useful for the
organisation to build on the profile of the event.
Fresh Science delivers the goods
By
Jenni Metcalfe
Every year during
National Science Week for the past 8 years I have been
involved in
Fresh Science, an initiative of the Victorian branch of the
Australian Science Communicators.
This is a terrific event that brings together 12-16 young
scientists from around Australia for training in media and
presentation skills. They then apply these skills by presenting
to student and public groups and through media publicity.
Mark Hutchinson was a 2004 Fresh Scientist and winner of the
British Council Study Tour.
After presenting at an Australia Week dinner in Hollywood in
January, he says: “Well, Fresh Science paid off again. I had to
do a speech in front of 1400 people in Los Angeles for the G'day
LA gala dinner.
“I got to meet Olivia Newton John, Hugh Jackman, Eric Bana, John
Travolta, Rupert Murdoch, Andy Thomas, INXS, William McInnes,
Sophie Monk, Steve Irwin and lots more. It was so bizarre!"
The Sunday Telegraph
covered the event:
"There are 200,000 Australians working in the US, including many
of our best and brightest. Conscious of stemming this brain
drain—or at least getting some return on our national
investment—G'day LA organisers and other groups are working
feverishly to make connections between expats and Australia.
“Mark Hutchinson, a young scientist from Adelaide, spoke
eloquently at the G'day LA gala dinner. He may not be a
household name, but Hutchinson is working with medical
researchers in Colorado to develop a method of administering
morphine without risk of addiction. It's complex, intriguing and
ground-breaking research that, hopefully, will ultimately
benefit Australia as much as the US.”
Surf club
World Environment Day, 5 June 2006
The theme of this year’s
World Environment Day—Don’t Desert Drylands!—is bringing our
attention to deserts and desertification.
Check out
the photo gallery for some incredible images of deserts
around the world. You can also register your organisation’s
activities on the site.
Quotation of the month
“The play was a great success, but the audience was a disaster”.
Oscar Wilde |
