Welcome to Econnect Communication’s July 2003 newsletter.

The theme for this month’s newsletter is “Making conferences work” with a special focus on the Genetics Congress (July 7-11) held recently in Melbourne. We asked Niall Byrne, media director at this Congress, to give us a report on the Congress’ phenomenal success in gaining media coverage.

We were privileged to be part of this conference, with Jenni acting as Chief of Staff to a very busy media room which saw more than 120 accredited journalists during the course of the week – surely an Australian record for a scientific conference!

During the same week we were also involved in the 9^th International River Conference in Albury, where Louise worked with local organisers to gain local and national coverage for environmental and river issues.

And we’re also aware that during the same week our colleagues, Diana Wolfe and Cathy Sage, were successful in gaining widespread coverage for the international mathematics conference being held in Sydney. Altogether a great media week for science – though it would have been less stressful for some of us if these three top international conferences could have been scheduled for different weeks!

In this edition, Michelle also reflects on her time last year in South Africa helping to organise the International Public Communication of Science and Technology conference in Cape Town.

If you have any feedback or ideas you’d like to add to this newsletter, we’d love to hear from you.

Regards,

Econnect Communication

Jenni Metcalfe, Louise Ralph, Michelle Riedlinger

THIS MONTH – JULY 2003

Making conferences work

1. USING CONFERENCES TO INFORM THE PUBLIC VIEW OF SCIENCE

2. TOP TIPS FOR ORGANISING A CONFERENCE

3. MORE TIPS FOR ORGANISING CONFERENCES

4. SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER

5. CONTACT US

1. USING CONFERENCES TO INFORM THE PUBLIC VIEW OF SCIENCE

By Niall Byrne, Media Director, International Congress of Genetics

The recent Genetics Congress gained an unprecedented level of media coverage that will help shape the public perception of genetics research for years to come.

Amongst the results were:

§ 13 pages of congress coverage in the Age

§ 90 minutes of coverage on television including 7.30 Report, TV news and Four Corners

§ At least six hours of national radio coverage

§ International coverage via Radio Australia, the BBC, Biomednet and other media.

And it was all pretty good coverage– reporting the science and exploring issues without Frankenstein headlines. In this brief report on our media plan I outline our strategy and some of the key lessons from its implementation.

We started developing the media plan about six months before the Congress. We had clear aims:

§ To promote the role of genetics in society to a wide public, scientific, business and government audience via the media

§ To gain informed discussion in the media of topical issues involving the conference speakers

§ To promote Australian scientific, technology and business achievement pertaining to genetics

§ To encourage international and national journalists to attend and report on the congress

§ To provide a professional response to media inquiries.

From the beginning we made it clear that we were not seeking media coverage at any cost. The strategy was straightforward. We started working about five months ahead of the Congress to inform key media about the implications of genetics for better and for worse. We did this through a series of informal briefings where we went to the journalists to tell them about the Congress. For example, at ABC Ultimo we hosted a lunch for about 25 journalists from ABC science, religious, news and current affairs. The focus was on the way that genetics is changing society – for good and for bad. And we offered a list of possible issues and speakers to start their thinking.

Secondly, we emphasised that the speakers at the Congress would say things that had a genuine news value and we made it clear that all media would have equal access. There would be no exclusives – but those journalists who took the time to prepare would get the best from it. In the end we held five to six press conferences on most days of the Congress.

Thirdly we looked after the journalists who came to the congress. We made it as easy as possible for them to cover the event. A detailed media program, updated each day, allowed them to plan their interviews and story ideas.

All accredited media were entitled to free registration to the entire conference.

The media facilities included a media centre with 15 networked computers, 20 broadband connections, printers, IT support, food and coffee. Most journalists were connected up and working within minutes of arrival. Hewlett Packard generously supported this initiative by loaning some $20,000 worth of equipment.

The media team included four staff and a pool of 20+ volunteers drawn from the science communication community. This gave us the flexibility to offer volunteers as assistants to specific journalists; to put volunteers in sessions to write up reports for publication; and most importantly to pursue talent – to track down the speakers that the media wanted to talk to.

Many of the journalists attending the Congress were not specialist science writers. So we supported them with genetics primers for journalists and access to geneticists who could interpret the science.

We ensured that our key staff and volunteers were people with a passion for communicating science. This was expensive – we brought the best in the business in from Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Canberra. This made a difference, to quote Phil Batterham, the Congress Secretary General, we “maintained a true amateur passion for science while reaching the highest professional performance standards.”

Finally, the media team had the full support of Phil Batterham and the conference organisers. The media program was not an afterthought; it was an integral component of the Congress. Phil set aside a realistic budget, worked hard to create the work environment we needed, and persuaded reticent Nobel Laureates to trust us.

