NWC - PR & Marketing Campaign

[Denise Rushe]

Hi Everyone,

Yesterday Aoife and I plotted out the bones of the PR campaign for Northwest Connects

There are a number of things we need confirmed by the group to go ahead with this and send out any press materials. Could I suggest that we iron these out in our next meeting in the first half hour. No doubt that this will probably feed into the overall planning of the conference.

Who is the Conference for?

Already confirmed:

• Business people
• Innovators
• The General Public- we need to define this-is it the general Joe soap? So does our PR feature in the business pages or the news pages?
  

We have already decided that initial press would target local press in the Northwest and then follow-on press releases should promote the fact that NWC is happening in Sligo in National press etc

The Voice of the Conference
Who dictates the language/the voice of the conference and where it is placed?
Who is responsible for the copy-writing of website? Should this be tied in with the general voice of the campaign?
All this should be consistent with press releases and any information released via twitter/facebook/linkedin etc.

We need more information and dates for Conference deadlines so that planned press releases are scheduled:

• Website up and running -our first press release should direct people to it.
  
• Registration
• End of registration
• Confirmation of Speakers/Schedules
• Registration Closes
• Post Event

Streams
We need to confirm weightier text for the streams.
We need to appoint spokesperson per stream(or things like Speakers, Networking, the Northwest etc) so that if any press are looking
to speak to to someone we can refer on.

Photo Ops
Also need to consider photo opportunities- for example-a laptop with Ben Bulben in the background (perhaps connect by usb plug or something!?)
as photos would give us greater PR and marketing opportunities. Any other ideas?

We also need an info email address for press/general and sponsorship queries.. Can anyone confirm if this could be set up?

Could I also suggest that we appoint a Project Manager on Tuesday and that we confirm a schedule for the next two months.

Kind Regards,

Denise Rushe

T: 0863977869
Culture Night Sligo Friday 25th September
http://modelart.ie/culturenight.html

[Heather James]

This is great! Thanks to Denise and Aoife for all this work. 

We can hammer out these questions, and also continue to block out confirmed speakers, and come up with ideas for approaching sponsors. 

Spokesperson-per-stream: We had discussed the idea of a dispersing the co-ordination work so one person is in charge of a stream. V good idea. Hopefully people can step up for this in the next meeting. Great chance to get to know some of the speakers better. 

Considering our very very restricted space (100 people is actually a v small group) we may be best off focusing on the niche business innovators in the region, using the OpenCoffee and Business Networks to find the most active, involved people who will benefit the most from the conference. I think 100 is quite intimate, and by the end of the day/evening, we could expect most people will have met each other. 

Anyway, someone else mentioned that at the last meeting, and it made sense to me. 

But we need to make sure *many* people know it is happening. And promote it internationally. We've got some great speakers lined up, I can't wait to see them all in the same place together. Again, we have room for 37 speakers (panel, presentation and 5x5 talks); and we have our organising team... so we really only have about 50 places for attendees. Just pointing out the scale is quite small. 

In the background, we've been sketching out the website, which Eddie Johnston is working on. Denise has been cc'd on those emails. Wireframes mocked up, some discussion about look/feel. I think this needs some feedback as well from the wider group. 

In your schedule, we should also have a type of "pre-registration" or "sign up to find out more" registration which, I think, Eddie suggested. 

I think language is important, thanks for highlighting this. Less "Sunday Business Post" more "Fast Company", straight-forward, friendly, low on jargon/clichés. 

I think Denise set up an email account for queries?

We could have this forward to all stream-coordinators. 

See you Tuesday!

- Heather

--
Heather James
--
e.   hja...@gmail.com
w.   http://nearlythere.com/
m.   +353 86 831 8386
t.    http://twitter.com/hjames

[Heather James]

Today’s main point of discussion was The streams: what they are, and who is in charge of each stream, and what that means. See attached schedule for a breakdown of the day.

In the next week sub-teams are meeting around the topics of copy-writing, PR and logistics. Our next full meeting is next week, for one hour
NB: Change of venue- we're meeting at Justin's offices:
Centre for Design Innovation.
10 am- 11am Thursday 1st October
(afterwards, OpenCoffee Sligo in same location- It's Anne Louise's Tax Tips!)

ASSIGNED ROLES

Kevin, Johnny and Aidan, in your absence you have been assigned each a role. If you feel for some reason you cannot do this alone, we can get you support. If you cannot do it at all, please tell us asap.

Logistics: Justin & Heather communicating with the BIC, the IT, Catering, volunteers, recording

SPOKESPERSONS/Coordinators per stream

Spokesperson responsibilities:

• Wording/writing must write draft paragraph and send to Denise by end of the week.
• Communicate with speakers, reminders, talk about their presentations, ensure the speakers topic is in keeping with the aim of the stream.
• Keeping the speakers informed about the development of the event.
• Determining what materials or equipment speakers need.
• Coordinating with the runner and recorder for that stream.
• Reporting at the end of the day.
• Reporting Guidelines: attend each session; and 3 points for each speaker.

Panels: Kevin to coordinate the speakers for the panels. Kevin will chair one session. Niall McEvoy to chair one session.
About: Panels to prompt big picture discussion around Industry and Supports (see attached schedule for more information).

Networking activity: Johnny
About: A starting activity in the morning to loosen people up, something fun/creative/different. Practical advice about how to *do* networking, and make sure people mingle and meet as many people as possible.

Start Stream
Aidan & Justin - Spokesperson

About: If you’re thinking of starting up or you’re in the first year of starting up. Funding/CEIM, What’s it like on CEIM? What should I know about starting up? Are you starting up?

Share Stream
Feargus - Spokesperson

War stories, expanding your business, managing people, going international, branding.

Show Stream
Anne Louise - Spokesperson

Attend workshops, learn a specific skill, get practical advice and try hands-on activities.