Communicating Your Conference

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Communicating Your Conference

• Sonny Barber, IEEE Corporate Communications
• Molly McCluskey, IEEE Conference Business
  Services
• POCO Prague July 2009

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Communicating Your Conference Telling Your Story

• Why
• How
• Where
• Communicating In A Crisis
• Other Help For You

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Why Tell Your Story

• Increase
• Attendance
• Number of papers
• Advertisers, exhibits

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How To Tell Your Story

• News release
• Web site
• Social Media
• Facebook, MySpace
• Blogs
• Twitter

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What Do Reporters Want?

• Newsworthy of interest to your audience
• Timely technology or applications being
  reported in the news and/or tech journals
• Problem solving How can the technology create a
  better world

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Understand Todays Media

• Journalists today
• Work on short deadlines
• Are short staffed and stretched thin
• Do not have the resources to cover the stories
  they used to cover
• Compete with social networks, blogs
• Appreciate relationship-building

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How To Tell Your Story

• News release
• Keep it short
• Use lists rather than narrative
• Tell facts, not hyperbole

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Public Relations Media Relations

• PR
• Builds relationships with publics
• Informs, educates, persuades to action
• MR (A Subset of PR)
• Communicating through a journalists report or
  story provides credibility and exposure

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Use your Web site to Attract Members and the
Media

• Are you using your website to your advantage? Or
  is it a missed opportunity?
• Is it up to date? useful? Is it interesting?
• Make it welcoming
• Keep it simple
• Tell who IEEE is and who you are

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How to Get Journalists to Your Event

• Follow up with media to check interest event
• Ask
• news release, materials reviewed?
• Interest in the story?
• Coordinate an interview via phone with
  spokesperson or offer interviews at conference
  with noteworthy presenters
• Offer free conference attendance

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Your PR Toolkit

• Language that can be used in a variety of ways
• Mission statement
• Summary blurb
• Key messages/talking points
• Elevator pitch
• Press Release
• IEEE Boilerplate
• Photographs from last years conference
• A spokesperson on standby

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Mission Statement

• Many conferences do this as part of their
  planning process.
• Keep it concise why this conference? What
  purpose does it serve? What are you hoping to
  accomplish?

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Summary Blurb

• This is often a full paragraph (or two) that
  provides more details of your conference. It
  includes
• What it is
• Key speakers
• Sponsors
• Web site
• Any special characteristics
• Provides statements which can be excerpted into
  other communications tools

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Summary Blurb Example

• The International Test Conference (ITC), the
  cornerstone of TestWeek events, is the world's
  premier conference dedicated to the electronic
  test of devices, boards and systems-covering the
  complete cycle from design verification, test,
  diagnosis, failure analysis and back to process
  and design improvement. At ITC, test and design
  professionals can confront the challenges the
  industry faces, and learn how these challenges
  are being addressed by the combined efforts of
  academia, design tool and equipment suppliers,
  designers, and test engineers. TestWeek will take
  place 1-6 November 2009, which will include ITC
  on 3-5 November 2009 in Austin, Texas. The
  conference will focus on the following Adaptive
  Test, Built-In Self-Test, Low-Cost ATE, RF Test,
  Test Data Analysis, and many more topics.
• This year's General Chair is Prof. Gordon
  Roberts, McGill University
• http//www.itctestweek.org/cfpo2009.pdf
• ITC is cosponsored by the IEEE Computer Society
  and the IEEE Philadelphia Section.

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News Brief

• IEEE Fellow Saifur Rahman to Speak at Energy Camp
  Conference 18 May
• 11 May Saifur Rahman, IEEE Fellow and vice
  president
• for new initiatives and outreach, IEEE Power and
  Energy
• Society, will be a featured speaker at Energy
  Camp 2009,
• a conference that will address the reduction of
  IT-related
• carbon footprints. Rahman will participate on the
  "Public
• Resources What Are Various Consortia and
  Government
• Organizations Up To? on 18 May.  He will be
  joined by
• Andrew Fanara, ENERGY STAR product specifications
• development group, United States Environmental
• Protection Agency, and Jeff Omelchuck, executive
  director,
• EPEAT and Green Electronics Council.

