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Making A Difference

Events

Special events such as health fairs, anniversary celebrations, National Medical Librarians Month, open houses and seminars, among others, can create opportunities for media coverage. You can create a special event on your own or participate in community events or events sponsored by others. The best thing about special events is that they allow you to make your own news.

To top of page Help Create Special Events

Contact your institution's public relations department and find out if they are planning any special events such as health fairs, blood drives or nutrition seminars for diabetic patients. Offer to help by serving on a planning committee or creating special hand-out materials that can be distributed to people attending the special event.

If no special events are planned, suggest one! You might work with oncologists, nutritionists and other staff experts to create a seminar for chemotherapy patients' families on special dietary needs. You might support a new women's health department by preparing a short fact sheet on women's most frequently asked health questions and suggested references that physicians can give to their patients.

To top of page Researching and Planning Event Opportunities

Here are some steps to consider when planning a special event:

  1. Think about the types of events that have already been tried in your community, and determine which have been successful and why.

    You can talk to the local Chamber of Commerce, church groups, schools, charities and even local media to see what draws the most people and the most media coverage. Is it the tailgate parties before the college or high school football games, the annual children's art contest for Christmas cards, Fourth of July parade floats, the summer walk for Juvenile Diabetes, the health fair held at a local mall every January or the waiters' race by local restaurants over Bastille Day?

    Looking at what brings people in your community out, gets them to participate or gets covered in your local paper should guide your special event planning.

  2. Decide what you hope to get back from your participation and pick an event that will get you what you want.

    For example, is your goal to encourage as many people as possible to learn to use your library to find medical information? If so, you need to host an open house or contact nearby schools to invite their teachers, parents and students to your library for a guided tour. Being a sponsor of a black tie event to raise money for a school trip to Europe will not achieve your goal.

    If, on the other hand, your goal is to let others in the community know that you and other MLA members are involved in the community, then it might make sense to be working side by side with your fellow business people feeding the homeless at Thanksgiving.

  3. Pick an event that seems a "perfect fit," one that achieves the goal you have set and reaches your target audience. For example, it makes sense to be involved in a local health fair or a hospital fundraiser. It may not make as much sense to sponsor a country-western night at a local college.

  4. If you are creating a new event, select a date and then check the calendar and your city's department of special events to make sure it does not conflict with any holidays or other big events in the community.

  5. If appropriate, ask a local newspaper, television or radio station, community organization or business to co-sponsor the event with you.

  6. Choose a location for the event that is convenient for the public.

  7. Publicize the event with advance media relations, advertising, posters, fliers and invitations. Remember, if you host an open house, the people who come to your event and the people they tell will know about it. If you publicize the event through your local media, you can reach thousands instead of hundreds with your message.

To top of page Partnering with Other Organizations or Professionals

There are a number of organizations or other professionals who might be interested in partnering with you on a special event or promotion. You will want to seek out those groups or individuals whose services complement medical librarians, such as public or school librarians, patient support group leaders, nursing schools, physical therapists or others whose target audiences are the same as yours.

For example, physical therapists have clients who may be in need of health care information about alternative treatments such as massage therapy. Partnering with other organizations or professionals allows you to gain referrals from your partners and also to reach a broader client base.

Partners could include:

  • Organizations
    • Hospitals/clinics
    • Health clubs
    • Public libraries
    • Nursing schools
    • Schools, colleges or universities

  • Individuals
    • Physicians
    • Nurses
    • Physical therapists
    • Personal trainers
    • Nutritionists
    • Counselors
    • Athletic coaches

To top of page Special Events Checklist

Organization is the key to a successful special event. Listed below is a checklist for creating your own special event:

  1. Develop a theme to fit all target audiences and target media.

  2. Schedule the special celebration or event to fit your overall publicity plan (i.e., to coincide with National Medical Librarians Month, the opening or anniversary of your library, or the time of year when everyone is getting sick, such as "cold and flu season" or "allergy season").

  3. Determine the budget, based on the scope of the celebration or event.

  4. Select program elements:
  • reception
  • open house
  • formal dinner
  • hands-on demonstrations
  • speeches
  • brochures
  • premiums
  • contests
  • related private events
  • audiovisuals
  • sponsorships
  1. Go back and check the budget.

  2. Divide the special event into manageable groups of activities.

  3. Confirm all arrangements in writing. If one person has agreed to assume responsibility for selecting the menu, confirm that in a letter or memo with copies to all involved in the planning.

  4. Plan for the worst. Anticipate what will happen if it rains, snows or you encounter a public transportation strike.
  1. Rehearse the event down to the last detail. Who will handle registration? What about name tags, signs, banners or microphones? Know when each person is to arrive and what each person's responsibility is. Walk through the event.
  1. Prepare a list of phone numbers in case you need to contact someone at the last minute. Include all suppliers, such as photographers, caterers and electricians.
  1. Prepare for the media. Know where telephones and electrical outlets are located. Prepare advance press releases for distribution. Arrange for immediate photo processing capabilities, and write the captions and news releases in advance, realizing some details will have to be changed and inserted. If out of town, arrange for local office space for photocopies, secretarial assistance, instant printing, etc.

