Publicity

Publicity is key to attract specific audiences to your event and meet your goals and objectives. Publicity happens from the run-up, to publicise and then amplify your event, till after the event, to disseminate outputs and circulate materials from your event to attendees and other potential audiences.

Before the event

Having a publicity plan for an event is vital. The Event Lead will want to reach existing audiences, as well as new audiences or underrepresented groups (e.g. by age, gender, career stage, ethnicity, etc.). The publicity plan should be based on the goals and aims of the event developed as part of the Feasibility Stage.

It is important to investigate dissemination channels and devise a publicity timeline, which references a content plan – the different types of content you will publish throughout the timeline to encourage potential delegates to register for the event. For example, publishing a draft agenda/programme or a call for participation as far in advance as possible will give potential attendees an overview of the event, while keynote speakers will attract different audiences depending on their interests. Sharing experiences from past attendees in the form of blog posts can also encourage people to attend as it might clarify what to expect.

The publicity timeline should fit into the overall event project timeline, and it should include:

• Who to contact (individuals, groups, press offices)

• Contact details (individual email, Twitter, mailing lists)

  • Note : Contact details should be stored securely and only accessible to those who need them

• Publicity schedule (plan the dates for publishing your event and publicity content)

• Content (news items, blog posts, press release, tweet)

• How to measure the success of your campaigns

Once you have your timeline ready, you can start writing or requesting the content to have it ready for publishing. Different tools (such as Google Analytics, Twitter Analytics) can be used to keep track of webpage visits and link clicks. This is useful to assess if your campaign is working and if people are interested in your content.

Photography at the event should also be considered and whether a professional, volunteer or one of the organisers are taking the photos. Attendees should be made aware that photography/filming will be happening, what the images will be used for and that they have the option not to be featured. A conversation should be had before the event about synchronisation between the photographer and those doing social media amplification, taking into consideration any preferences (e.g. via name badge stickers) of whether people approve of or disapprove of their photo being taken or used. As well as recording sessions for reasons of publicity, you may plan to record a short promotional video with different participants talking about the event. This should be planned before the event and potential interviewees contacted in advance. An example of such a video is one produced at CW19 which focuses on Why people like attending.

During the event

A Twitter hashtag for an event or other social media identifier is a useful way to promote the event to the audience outside of those who are attending or to improve the engagement of those in attendance. You would typically arrange staff or volunteers to be in charge of event amplification via social platforms before and during the event. Note that social media depends on audience and demography. Make sure the Twitter hashtag isn’t already being used by a different event or programme.

Amplification stimulates conversation in a space that involves attendees and those who are following along but not attending. If a member of staff or volunteer is in charge of event amplification, they can also pass on some of the outside questions back into the workshop at the appropriate time. It’s recommended to have a list of pre-prepared tweets ready for the social engagement team to send out on the day at specified times. If it’s possible to stream talks, then this can also aid in promoting the event.

Anyone shooting official photographs, whether a member of staff, a volunteer or a professional, should consider any preference around people’s privacy preferences. The person handling the social media would ideally have access to any official photos as soon as possible (e.g. within minutes) for timely use. If you’re producing promotional videos, make sure there is a space designated for the recording to take place and that participants are informed ahead of time of any specific questions.

After the event

Asking for feedback from attendees after the event can be useful for further publicity.

Asking attendees for blog posts to talk about their experiences can offer a fresh perspective of the event. These resources can also become a useful record for future events to help people understand why it might be worthwhile attending your events.

There are various outputs produced at the end of a workshop. For Collaborations Workshops, we usually make available:

• Lightning talks
• Keynote slides
• Hack day entries
• Videos of the talks
• An event report or analysis