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Key Messages

• The International Test Conference is
• the cornerstone of TestWeek events
• the world's premier conference dedicated to the
  electronic test of devices, boards and systems
• covers the complete cycle from design
  verification, test, diagnosis, failure analysis
  and back to process and design improvement.
•  

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Elevator Pitch

• ITC is the premiere conference dedicated to the
  electronic test of devices, boards and systems.
  Its celebrating its 40th Anniversary November
  3-5 in Austin TX as part of Test Week.

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Press Release

• Elements of a press release
• Attention catching title, expanded subtitle
• Summary sentence or two (can be pulled from key
  messages.
• Quote from high-ranking volunteer/sponsor/organize
  r about the importance of event
• Boilerplate
• Contact information

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Boilerplate

• About IEEEIEEE is the world's largest technical
  professional association, with more than 375,000
  members in 160 countries, and a leading authority
  on technology-related matters ranging from
  aerospace systems, computers and
  telecommunications to biomedical engineering,
  electric power and consumer electronics. IEEE
  publishes 30 percent of the world's literature in
  the electrical and electronics engineering and
  computer science fields, has developed nearly 900
  active industry standards and annually sponsors
  more than 850 conferences worldwide. Learn how
  the IEEE fosters technological innovation and
  excellence for the benefit of humanity at
  http//www.ieee.org.

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Social Media

• Set up a Facebook page
• For annual conferences
• Build attendee base year over year
• Set up Twitter account
• Develop following

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Social Media - Twitter
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Communications Partof Conference Planning

• Create communications plan in early stages of
  conference planning
• Designate PR contact, spokespersons
• Media to contact with calendar
• Key messages (important points about the
  conference)

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Where To Tell Your Story

• IEEE journals/magazines
• Other professional society pubs
• Commercial technical publications
• News Wires
• Distributes to many pubs

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Where To Tell Your Story

• Technology News WiresComputerworld IDG.net
  InternetNews.com Reuters TechWeb News
  URLwire Venturewire Wired News ZDNet
• Science News Wires BioMedNet Environment News
  Service AP (Newsday) Reuters Space.com  

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Communicating In A Crisis

• Crisis Situation which may harm the reputation
  of IEEE
• Immediate Crisis Situations
• Death of attendee/other, natural disaster
• Lesser crisis or issue with potential negative
  impact
• Financial improprieties revealed, plagiarism,
  inappropriate behavior

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Communicating In A Crisis

• First ADDRESS THE CRISIS
• Next Communicate situation to IEEE
• What to communicate
• What, Where, When
• Injuries, business losses, etc.
• What steps taken to respond to crisis
• Media inquiries, authorities involved

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Communicating In A Crisis

• Only designated, approved spokespersons may speak
  on behalf of IEEE
•  The IEEE Crisis and Issues Communications Team
  (CICT)
• Clearinghouse for communications
• Comprised of IEEE Corporate staff members

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Communicating In A Crisis

• When confronted by media
• Refer to Corp. Communications
• 01 732 465 5865
• 01 732 562 6823
• Or send us an email
• cscomm_at_ieee.org
• Web site for Contact Information
• http//www.ieee.org/web/aboutus/news/resources/ind
  ex.html

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Other Help
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IEEE Visual Identity

• Using IEEE brand consistently builds instant
  recognition over time
• should be prominent in all communications
• Horizontal format is approved use
• With 125th anniversary tagline for 2009
• Always use letters I-E-E-E in communications.
• Use the full name on legal documents only.
• 
  

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Where Can You Find the Most Up-to-date IEEE
Information?

• About IEEE
• www.ieee.org/about
• Quick Facts Year end data some midyear updates
• Annual Statistics, annual report, others
• Volunteer Resources www.ieee.org/organizations/vol
  s