  2. Check your audio needs. Test any portable public address system in advance. Test microphones and speaker locations to avoid feedback and adjust to the proper volume.

  3. Meet personally with all the parties involved, if possible. Person-to-person contact helps to smooth the communication process and avoid misunderstandings.

To top of page Tips for Gaining Publicity, Attendance, and Business

Once you have selected an event, there are a number of ways to generate publicity and attendance, and to encourage people to become clients following the event.

To top of page Calendar Notices

Most newspapers have calendar notices for upcoming events such as sports events, concerts, lectures and business meetings. You should find out the deadlines for your local publication calendars and send out your news release to the calendar editor in time to be included, generally three to six weeks in advance.

To top of page Feature and News Story Opportunities

Most stories have several pre-event, event and post-event publicity possibilities, and an event such as a community health fair is no exception. In addition to being included in a newspaper calendar listing, the health fair would have news value if covered the week before and the day of the event in both print and broadcast media. You will want to talk to appropriate media about the opportunities before, during and after the event.

A human interest feature story could run after the event, in which participants are interviewed about coping with a family member's illness or simply being more discriminating readers of health care claims from manufacturers of products such as vitamin supplements, devices such as copper bracelets, body magnets or, even foods.

To top of page Photo/TV Opportunities (advance)

When planning pre-event publicity, you want to ask yourself if there are any photos that can be sent along with your news release announcing an upcoming event or be taken by a newspaper photographer or camera crew to have a visual preview of what's coming up.

If you send out photos yourself, you want to make sure you hire a professional photographer to take a good, sharp black and white photo to send to newspapers. A color snapshot is not good enough to be reproduced in a local newspaper. Most newspapers and TV stations will want to send out their own photographers.

To top of page Photo/TV Opportunities (during)

It is important to alert media ahead of time of the "photo or visual opportunities." This is called a Photo Alert.

Let them know the logistics: the Who, What, When, Where and Why as well as How. Briefly describe in your photo alert what they will see if they come to take a photo. Or if asked, promise to call in to the photo desk of the newspaper or assignment desk of the TV station when the room is full and you have the best photo opportunity.

Posters/Fliers/Community Bulletin Boards

You don't have to spend a lot of money on advertising to promote your event if your local businesses are willing to post your announcements in their store windows and on their store and employee bulletin boards. You can put fliers under windshields or put stacks of fliers near the cash registers at local businesses or in the mail rooms of apartment complexes. It just takes legwork to spread the word about an upcoming event.

You want to make sure your posters or fliers are attractive and tell the most important information: Who, What, When, Where, Why and How. You can print them on brightly colored paper, found at any copy shop, to attract attention.

Newsletter Articles

In addition to daily and weekly newspapers, in-house newsletters also are good vehicles to announce your news to select publics. Most hospitals, churches, school districts and businesses publish newsletters that come out weekly, monthly or quarterly. Newsletter editors are more than happy to include your news as a service to their readers.

Local Access Cable

With the abundance of local access cable stations, businesses have more and more opportunity to be on television in their market with their message. Your local cable provider should be able to give you the phone numbers and channels of your local access cable stations. Watch the shows and see if there are opportunities for you to announce upcoming events or be interviewed by a local host.

Using Local Wire Services

Associated Press (AP), United Press International (UPI), Reuters and Bloomberg News are all international wire services that may have bureaus in your area. A wire service bureau will have one or more reporters who write stories of regional interest and distribute them statewide, nationally or internationally over the "wire." The wire service editors of newspapers, television and radio stations subscribe to these services to receive their news on a continual and immediate basis, much the same way as e-mail is transmitted from computer to computer.

Your local wire service bureau may be interested in your news, so you should add them to your media list. However, you should send them only news that would have a statewide or national impact on readers or viewers, such as a speech about pending legislation being made at the State Capitol by an MLA officer.

Open House

Open houses are usually, but not always, "invitation only" events that include tours, refreshments, demonstrations and an up-close-and-personal look at your facilities and an opportunity to meet your staff. They can be held before work, during lunch, directly after work or later in the evening. They also can be held all day long.

If you hold an open house, you should think beforehand what you want your guests to do, see and experience before they leave, rather than depend on chance. For example, at a Grand Opening Open House you might want your guests to be:

  • Greeted at the door and sign the Guest Book
  • Served some refreshment
  • Taken on a tour of the facilities
  • Given the "Deciphering Medspeak" brochure
  • Given a special map or guide on locating reference materials in your library
  • Thanked for coming

To top of page Informational Seminars

Americans are becoming more and more accustomed to taking responsibility for their own health care and, increasingly, are seeking information on preventive or "well-being" care. You can offer informational seminars on topics such as "Childhood Vaccines" or "Cold or Flu? Tips on how to tell which is which and what to do."

As an ongoing "outreach" activity, you should make contact with groups that might find a seminar, speech or demonstration of interest.

To top of page Being a Presence in Your Community (outreach)

Being a good neighbor, an active participant in your community, and a leader who is out and about at community events will build goodwill, interest and business.

You can be a participant in a variety of ways including:

  • Pursuing speaking engagements
  • Donating services for a good cause
  • Taking part in others' activities
  • Being part of local events such as health fairs, festivals, walks/runs, parades

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