The key team members were:

Niall Byrne, Media Director (Byrne Young Communication, Bellarine, Vic)

Jenni Metcalfe, Media Chief of Staff (Econnect Communication, Brisbane)

Karen Eck, Publicist (Eck Factor, Sydney)

Tim Thwaites, Editor (Zhuk Communication, Melbourne)

For an overview of the steps you need to follow in organising media coverage for a conference, see Econnect’s website, www.econnect.com.au

2. TOP TIPS FOR ORGANISING A CONFERENCE

By Michelle Riedlinger

Necessary ingredients for a successful conference include great session chairs that stick to time and encourage discussion, effective audiovisuals and time for unstructured interaction. A comfortable venue, good food and fun activities outside conference hours can also help make a conference memorable for those attending.

However, some good planning can also make the conference experience a pleasant one for speakers and cut down on your number of sleepless nights. Program planning tips I gathered while helping to organise the Public Understanding of Science and Technology Conference in Cape Town last year are summarised below.

1. Communicate the conference program timeline early including dates for (a) submission of abstracts, (b) development of the draft program, (c) final date for changes to the program, (d) notification of audiovisual requirements, and (e) confirmation of attendance.

2. When calling for abstracts, include mechanisms for collecting contact details so that you can confirm receipt and communicate important information (such as whether the abstract has been accepted or rejected).

3. Develop a good database of ALL submitted abstracts that includes the information above and continually update it, as information becomes available.

Provide feedback from the scientific (program) committee on the accepted abstracts so speakers can develop their presentations in line with the goals of the conference.
Plan enough time for unstructured interaction and ensure that conflicts in the program are minimised by putting the draft program on the website and asking speakers for feedback.
Develop a policy for the acceptance of late submissions and check that all speakers have registered for the conference by the due date.
Deal with speakers’ audiovisual requirements early and accommodate all requested options if possible. If speakers are using Powerpoint ask them to send you their presentation beforehand to check compatibility if they are uncertain about it.
Choose competent conference chairs and ensure that they are aware and agree to what is required from them.
Re-send important information one week before the conference starts, as this is most likely the only time it will be read.
Be available to speakers at the venue beforehand (the previous day or at least early in the morning) so that they can check the venue and their audiovisual requirements.

3. MORE TIPS FOR ORGANISING A CONFERENCE

By Jenni Metcalfe

The following tips were developed over a series of workshops conducted by the Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies (FASTS) for member societies. I was one of the co-presenters of these workshops, which aimed to give societies some tips and tools to better communicate and manage their organisations (see www.fasts.org.au).

Employ a professional conference organiser (PCO) from the start to organise venues, logistics, registrations and promotion, including sponsorship.
Think about the sort of media coverage you’d like before and during the conference, and appoint a media liaison officer at the beginning of planning.
Select a venue that results in people not drifting back to work or onto other things (venues where most of the delegates stay at or near conference meeting rooms works well).
Schedule your conference to link in with other events of interest to your likely participants.
Ensure your program for the conference includes plenty of time for networking and social activities (and don’t start a plenary session too soon the morning after a conference dinner).
Try to have a mix of sessions in your program – not just plenary sessions followed by a series of concurrent/parallel sessions that are a series of spoken/written papers with some questions. Include panel discussions, practical workshops and debates where feasible and possible.
If you’re having poster sessions, make them an important part of the program by selecting a venue people will go to (e.g. where teas/displays/wine is) and by scheduling sessions when people will attend. You can also offer incentives. For example, at their last conference the Ecological Society of Australia gave poster presenters a stamp (like at a nightclub). If delegates got a stamp on their hand it meant they’d had some significant interaction with at least one poster presenter and were then eligible to partake in the subsequent drinks happy hour.
Choose chair people who you know are good and will keep speakers to times and formats. Ideally chairs should liaise with the speakers in their sessions well before the conference to ensure the content and format of the session meets the needs identified by conference planners, and so they are aware of each other’s topics. It can also be helpful to have a session prior to the conference with all chairs to make sure that they are aware of the procedures, protocols and requirements of the conference program.
Try to include influential speakers where appropriate – including senior politicians – in your conference program.
Think about making it easy for students to attend (e.g. significant discounts), and include sessions for student presentations (which are often the most interesting) and/or student awards.
Don’t accept all papers submitted under ‘calls for papers’. Ensure a process of peer review that considers both the content of the material to be presented and the style of the presenter.
Ensure clear guidelines are given to speakers about:

· format of session (i.e. is it a presentation/discussion/overview/etc)

· required written materials, length, formats and due dates

· audio-visual requirements, formats and due dates

· chairs and their contact details

· travel, venue and accommodation details.

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5. CONTACT US

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evaluate and develop communication strategies
write and design products that meet audience needs
run workshops that train staff and management in communication skills

Contact us: phone 07 3846 7111; email admin@econnect.com.au

Website: http://www.econnect.com.au

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